This slate back is the trim the Nest Thermostat actually deserves

A naked Nest Thermostat installation is easy. But this one little accessory can make it look that much better.

When you're installing a Nest Thermostat, you've got a couple options. One is for it to ride on your wall bareback. Or you can use the plastic trim piece that comes with it. The former may look cleaner, of course — particularly on relatively new (or at least clean) walls.

A little extra texture can go a long way toward making your Nest Thermostat stand out even more.

For those of us in older homes, however, the space around a thermostat's wiring may be marred by countless coats of paint. or screw holes that just never cover up properly. So in that case a trim piece makes sense.

But the plastic trim that comes with a Nest Thermostat is bland, at best. It's functional, but it definitely doesn't add anything to the Nest — itself as close to a work of art as you could call a thermostat. We can do better

Amazon is lousy with trim plates for a Nest Thermostat. There are round plates. Rectangles. Square. Metal. Plastic. And, as I found, slate. Sure, you could make your own. (And if you're at all crafty, maybe you should.) But me? I'm a buyer.

This one — which ran me $45, a price that I admit may be a little high for this sort of thing — has a little bit of an indentation cut out of it, so the thermostat itself is recessed ever so slightly and has a flatter point of contact than the facade. You'll use the same screws that came with the Nest, and the whole thing takes about 2 minutes to install. Just take your time and line it up, using the thermostat's built-in bubble level.

It's added a nice new dimension to my Nest Thermostat, a sort of intermediary between the distinguished piece of tech and my otherwise unimpressive 1980s drywall. Whether you go with this one, something similar, or something way out there, it's definitely worth a look — and will make your Nest look that much better.

See at Amazon