hiding electric panel

I'm not an electrician, but I've been told that you may absolutely NOT wallpaper, paint, or in any way permanently disguise the fuse box.

Hang a picture over it if you must.

Agreed, don't wallpaper the box, it would be a code violation. You are not supposed to hang anything in front of it either, but it is pretty common to do that (and of course much easier to rectify if someone objects).

Matthew & uptown_joe: cite source, please.

That makes little sense from a safety perspective. A cumbersome artwork could impede access by an electrician, whereas a good red-flocked chinese-restaurant wallpaper, or a huge-flowered orange, pink and silver foil-one, would not.

Alan the code states that not only should nothing cover the panel, but you shouldn't even paint it a different color, either. It makes perfect sense from a safety perspective.

No one ever said the code ALLOWED for pictures hanging over them; I only suggested it as a quick, easy, and non-permanent fix that would be a lesser violation. You'd still be fucked during an emergency.

In every apartment I've lived in the electrical panel was painted the same color as the wall.

So where's the code you keep referring to, Matthew? Surely it's online, or at least you can find an electrician's post on a Q&A in answer to this fairly common question. Post it for us.

And how does painting the unmarked exterior of a panel door make any sense from a safety perspective? Are electricians too stupid to find the door? Too stupid to remove a painting? The resident can't be remember where his own electrical panel is if it's not covered in a reflective glitter-coat, or an attention-grabbing greige semi-gloss?

Putting a deep cupboard around it, so that access is physically blocked and an electrician has to contort himself and his tools to work on the breakers and lines? Unsafe. Visual difference? Not so much.

homesweethome101, another common treatment is a faceframe cabinet. 3/4-inch deep cupboard, basically. The door can be a mirror, or an official White House portrait of President Obama, or of course a nice airbrushed photo of me.

The code does state that the panel should not be painted a different color nor should it be hidden. With that said i have been in hundreds of apartments and the panel is usually the same color or hidden under artwork. I have never met anyone who had to pay a fine or otherwise for papering a panel

The plain, in-sight panel is not there for the benefit of the electrician, who has time to look for it, but for emergency personnel (fire, police, etc.) who need to cut power in an emergency. This is why access to the panel must be unobstructed.
(Obstruction of the panel is covered in section 110-26 of the National Electrical Code (NEC): 1) at least a 3-ft clearance in front of all electrical equipment; 2) a 30 in.-wide working space in front of equipment operating at 600V or less; and 3) minimum headroom clearance of 6 ft or the height of the equipment, whichever is greater. Installations built before the 1978 NEC only require a minimum clearance of 2 ft in front of electrical equipment. The 30-in.-wide rule has been used since the 1971 NEC. Headroom clearance has been required since the 1965 NEC.
Blocking electrical panels that house circuit breakers is also a violation of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and OSHA regulations.
NEC 230.70(A)(1) also says that "Service disconnecting means & all electrical panels shall be readily
accessible."
NEC 230.70 (A) "The service disconnecting means shall be installed at a readily accessible location either outside a building or structure or inside nearest the point of entrance of the service-entrance conductors." Which is why the panels are so often in front hallways or near the kitchen.

When your house or apartment catches on fire, and a delay in cutting the power leads to injury or greater damages, you can bet the insurance companies will come after whomever it was that put things in the way of the panel, disguised it, or moved it to an unacceptable location (in a linen closet). You (or your heirs) can take it up with your adjuster when they deny payment because your panel was not readily accessible.

Interesting that you bring up the closet. My other idea was to relocate it the other direction than it is now. It's currently in front of a closet in a hallway (nowhere near the front door by the way) and could be relocated inside the closet. There is room enough to have plenty of clearance in front of it, but your comment above makes me wonder if that's a terrible idea. (Though aesthetically best.)

I've seen DIY shows where the electric panel was in a closet. It was situated in a place in the closet that was easy to access and not really in a spot where it would be covered over. In my current place, the circuit breaker is in a broom closet in the kitchen. The electrician said that did not violate any code as it was easy to access. Moving the circuit breaker could be a very big, costly job.

You will not find any licensed electrician who will put the panel in a closet or a cabinet.

Our electrician did not put the panel in the broom closet. It's on the side wall of the cabinet.

Frankly, I don't like it there because I can't use the shelf that it's near so that I can provide access to the panel.

As Aaron2's posting of [national] code seems to demonstrate, there are requirements for positioning and easy access with room to work, but apparently none for "disguising" the panel door. And insurance companies can't just make up their own sense of propriety, so I doubt that one barring code.

NYC code might differ, but I see no evidence of that so far.

Hiding the electric panel I think was one of the problems c0lumbiac0unty had that caused him great trouble. Fortunately he still has his big Mercedes, and his supply of deer.

I've seen DIY shows where the electric panel was in a closet. It was situated in a place in the closet that was easy to access and not really in a spot where it would be covered over. In my current place, the circuit breaker is in a broom closet in the kitchen. The electrician said that did not violate any code as it was easy to access. Moving the circuit breaker could be a very big, costly job."

I find that very hard to believe.

While there may be adequate "clearance" inside that closet -- and while it may also be easy to "access" -- during an emergency, police and firefighters who have never been to your apartment don't have time to play hide-and-seek trying to decode your clever design disguise

And specifically what emergency would that be?