Kitchen Recessed Lighting
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It’s an exciting day at Chatfield Court. We’re only one project away from finishing the kitchen renovation…woohoo! Lately, I’ve been feeling like it would never be done but we finally got our act together and tackled the last of the big jobs, the recessed lighting.
We’ve been living without proper lighting in the kitchen for over a year so finally having it all in, and working, is a huge deal. There was only one, lonely hanging light in this space when we started the renovation and it always seemed dark, especially with the dark wood cabinets.
When we put the plank ceiling up (you can read about that here), I thought about covering the light hole and only using recessed lighting but, at the last minute, we decided to keep it.
If you’ve been following along on our renovation journey, then you know that I tried several lights here before I found a winner.
Nope…
No quite right…
The winner!!!
With the ceiling done, the pendant light up and everything else nearing completion, it was time to think about the recessed lighting, the project that the hubs has been dreading most. It wasn’t the messy install he was dreading but the trip up in the attic to make all the connections. It had to be done though and, since he’s the electrical genius of the family, this was all him.
The one very important step we took when we planked the ceiling was to document where all the beams were so that, when it came time to install the lights, we would know where we could put them. This really saved us a lot of aggravation.
Another thing we did, before we cut one hole in the ceiling, was to put copied pictures of the lights up on the ceiling to see where we wanted the final placement. Strange? Maybe, but it was a huge help.
Don’t they look real? The hubs wanted to keep these but we needed real light and, well…paper lights don’t actually light up (believe it or not).
We installed 5 LED lights, 4 in the stove/sink area and 1 by the back door.
Do you see that beautiful cabinet door? We needed to have 3 custom-made and they just arrived. Guess who will be priming and painting this weekend?
The hubs also installed a dimmer switch for the recessed lights, the pendant light has a separate switch on another wall. He wasn’t thrilled about chiseling the wall but you know what they say? “Happy wife…” . We are both loving the dimmer though.
Three more cabinet doors to paint and install and we are done! The big reveal is almost here. Can you tell I’m excited?
Some of our other kitchen renovation projects…
DIY Granite Kitchen Countertop Installation
Beautiful job on the entire room. I really felt for your hubby as the wiring part is nasty, we re-wired our entire house, so give him an extra hug for a job well done!
Thanks Lisa, I appreciate it. He didn’t mind putting in the lights but he wasn’t happy about going in the dusty attic. Not a fun job but I’m glad that he is the electrician. 😉
love the pendant. where did you find it?
Thanks Mari! I got the pendant from West Elm…love it! 🙂
Lighting is very important, and yours is looking great! I spraypainted my recesses lighting cups goldish color in my kitchen when I re-did mine!
You don’t realize how important lighting is, especially in a kitchen, until you don’t have it. 😉 Great idea to spray paint lights. I did that to some older recessed lights in a bedroom and it was such a cheap and easy fix. Thanks for stopping in Vel!
YAY almost done / you have to be so excited and relieved / looking great over there! 🙂
Thanks Deb. I am excited, relieved and tired. Can’t wait. 😉
Proper lighting in the kitchen is crucial in my book. All is looking well. Can’t wait for that big reveal. Debbie
Thanks Debbie! I can’t wait either, I’m so ready to be done with all of this. 🙂
Looks great Kristi! I have to admit that the lights in my kitchen, all on dimmers, are the icing on the decor cake. I am sure you feel the same way!!
Thanks Kim! You are so right, they are the icing on the decor cake. Who’d have thought that you could get so excited over lights? 😉
Kristi, love it! You are ambitious DIY-ers! We’d never tackle some of those (ah who am I kidding, MOST of those) jobs ourselves. Love that plank ceiling. Great tip about locating the ceiling lights.
Thanks Jean, I love the ceiling too! I’m lucky that I have a really handy husband, who is frugal, so we end up doing everything ourselves, which is good if you want to save money but it’s not good if you don’t want a job to drag on for five years. 😉
Whoo-hoo! You are going to be so happy to have proper lighting in your kitchen. It makes all the difference in the world. I love your ceiling (I think I’ve told you that before) and your lighting choices. And yes, those paper lights look very real. Enjoy the weekend and try not to wear yourself out with all the painting. Hugs, Nancy
Thanks Nancy, I’m really happy with the way the ceiling turned out and to have proper lighting. We are having an unusually warm and sunny Saturday here so the painting will have to wait until tomorrow. Hope your weekend is awesome.