The evening after posting our plans for a mini-update to our master bathroom last Monday, Sherry had us in the car and off to hunt down the blue light fixture in her mood board.
It’s a Shades of Light fixture that we hoped to find at a local lighting outlet called The Decorating Outlet (which is also where we bought the glass pendants over our peninsula, Clara’s capiz chandelier, and the shade that we added around the chandelier in our office).
Sherry was nervous that our luck would run out and they wouldn’t have any in stock – but they actually had not one, but two to choose from. They were half off the original price of $159, so for $80 we were soon headed home with a blue light to take the place of our formerly unglorious boob light (Ballard also sells a similar version for $189, so we were excited about our little outlet find). Still, at 80 beans it’s definitely not the cheapest pendant light we’ve ever bought, but for such an uncommon and cool effect (the seeded blue glass is really amazing in person) we were happy to shell out the dough to make it ours.
Part of the reason that we wanted to replace this flush mount guy with a pendant was so it’d hopefully look less crowded to the shower bar. Have we mentioned this room is tiny? Well it is, which means a fixture that’s centered in the space is pretty close to the shower curtain. Especially since this fixture was extra wide. We knew something with a smaller footprint against the ceiling would help, and that something with translucent glass and a much smaller diameter would lighten things up as well.
Plus, as much as I was determined to discover a new solar system in the light’s swirly glass, we figured bringing in the blue pendant would be a nice shot of color in the formerly “builder basic” room.
Installing new light fixtures is old hat for us by now (we just did three in the kitchen) so we figured we’d have this project knocked out within a few hours. But since clearly we failed to knock on wood or something, we uncovered this mess:
Don’t see it? How ’bout we turn off the power and remove the old fixture so the giant hole in the ceiling can’t be missed?
This obviously wouldn’t jive with the new fixture’s smaller base. Unless of course we were going for that exposed rafters look. So just like that our “install new light fixture” task go bumped below “patch ceiling” on our to-do list. Ah the joys of DIY, right?
On the bright side, we had some leftover drywall in the basement from patching the new opening in the kitchen which meant we didn’t have to run out to the store to get started. So I used a box cutter to slice a piece down to size.
And then broke out a drywall saw to cut out a hole for the fixture box that I measured. It wasn’t the prettiest cut, but it’d do the trick, and the top of the pendant light would cover the hole for the fixture box, hopefully resulting in a nice seamless look.
To secure the patch to the ceiling, first I screwed some scrap wood into the ceiling that would provide a nice firm surface to screw into. One piece of wood went against the beam, while the other got screwed into the existing drywall.
Here’s the new piece of drywall attached and looking all flush and fantastic-like. Except for all the cracks and sunk screw heads (be sure to sink your screw heads when it comes to drywalling!) that we needed to sand, spackle, sand, spackle, sand, prime, and paint.
So I sanded the edges a bit to make sure everything was smooth and there weren’t any weird lumps or bumps in the way of Sherry’s spackle job.
I don’t know how certain tasks got divided in our house to become “mine” or “Sherry’s” (like how I always roll and she cuts in when we paint, and I usually sand but she spackles). I think some of it comes down to skill (Sherry’s has a steadier hand for cutting in and spackling so we have learned she gets better results). And some it just comes down to things we enjoy more than the other (I love using my Kreg Jig while Sherry’s getting on pretty ok terms with her sewing machine). But I wouldn’t put it past her to build something (perhaps a dollhouse for Clara) and who knows, I might just sew something someday.
Anyway, here’s Sherry’s first round of spackle drying:
She did two rounds total (a round being spackling + letting it dry + sanding it with a sanding block) both of which were applied in consecutive evenings after we got the bean to bed. The idea of doing two rounds is that you can build things up with spackle to bridge gaps, sand things flush again, and do one more round to make sure you don’t miss anything (which could result in cavities where spackle was missing or raised portions that weren’t sanded down enough). And using a sanding block is nice because it’s flat like the wall, so it doesn’t flop around like a loose piece of sandpaper can.
So after a night of spackling and sanding, followed by another night of spackling and sanding, we just had to set aside some time to prime and paint. Oh yeah and install the fixture that we originally thought was going to be a ten minute job. So the next night after priming our patch job (any raw drywall should be primed after it’s installed before painting commences) we applied two quick coats of paint (Rockport Gray, as you may recall in this post). We used a roller to get it up there and rolled far beyond the area we had patched, just to feather things out for a nice seamless patch job. By then it was way too late to get any decent pictures since we didn’t have a working light in there, but here’s what it looked like by morning. See how much further the fixture box looks from the shower bar now that there’s not an extra wide light up there encroaching on the shower?
It was finally ready for a new light fixture (the slightly rough area right around the fixture box will be covered by the top of the light for a nice clean look).
Since it was nearly four days since we started, we were more than ready to, in the words of Sherry, get on that already. Oh and here’s the fixture in all of it’s blue glass-y glory. It’s reading as sort of a very bright blue here in these pics, but in real life it looks more like the photo in our mood board above (it’s a soft sea-glass-ish blue that looks great with the white, gray, and sand colors that we have going on in there).
The cord is obviously waaaaay too long for our bathroom, so we had to cut it down before installing it. I used my scissors to put some slices in the outer white cord where I wanted the wires to end – I didn’t cut all of the way through since I wanted the inner wires to stick out a bit further. Then I folded it back and forth until the plastic-y white cord tore completely and I could pull the excess off. Update: We just heard that a better approach is to use a wire stripper (which is nice and cheap) since bending the wires back and forth until the casing tears can put unnecessary stress on the wires inside. Good to know!
This exposed the inner wires (which I cut to a length just a bit longer than the white cord).
Then I used my pliers to gently cut the rubber coating off the tip of each of the wires without cutting the wires themselves (that way I’d have something to connect to the wires in the fixture). When it comes to connecting wires and covering them with a wire nut inside the fixture box, there are probably some great instructional videos on youtube to check out (we can never manage to take photos since it’s a two-person job in our house).
As for why it’s a two-person job, Sherry usually holds it up (supporting the weight of it so it’s not tugging down while I connect the wires). One person can definitely hang a fixture on their own, but we find the two-person method to be really helpful (and much faster). Thankfully it was a nice quick job now that the ceiling was patched. Which is a good thing since this process had already dragged out a bit more than either of us expected.
Speaking of dragging out, let’s get to the goods. Here it is all hung up, and we’re digging it. It definitely looks a lot less on-top-of-the-shower-bar than our past fixture did, and it’s still hung high enough not to interfere with a tall guy like me (code in our area requires that it be hung over 6’8″ from the bottom of the fixture to the ground and ours is 6’10”). Oh and speaking of code, in our area there aren’t any issues with hanging a pendant at this height outside of a shower, but it’s not allowed to be hung over a tub/in a shower (you know those fancy giant-chandelier-over-tub-bathrooms on HGTV and in glossy mags? they’re usually not to code). So this is just a general reminder to check out what’s to code in your area if you tackle anything similar.
Of course the blue is looking more intense here than it does in real life, but in person it’s soft and awesome against the grey paint and the white curtain – so we feel like it’s a big check mark next to our goal of cheering-up our tiny neutral box of a bathroom. It definitely adds some not-builder-basic personality. And the chrome trim and ceiling cover on the light work with all of our bathroom hardware (the shower fixtures and doorknob are chrome) so it fits right in.
In a perfect world the fixture would be centered in the toilet half of the bathroom, in front of the window. But since this is a pretty quick-and-dirty makeover plan we’re trying not to get into anything too heavy duty at this point (after renovating the kitchen for months on end we’re happy to lighten up with a few easy bathroom updates for now). Perhaps we’ll move it over a bit later in Phase Two, when we’d love to redo the floor tile as well.
Oh and we did briefly worry about two things: 1) one 60 watt bulb wouldn’t be enough light for the room and 2) it would make the whole room look crazy like a big blue smurf. But happily, it casts more than enough light to keep our tiny box of a room illuminated and there’s no weird blue tint (we even asked in the showroom if that was an issue because we were so worried). Apparently since the bulb is clear, the light that it casts down and around the room is clear too. And the ceiling gets this cool soft seeded glass reflection that looks like a subtle starburst (we’ll have to try to shoot a picture of that). So it’s very flattering indeed. And not at all smurfy. Whew.
So despite the unexpected trouble it gave us (well, the trouble the ceiling gave us) we’re really happy with the update. And it’s making us pumped to keep the changes (and touches of color) coming into this room. We think some blue, green, white, and gray art will definitely tie it in really well. And Sherry can’t wait to hit the off-white trim with some bright white paint (it’s hard to see in the photos, but the door trim next to the bright white light switch looks dingy and mismatched).
So now our bathroom to-do list looks a little something like this:
paint the walls so they have some contrastreplace the boob light- paint the cream trim white <– it looks white in the pics, but the bright white light switch next to the cream door trim makes it painfully obvious in person
- hang some bathroom-friendly art
- craigslist the toilet and replace it with a classic white one
- do something to add privacy to the window
- remove the door so we can shave the bottom to allow for a rug/bathmat (and so it actually opens past the floor heating register instead of catching on it)
- replace the border tile around the room (maybe in phase 2?)
- replace the floor tile down the road (just to break things up since there’s so much of it)
What did you guys do this weekend? Did anyone add any new color to your bathroom or another place in your home? Or discover some type of hidden ceiling hole that was being obscured by a light fixture?
Psst- To follow our quick little bathroom reno from the start, check out this planning post, and this painting post. There, now you’re all caught up.
Pssst- Apparently we have great completely accidental timing, and today is “Light It Up Blue” day for Autism Awareness, so here’s more on that. Spread the word!
Donna says
I LOVE that tile! You guys have the greatest taste!
Jessica says
What’s awesome, in addition to the update, is that today is light it up blue for autism! (April = autism awareness month!) and you guys are right on par. I didn’t read through to see if anyone else had commented on this. But the numbers now are 1 in 88 children diagnosed with autism. Huge! It’d be awesome if you could go back into your post and put something about autism awareness! Good job guys!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we learned that! We even added a link about it on the bottom of the post! Such a cool cause!
xo,
s
Chantelle says
Great light! But now you totally have to replace the border tile with some sort of sea glass tile! It would tie into the light so well…
Lou says
Hey Guys- would you use a drywall saw for something like gypsum board? Is there a difference? Jigsaw? I would ask the big wide internet, but it can a little too unreliable for me. Plus you’ve never steered me wrong in the past… Speaking of which: tried out my new Kreg Jig for the first time yesterday. Smitten! Thanks John! My fiance said he will have to learn to cope with sharing my affections because it is officially love.
YoungHouseLove says
Yep! As far as we know, gypsum board is the same as drywall (gypsum is the material in drywall) so a drywall saw should definitely work. And glad you’re loving the Kreg!
-John
Lou says
Hey thanks, John! I had thought so, but you know what they say about assumptions.
jeannette says
i’m always inspired by the persistence with which you two attack the monsters you find opening pandora’s box. that is DIY life, and the key really is never to give up. breaking it down into discrete stages and not trying to power through seems like the way to keep your stamina strong.
thanks again, looks beautiful.
ashlee says
this weekend i sat around pondering our master bedroom. and what i can possibly do with it. i’m out of ideas! but i know one thing – a mood board might help me tremendously. it might at least give me some insight into what i’m looking for and come up with a colour scheme. i think i’ll try it.
Athena says
I always appreciate it when you guys keep your To-Do lists and cross things out as you go. It reminds me of the advice you’ve given before about setting clear “small step goals” to accomplish for Huge Projects. It’s especially great for those times when something that should have been a really quick and easy thing actually turns out to be a much more involved project.
I like that the light really takes away the feeling of Cookie Cutter Bathroom. It’s one of those little cute details that can be accomplished even in a small bathroom, when affecting the space without a complete overhaul can be challenging.
Karla says
I absolutely love the blue light with those deep gray walls. The more pictures I see of your bathroom upgrade the more I feel like I need to paint a room in my house gray.
Jen says
Hi-
great job- just wondering why you don’t use drywall tape when you mud? I typically do and am now wondering if it’s really worth the extra steps?
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve had limited success with it. We used some when we did our last bathroom remodel and ended up tearing a bunch of it off because it was actually MORE visible than the seam itself. Maybe we just haven’t figured it out yet, but we find we have more success without it.
-John
Laura @ First Class Great Outdoors says
OMG! I am in love with that light fixture. It reminds me of the old electric pole insulators. Great choice!
Lindsay says
Ha Ha!!!! We have that “boob” light in our bathroom and one to match in the kitchen.
Tirsa says
I’m really liking the changes in the bathroom. I think the biggest impact will be when you finally get to put in a “regular looking” toilet. :-) It might actually make all that tile more bearable.
I know how just changing a bit here or there can help with the look a place. I’ve been making little changes on our bathroom (which really should be renovated) and each little change just makes it better. Can’t wait to see the final interim product in you bathroom. :)
sarah says
UGLY light…
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, choices like this are definitely not for everyone! I think the more personal you make a space the less it appeals to the masses, but the more it can feel like “you!” if that makes sense!
xo,
s
SAGirl says
Please can you let me in on your todo list secrets? Please tell me where you keep your todo lists? Especially the ones that are for projects that will be ongoing for a few months. I am so scatterbrained and make lists but then lose them and so most of the great ideas don’t get done! Any help or advice on effective list making and keeping track of lists and todos?
Thanks,
Nelle
YoungHouseLove says
Here’s a post that sort of explains our method! One big list and we underline any priorities and get to them first, otherwise we just do what we’re in the mood for to keep spirits up. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Kate says
I am painting the LAST of the rooms in my house. This one was the powder room with a “handmade” vanity. I finally took a hammer and crow bar to that mess. Found out that for some reason it was made with 2 x 2’s and 4 inch nails. That nasty thing was ment to be there long after the house fell down. New paint and some stenciling on the wall and the room is almost ready for the new, much smaller, vanity.
YoungHouseLove says
Wow! Glad to hear you’re making room for what you want.
-John
Rachel May says
Oooh..it’s starting to look better already! Love that light.
It’s funny that when you finally think you can time your projects for “quick fixes,” they’re anything but! Great job repairing it, though!
Kath says
LOVE the light!!
catering charlotte nc says
That’s so nice! Love this blue, so colorful! It’s like a sunshine in the bathroom ;)!
Erin Barry says
Thank you for sharing Shades of Light, I am now officially obsessed with this store. Thank goodness you can shop online!!
sally says
where do you find long shower curtains like the one in your bathroom? i have nine foot ceilings and would LOVE to incorporate this look.
thanks in advance.
YoungHouseLove says
Amazon.com! I just searched 95″ shower curtain. Target might sell them too.
xo,
s
Rebecca B. says
When you craigs-list something, how long does it usually hang around your house before it sells? That is my only reservation with listing things. Also, you would craigs-list your old toilet???? Ewe. But we have one to swap out too, for size and shape reasons and wondered what to do with the perfectly good ‘used’ one. I guess if someone is willing to buy it, I’m willing to take their $$ for it. LOL!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we were going to donate it but then looked it up on Kohler and it’s a 1K toilet! Apparently it’s a fancy european model! So we’re sure someone will give us $50 or so for a 1K toilet, haha. Here’s hoping! You’d be amazed what sells on craigslist! If the price is right. As for how long it sits around, it depends on the price. We usually look up prices of other similar things that are listed and price ours lower so it sells within a day or two. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Tracie says
I adore that light!!! Just wanted to pass along a YouTube I recently posted. A good step by step for someone attempting to replace a light;)
http://cleverlyinspired.com/2012/03/how-to-install-a-light-fixturevideo-tutorial/
:) Tracie
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Tracie!
xo,
s
Teesha says
UUUUGGGGHHHH!!! My bathroom layout is EXACTLY like yours and my “boob” light fixture is directly over the shower bar. I wanted to install a mini chandelier in my bathroom, and now I’m sad to read that it’s not to code to install over the tub/shower. I’m glad I read your post! I guess I need to think about moving the light fixture in front of the window as well….*(#&^@*#!!!! LOL!
Liska says
Coming in late here, but wondering if you used joint tape as part of the spackle job around your patch? I was always taught that you need to lay in the joint tape around the edge of a drywall patch or the seam will open back up as the house moves and flexes. However, I can never get the joint tape to look right – it always wrinkles and bubbles up and just looks bad. It would be a lot easier to just do spackle by itself, but I’m worries about the long term durability because I was taught (thanks dad) that the spackle will eventually crack along the seam. If you aren’t using joint tape (and it doesn’t look like you are from the pics) have you had any problems with the seams opening back up?
YoungHouseLove says
Agreed! We have heard the same thing but have not had any luck with joint tape looking good. It always looks terrible – much worse than when we spackle and sand and prime and paint without it. Of course we run the risk of cracks, but haven’t had that happen (even in the old house after a few years) and we figure coming up with things that look great initially and seem to last down the line is better than something that looks terrible from the get-go! I do often wonder if the flex in newer paint helps combat cracks (especially semi-gloss in a bathroom). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Amber says
Hey guys, random question for you. You have installed tons of light fixtures and have lived in older homes- do you ever start to replace a light fixture and realize that a.) there is no ground wire in the box in the ceiling, or b.) that the wires from the new fixture are both the same color?
We ran into this problem this week and I am looking for suggestions on how to tell which wire is which. They are both plain silver wires, there is no red or black. It’s a plain cord (like the swag light from IKEA in your laundry room) except it came set up as a ceiling light. Also should we be concerned about the fact that there is no ground wire in the ceiling to connect our fixture’s ground wire to? It’s an older house (1970-ish) Thanks!!
YoungHouseLove says
We have actually never had that happen. Both of our old houses (this one and the last one) had some updated electrical put in, so maybe that’s why? Anyone have any suggestions for Amber?
xo,
s
Laura says
Oh wow, we tried to tackle a similar issue this weekend and got confused, so had to take a break. This might be a dumb question – but how do you remove the flush mounted fixture? I googled all over for it, but all I can find is posts on how to change the bulbs. It seems to be mounted/glued to the ceiling. Do you just pry it down? We removed the washer and the nut, but that thing wasn’t moving! We were afraid to cause damage. I feel like I’m missing something obvious!
YoungHouseLove says
Usually you can see a few screws holding it into the ceiling, and you loosen them and then you can remove it. Sometimes the whole thing might twist if nothing is visible, so just be gentle and try turning it counter-clockwise to see if it slowly inches away from the ceiling and can be removed. Good luck!
xo,
s
Tamryn says
a small request, would you be able to post a pic via instagram of the bathroom light at night? – you mentioned “the ceiling gets this cool soft seeded glass reflection that looks like a subtle starburst” would be awesome to see. We are looking to replace our bathroom light too and looking at options at the moment. Cheers Tam
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we’ll have to try to capture that at night the next time we think of it! Doing some crazy Clara-party planning (and secret dollhouse building at night for her) but we hope we remember tonight or tomorrow night!
xo,
s
Ashley from Life Begins @ 23 says
I actually have a new light for my half bath sitting in my closet waiting for me to change it out… never done a light switch before but I suppose I should, Dude, get on that!”
YoungHouseLove says
You can do it Ashley!
xo,
s
ATRIUM - Tuiles En Bois says
I am amazed how you did that, I also need to patched those small holes on our ceilings because we removed the florescent and change it to small lights.
Michelle says
I love this post because it so is what happened to me three weeks ago when I decided to change out the bathroom light fixture in our boys’ bathroom. Instead of having a junction box behind the old fixture (a lovely, ugly Hollywood bar deal), there were wires coming right out of the wall. A 10-minute job turns into three days! I love your blog and am going to go back to the beginning of your remodel as I’m going to have to redo the whole bathroom. Thanks for all the posts! You guys rock!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh gosh that sounds complicated! Glad you got it done!
xo
s