Remember when we shared how shiny and polished our kitchen started to look after we finished grouting?
And then revealed the chaos that ensued a hot minute later?
Well, the room is all put back together and we made a whole lotta lighting cha-cha-changes.
Sure our ceiling looks like swiss cheese. But it’s all for a good cause. Inching towards a more luminescent kitchen.
Everyone says that lighting can make the room, but I’m here to refute that. Just kidding, it totally makes the room. If you have a gorgeous space but it looks dark or yellowed or all angry and fluorescent, well, it kinda ruins the whole effect. So we knew something had to be done since even after getting new white counters and painting our cabinets it was still totally lacking in functional lighting. Specifically, the peninsula was really dark and the area near the sink kind of made me feel like I was standing under a bug zapper. And that never-used-in-13-months fan had to go. It sort of felt like a low flying helicopter monitoring dinner preparation. So down they came. And holes they did leave.
Oh but here’s a money saving tip for ya: do as much pre-work for the electricians as possible since you pay them by the hour for their time. We always remove old fixtures (like the fan, the fluorescents, etc). After turning off the power to them of course (Captain Safety would have my head if I didn’t mention that little detail…).
Even marking the ceiling for where you want things can end up taking an hour of discussion while the electrician is there (and when you pay them by the hour, you’re paying them to watch you have that discussion), so hammering that out before they come is great. For example, John stood on a stool and held the glass lids to our cereal jars in the air to guess where we wanted the placement of the two pendant lights that will someday hang over the peninsula.
That weird little exercise helped us figure out where we wanted those fixture boxes pretty quickly. We didn’t have to figure out the height of the pendants yet or anything, which is nice since we don’t have them to hang yet (we’ll install those on our own and make that decision later). So we just used small pieces of painters tape to make an X in the desired location.
Then it was my turn to dance on the dining table to make another mark up there.
We actually have three rooms in our house without any overhead lights: the living room, the sunroom, and the dining room. And the only one we really use at night (without tons of lamps that happen to live on a super long console table and nearby desk) is the dining room. As in, dinners are pretty dark in there. Or we bring in mismatched floor lamps and it looks like a lighting convention. We have visions of a giant chandelier hanging over that big daddy table of ours someday. So you know what they say about “when in Rome…” – well, I have the same philosophy about squeezing as much work in when the electricians are already here working on a job (saves you the money/time of having them out again to work on a nearby room).
We had also chatted with the electricians the last time they were out and they said four can lights should do the trick on the cooking side of the kitchen, so we even marked their placement with little Xs drawn in the middle of more painters tape, just outside of the fluourescents on either side.
We also had them add an outlet on the counter to the right of the fridge (we have one next to the peninsula for laptops, but we thought an above-counter one would come in handy for plugging in mixers to make cookies on that side of the peninsula, etc)…
… and here are those four can lights they put in, in lieu of the previous two fluorescents that sandwiched the fan, which we had them ceremoniously kill (aka: they terminated the power to those poor guys).
Oh and for any interested locals, we use S.J. Ryan Electric. Good guys, fair prices, all that good stuff (they don’t even know we’re bloggers, we just love to shout out people who do good work). We really like them because as an experienced two-man team they can knock out a lot of stuff in not too much time. For example, in 5 hours they:
- Added four recessed lights
- Terminated the two old fixture boxes that fed the fluorescents
- Terminated the fan fixture box
- Added an outlet above the counter next to the fridge
- Added two fixture boxes over the peninsula
- Terminated the fixture box for the poorly placed pendant a foot to the left of our new pendant fixture boxes
- Added a fixture box above the table in our dining room (and a light switch for it)
- Centered a fixture box over the sink (the previous over-sink-light was about 6 inches too far to the left)
Note: Ick, don’t mind all the photos where the tile/paneling meet the ceiling that are still waiting for crown molding to go up. Soon we hope!
So at around $75 an hour for those two guys, it added up to $375 for all of that stuff (plus around $80 for the materials). Total room changer. Four recessed lights! Two new pendant spots! A centered fixture box for a nice pendant over the sink! A new outlet on a wall that had none! And a spot for a big ol’ chandelier in the dining room! Plus they safely terminated all sorts of things we didn’t need anymore!
Ack, please don’t report me to the Exclamation Point Police for overuse. I just get excited about this stuff. I like sharing those prices because I think people generally think electrical work is more expensive than it is. And it certainly can get up there. But things like marking your placement and removing old fixtures beforehand can really speed things up along with hiring a two-man team. And having a ranch doesn’t hurt since it’s so easy for them to run around in the attic and wire stuff (we hear two story houses can be trickier since there’s not exactly an attic above the first floor to creep around in with wires).
So that’s the electrical bid-ness that went on. Things definitely have come a long way since the last time they came…
Now we just have some pendants to grab and some holes to fill- and you know we’ll share all the details as we inch along. Update: we found pendants and have hood info to share! Tomorrow morning for sure!
What did you guys do this weekend? We got a giant box delivered by FedEx on Saturday and it was our final book manuscript. All 375 pages of it (it’s one-sided and double spaced, which explains why it’s waaay longer than the book will be, even after we add tons of pics and illustrations).
Ahhhhhh! Sitting on the sofa with that hunk o’ paper was more than a little surreal.
Psst- This is one of those things that just makes your heart swell up into your throat. One of the five finalists for the Ikea Life Improvement Project was a reader of ours named Melissa Matthews who found out about it back when we randomly mentioned it during an Ikea giveaway, and entered… never thinking she’d end up in the finals (we were so excited to get an elated email from her all about it)! Well, guess what? She won, guys! She wrote an amazing makes-you-cry email to tell us all about it. As the mother of a child with Down syndrome, Melissa is planning to expand the work being done at the Frankie Lemmon School in Raleigh, NC, a school for children with intellectual disabilities. They use technology and cutting-edge therapy to help these children with special needs and Melissa plans to use the new resources and her teaching background to infuse more technology deeper into these classrooms and to create a website to share these methods with other teachers across the country. We’re just so happy for her!
Urban Wifeu says
Sooo it would be awesome if you guys did a book tour and came to Florida! It’s simply amazing what lighting will do for a room. Good luck with that gigantic manu. Fun times.
A big & warm congrats to Melissa. So incredible and what a moving story!
YoungHouseLove says
Would love to come to Fla for sure! Especially now that it’s wet and rainy here. Haha.
xo,
s
Jaime says
Typo alert! “We has also chatted…”
So all that plastic that went down was for light installation? Seriously asking here but did you find it necessary? I can’t imagine it would make that much of a mess or are we just being extra careful since its all spankin’ new?
Can’t wait to see what pendants you choose. I bet they will lean towards industrial. I never see fans in other people’s kitchen but we use our kitchen fan all the time! Weird.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the typo alert! All fixed. As for the plastic, they put it down and we really appreciated it since they had to drill six giant holes in our ceiling (aka: tons of dust).
xo,
s
Krystle @ Color Transformed Family says
It looks great! I had never noticed there wasn’t an overhead light in the dining room. I can’t wait to see what you picked out for above the table.
Debbie says
I just got back from vacation. As a belated bday gift, the BF gave me a trip to see my daughter who lives & works in Zurich. & can I just say that after eight years of flying everywhere domestically in our own planes, flying commercially was a real “treat”. the overseas flights were fine as always, but the domestic flights were nightmares. I’ll take flying ourselves anywhere, any day. my daughter has a teeny 1100 sq ft flat in Switzerland, but I was surprised at how well she maximizes the space (of course IKEA is huge there). Mom had to splurge on a few (less laminate & more timeless) pieces though. She’s got some real decorator chops, of course I take all the credit for that ;)
diana says
Wonderful, wonderful Melissa! I am SO happy!!!! Congratulations! All the best for this project!
Great progress, Sher-Jo! Sorry to start with Melissa, but I am elated to know that she won for SUCH a project! I feel like skipping on the walk side!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s so true! We’re so happy for Melissa!
xo,
s
Bethany S says
lighting DOES make such a difference, doesn’t it? when we bought our house, our kitchen was pretty nice, but the fluorescent lighting HAD TO GO. once our “swiss cheese lighting” was up and running (and after painting the walls and backsplash), it looked like we had COMPLETELY remodeled! such a huuuuuuge difference!
http://www.sawdustandembryos.com/search/label/Kitchen
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- that is like a new room!
xo,
s
Tom says
What kind of lights did you end up going with? LED or anything fancy/green like that?
YoungHouseLove says
We got standard cans put in but are using Halogena bulbs which put out 75 watts worth of light while only using 50 watts. CFLs would work in them too (and use even less energy- just haven’t found good ones that we like the lighting of yet).
xo,
s
Sarah says
Sherry, you’re so teeny! I can’t believe how much room you have between your head and the ceiling, even while standing on the dining room table…too cute haha!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- 5’2″ for the win.
xo,
s
heather says
I was going to make the same comment! My ear would have been pressed against the ceiling or my knees bent in order to get that done.
Lindsay says
Absolutely amazing! I’m trying to convince my husband that we need recessed lighting in our kitchen & living room:)
Ang says
Wow! for $400 bucks, makes me wanna call up an electrician and get some proper lighting in my kitchen. What a difference! Can’t wait to see the pendant lights.
Krista says
Your kitchen is coming along beautifully! I’ve enjoyed following the transformation!
Ericka says
Looks awesome! I’ve noticed a lot of people commenting negatively about your grellow walls in previous posts and I just have to say that the color looks better with the new lighting!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- thanks Ericka! I think it’s just one part personal pereference and one part bad photography on our part. In person it’s so pretty and makes so much sense but our pics don’t do it justice. Here’s hoping the new lighting will help with that!
xo,
s
Rebecca says
All that work makes the minor addition of trim we did in our kitchen look like nothing.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, no way! That’s something! We need crown molding and trim like crazy- can’t wait for that.
xo,
s
Melanie says
We used a similar method to place our pendants. First we measured, but I needed a visual as well. So we grabbed two side table lamps, flipped the shades upside down, and I made my husband hold the lamps upside down against the ceiling until I was satisfied they looked right! I’ll have to show him the picture of John to prove I’m not the only wife that makes their husband hold things up so I can visualize!(pictures, shelves, lights…)
Everything is looking great!
-Melanie
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- so smart!
xo,
s
Allison says
Every !!! in that post was justified.
So this week my husband will be installing 4 recessed lights in our family room ceiling – that happens to be about 17′ tall since the family room sits on the side of the rest of the house. Anyhow, I thought he was an absolute genius when he cut out four 5″ round pieces of construction paper and taped them to the ceiling where I suggested they go according to measurements. I couldn’t believe it how clever he was! Then I read your post and see you marking the ceiling too and thought…maybe he’s not THAT brilliant;)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- no that was brilliant! We just made x’s – but marking circles is great for picturing it!
xo,
s
Kristi W. says
The kitchen is looking so good! Did you guys decided to get LED lights for the can lights? We just installed can lights in the basement, but we haven’t picked out the lamps yet. LEDs look great and make sense, but man, they are spendy!
YoungHouseLove says
We just got standard cans (and are using Halogena bulbs to save energy- they use 50 watts but put out the equivalent o 75 watts of light) but CFLs work in them too (which would save even more energy!).
xo,
s
Brittany says
Sherri
I have the same fluourescents in my kitchen as well. When you removed them, was the ceiling messed up underneath? We thought about doing track lighting, but I am liking your pocket lights better… any other lighting ideas yall tossed around before deciding upon the pockets?
Thanks!
Brittany
YoungHouseLove says
It needs some touch up paint but it wasn’t a million holes or anything- just one fixture box feeding it like any light. Hope it helps! We went straight to recessed lights since we had them in our first kitchen and loved them.
xo,
s
Angela says
I am in love with your kitchen!
Jessica @ The Desert Abode says
Wow! Thanks for “shedding some light” on how affordable electrical work is. I had no idea! I think my old track lighting in the kitchen is going to get the boot…
Your kitchen is really coming together! :)
Alison says
Just because I’m curious, are you putting any upper cabinets on the oven side wall? Or do you feel that you have enough storage?
YoungHouseLove says
We’ll be hanging open shelves with a range hood for all of our everyday dishes!
xo,
s
Megan says
I so know what we’re doing with our kitchen now. We have this weird flourescent tube thing covered with plastic that has fallen down before. The lights look great!
That and a chandelier over the sink. My husband thinks I kid.
Wrenaria says
YAY recessed lighting! Looking forward to seeing the pendants you chose!
Also, for whatever reason, clicking on your Joss and Main ad links send me to http://www.redcross.org/… Just thought you should know.
YoungHouseLove says
Weird! That ad is done by google so maybe they’re having a glitch?
xo,
s
Traci says
the lighting really does make a difference! as someone who sites under florescent lights at work all day i can’t imagine having them at home too!
also, where did that awesome bowl on your dinning room table come from??
YoungHouseLove says
That was from jossandmain.com a few months back. Maybe try overstock.com or nextag.com?
xo,
s
Whitney @ Drab to Fab Design says
I can’t get over how much the whole space has changed!! Seriously looks sooooooo good!! Congrats to Melissa~ That is wonderful!
Callie says
It’s looking soo gorgeous! So exciting!
Talking about light fixtures reminded me of a question I’ve been thinking over lately – do you do only one metal in a room? Like are you going to do brushed nickel light fixtures since your faucet and cupboard pulls are brushed nickel? Or do you mix brushed nickel and ORB? I’m remodeling our bathroom and am having a hard time deciding, although am leaning towards keeping it all one metal for simplicity.
YoungHouseLove says
I’m all about the mix! Haha. I just think as long as each one occurs more than once they look intentional and layered.
xo,
s
Nadia says
Looking good!!! We started a huge kitchen remodel last May and here in California most kitchen lighting has to be fluorescent….ugh!!! I kinda hate it, but at least cfl can lights are better than those office-looking fluorescent light-saber looking things! We actually won your Tile Shop giveaway…ooooooo, over a year ago and FINALLY got our butts in gear and made a final decision, after many, many samples, and went with classic white subway. We actually got a sample of your penny tile and it really is gorgeous!! I’m just too much of a wuss and change my mind way too often to take such a big risk :-( I NEVER get sick of beautiful white subway though, so I guess that’s a good sign, right?!? I can’t wait to share our huge “after” once we’re all done….someday!! OOOHHHHH and ps…did you guys hear Nate Burkus’ show got cancelled?!?!? I’m seriously in mourning!!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, so sad about that! But so excited about your tile! Have fun!
xo,
s
Merideth says
I love John’s face in the picture after you mention “Captain Safety”. It’s like he’s looking down on you and reminding you to be extra safe and safety is serious!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- he totally is.
xo,
s
maria says
Um, wow! Looking at that before pic and then looking at the now pic must make you guys feel so accomplished. Congrats, it looks uh-may-zing!
Meg@Keeping up with the Jenks says
Ah! It looks so good. And it’s coming along so fast. I feel like ya’ll were just shuffling that fridge around last week.
And as a former special needs teacher, I could not be more thrilled for Melissa. What a wonderful and inspirational mother. Ya’ll are changing lives, I tell ya!
Amy @ The Button Casa says
It all looks fantastic!!! Thanks for the breakdown of the electrician prices. I thought it would be way more expensive than that.
Lilly says
Ur kitchen is looking so beautiful Im excited to c the finish line. U guys r doing an awesome job (like always) saving money. Im happy that u share all the saving money tips it helps us big time. I’ve learned alot from u guys n my guy totally apreciates it. Thanx.
jbhat says
So pretty! It’s like adding gorgeous jewelry to an already great outfit. (Did I get that from you?)
jbhat
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- lighting jewelry!
xo,
s
heather says
First up – the kitchen looks awesome.
Second – I had a dream last night that we met and we were both totally awkward. I said hi and introduced myself by saying, “I’m Heather, I’m the one who lives up in Maine and writes Like A Cup of Tea” and you had absolutely zero idea but gave the pretend “I totally know” smile when you clearly didn’t. Then we both got really awkward and then I woke up. I have only ever read your and Katie’s blog a few times before bed, but whenever I do I have some weird dream about it. Yikes.
On another side note – I found out someone who reads my blog lives near me and I told her to say hi if we ever run into each other. Then I realized how awkward and blushy you must get, because I realized I would be the exact same way. I’m waiting for the day she sees me at the flea market and I flip around and knock a ton of stuff over.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- that’s hilarious. I have totally dropped multiple items while talking to a reader. I’m happy when they don’t break. Haha.
xo,
s
Jenn says
Love it. Question though. Why no electrical work in the living room?
YoungHouseLove says
Just happy with the two giant lamps on the console and the one on the desk. We might eventually get something overhead, but it’s very cozy and easy without it!
xo,
s
Ashley{The North Carolina Cowgirl} says
Wow the Kitchen looks so much better with just the two fluorescents removed! It amazes me how much the space changes with such little improvements.
Andrea says
ACK! 375 pages?! Even if it is one sided and double spaced.. sheesh.. makes me feel like a big old pansy for dreading my 10 page psyc paper..
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I thought it was a joke at first, like they had printed it out twice! Joke’s on me. Hah.
xo,
s
Kasey Skibber says
I just wanted to say i love your kitchen redo, however one thing is driving me nuts….the dishwasher. It doesnt match! I must have missed what is going on with it because i know you wouldnt have mismatched appliances!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we haven’t installed the new one yet! Waiting to put in new floors and then we’ll slide it in!
xo,
s
Maggie Rose says
It looks awesome! I’ve been waiting for this moment because that dang fan was so distracting! Lighting really does make a HUGE difference!
Lindsey @ arkadian belle woods says
Wow! What a room changer lighting makes! In all the right places too! I love recessed lighting. Thanks for sharing the contractor’s info too. We have a ton of weird lighting and non-existant lighting that needs addressing in our house so I will be sending my biz their way soon (maybe you can get a referral bonus on another project – wink!).
Lindsay B says
Wow, that lighting is going to make a huge difference! I’m so amazed by whole kitchen transformation. It doesn’t even look like the same room!
On another note, did you check out Joss & Main today? They have a whole mess pillows that remind me of Sue the napkin!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh haven’t checked it out yet!
xo,
s
Erin says
Hi! Did you guys put halogen bulbs in your recessed lighting in the kitchen? As someone who owns a single story cottage with 28 recessed light fixtures total, 11 of which are in the kitchen, I highly recommend swapping those out for LED bulbs. The LED bulbs are crazy expensive up front, but worth it, especially once the weather starts warming up because the halogens kick off a tremendous amount of heat. The LEDs also paid for themselves (I think it was over 6 months time – my husband figured it out) because they are so much more efficient than the halogens.
Your kitchen looks amazing. Right now, I am dealing with a grass border and bumblebee tile backsplash and am dreaming of the day when I can pull all that down. Your kitchens (both the last house and this one) will definitely be inspirations for me in the future!
YoungHouseLove says
We got regular cans but are using Halogena bulbs and love them! LEDs sound amazing too!
xo,
s
Courtney says
Thanks so much for those handy money saver tricks with an electrician! We have a lot of DIY projects coming up and every little bit helps! The kitchen looks fantastic – I love how clean and fresh it looks. Can’t wait to see it all completed!
Lauren says
When I saw your can lighting preview last week I laughed out loud…my husband was just putting the finishing touches on installing 15(!!!) recessed lights in our den/kitchen/breakfast nook. He consulted with an electrician before starting to make sure these extra lights wouldn’t overload the circuit, but he did ALL of the other work himself. And we weren’t lucky enough in this situation to have a 1 story, so he had to work some magic. He just finished patching the drywall and painting this weekend and it looks 100% professional, like it has always been there. SO proud of him and so happy to be married to such an awesome handyman! Next step, paint the walls (Moonshine gray – inspiration from you all!)
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- that’s amazing! Congrats!
xo,
s
Laura says
Awesome!
jennifer says
Yeah! Glad to see you used SJ Ryan again to finish up! I called them after you recommended them….got my estimate and well….it’s in my hands now, but we did have a baby in the meantime…I think I have a few weeks to get my final list together for them?! It’s looking great! I’m so jealous of your progress!!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- congrats on the baby! That’s an ample excuse for waiting I think!
xo,
s
Camille says
Thanks so much for the reply, open shelves = awesomeness!!!
Tina Bland says
Your blog is like a book that I am forced to put down even though I don’t want to!! I am so excited that you guys are doing an actual book as well, so exciting and inspiring! I can’t wait to but it and read it – I think they should have a wait-all-night-like-Harry-Potter party for the big reveal of the book;) I do book reviews (nothing grand or anywhere near official, just on stuff I like to read) and I can’t wait to do one on this book. Your kitchen looks great. I’m so jealous – I am just starting on our kitchen adventure and it’s SUCH a big project! Being a full time school counselor makes it look even bigger because I’m not sure where the time is going to come from?! Maybe in the summmer! Awesome job guys!
Katie says
Your kitchen is coming along so nicely. It looks fantastic! I have florescent lights in my kitchen, and I hate it. After seeing how much it cost you, I think I’ll look into it. Did you guys purchase the can lights prior to the electricians coming? Or was that something they brought with them?
Also, my work computer doesn’t show any of the photos in your posts. I have to read from my iphone. :(
YoungHouseLove says
They brought them with them (we talked beforehand so they knew which ones we wanted). Sorry about the pics going missing on your work computer- we have heard others say they can pop back up a few days later (something about spyware or spam filters blocking and then unblocking them). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Michael says
I am a SAHD/WAHD helping run my wife’s cleaning business, and manage our baby. I didn’t quit, recession got me, but it allowed us to put more time and energy into both the home life and the business, and we now make more than we did working two jobs.
But yeah, there are actually quite a few days when I feel more like an errand boy than a businessman. But I remind myself that it’s silly outdated societal norms that I’m bowing to (in the grocery on a Wed afternoon, or in the library with the moms), and I remember to realize that we SAHD/WAHDs are blazing new trails. Onward!
Sarah says
Love it! I have been following your blog for some time now and could not wait to hear more on how you tackle the dining/entry! I have the same layout and not sure what to do about the lighting. Hope to hear more on how you decided on the placement of the light over the dining table! Love your blog and can’t wait for your book to come out!