One of the complaints we had about the new house was the lack of lighting. Although the previous owners were the original owners when it was first built, they didn’t opt to put in ceiling fixtures (or even boxes) in most of the rooms. It’s cheaper to install everything when you’re building a house. Once you need to remodel existing structure, it gets tricky and pricey.
We waited two years and avoided bumping into stuff by using lots of floor and table lamps. Certainly not optimal, but it’s certainly cost efficient. This past Monday, we took some steps to rectify the situation. We contracted with one of the electricians in town that we’ve works with in the past to take care of three initial projects:
1. Install four recessed lighting cans in the home office, connected to the wall switch. This was the most significant (and expensive) portion of the project, as their was no easy access between the 1st and 2nd floors.
2. Install a new ceiling box and a new flushmount light fixture in Josh’s room. Easier to do, as there was attic access. We had originally considered recessed lighting in his room also, but it was getting expensive.
3. Remove the old hanging pool table light fixture in the basement and replace with a new slim flushmount light fixture. I could have done it myself, but if the electrician is gonna be here already, let him do it. We have some recessed lighting in the basement already but we aren’t going to put in more until we’ve figured how to remodel or finish the rest of the basement. Buying a single fixture is a stop-gap measure for now.
To save money on all three tasks, the electrician gave me a shopping list of items to buy. So the same evening that we got back from Philadelphia, I drove to Lowe’s and bought all of the supplies. We put in 4″ LED light kits in the home office connected to a dimmer. We put in a 200W halogen light fixture with 4 lights that can be swiveled and adjusted. The basement proved problematic as it was hard to find an LED light fixture that was slim, and also bright enough to cover a wide space. I did find one, but it’s a different shade than the rest of the basement flood lights. I’ll now need to start replacing the rest of the existing bulbs so they will all match.
The work finished sooner than expected, but it all looks good. My wallet is $2,000, but I guess it was worth it in the end. I don’t want to hypothetically wait another 10 years wondering why we waited so long.