New light fixture!

First I'd like to say Happy (belated) Thanksgiving from our little family to yours!

Our holiday was full of family and food. We're lucky that both our families live so close so we're able to see them all. It's a lot of traveling about but it's worth it to see everyone! We're so incredibly blessed and thankful for all that we have. All thanks to Him!

Here's a small and completely overdue (we did this in October!) update we did with a big impact. I'm a big believer that the right light fixtures can update a space like nothing else! The space feels so much more updated and open (especially because of the height of the light fixture)

 

Short but sweet post! Sorry I've been slacking - we're in the middle of giving the fireplace a facelift. More on that later!

Continuing the light theme

After hanging the pendant light in the kitchen, we also took on hanging up a different light fixture above the table. The one that came with house wasn't our style and didn't go with the updates in the kitchen. See....

To start - Mike got his hands on a light fixture that wasn't being used. So of course we put it to good use! Here's what it took to get it hanging:

1. Take down the current light fixture plate and pull the wires out of the hole. To pull the wires out of the hole (as in picture #3) I had to hold the light fixture while Mike pulled out the wires.

#2: Detach the light fixture wires from the ceiling wires. To do this, you take off the red caps. This is the where the wires twist together. Untwist the wires so it looks like the picture below (and don't lose the red caps!) Also make sure you're taking note of what wires connect with what.

 

#3: On the new light fixture, thread the tube along with the bracket and nuts through the wire. It should look like the picture below - but I'm sure for every light fixture there's a variance so read the directions!

 

#4: While one person holds the light fixture, the other needs to thread the wires through the bracket still on the ceiling. This was how our old light fixture was attached so we didn't install that ceiling bracket. You can see in the picture that the wires go up into the hole and back down.

 

 

#5: Connect the light fixture wires to the ceiling wires. Just as you detached the wires to begin with, you need to attach them again. Simply twist the corresponding wires to each other. This is where remembering the correct pairing of wires comes in handy. After you twist them together, put the red cap over the attachment.

 

 

#6: Push the wires back into the ceiling. It should look like the picture below (Make sure your wire connections are secure).

 

#7: Secure the light fixture plate to the ceiling. Ours secured with a screw, but again, I'm sure it depends on the light fixture.

#8: Enjoy!

And then there was light!

I've been wanting a pendant light over the kitchen sink for some time now. It's a very bare area (patiently awaiting the arrival of the bamboo shade I have my heart set on), which I don't have a good picture of. What you can't see, is that above the window there is just bare wall until the ceiling. No shade, no decor. Nothing.

So when Mike was able to get his hands on a pendant light that I can definately live with for awhile - we set to it (two months later).

I would have a step-by-step for you but Mike started before I got home. What I've concluded he did was by a kit at Home Depot to convert our recessed light. Then he followed the directions of installing it, which is when I got home. Here's what it looked like:

After this step, Mike shortened the wires of the pendant light to fit the length we wanted.

Then he connected the wires from the light to the wires hanging from the ceiling. He capped each connection off with a cap. (Sorry for the blurry picture - he wouldn't stop working!)

Then use the screws to secure it in place

And wah-lah! A brand new light fixture for our kitchen! Isn't it pretty! (And yes, we were doing this in the dark...)