2 I’ve Seen the Light…

Like many ranch styles homes of the 1950s & 60s, when my house was built some half a century ago, light fixtures that make you want to pop your eyeballs right out of their sockets were all the rage. Over the past couple of years, I’ve gone room by room plucking the old lighting and bringing in the new, but a couple of eye sores still remained. Like this creature lurking in my hallway…



I mean, really? What is that? Whatever it was it was high time it found a new home in the trashcan. Not only was is ugly and clearly missing a part or two, but it hardly put out any light worth mentioning. Since it could only be up from here, a lovely little $12.00 brushed nickel light would be a huge improvement AND it even came with its own light bulb. Definitely my lucky day.



I knew this project wouldn’t be quite as simple as the light fixture change outs I’ve done in the past. Based on my limited knowledge of light fixtures, I could already tell that the electrical box was not flush (enough) with the ceiling to attach the new fixture. In fact, there was no electrical box at all since all of the wiring was housed in the old fixture. So once the old fixture was removed (with power turned off, of course), I attached two pieces of scrap wood to the opening and mounted a new electrical box to the wood with a couple of screws. (Note: This blue electrical box is technically used for wall mount fixtures, but it’s an electrical box nonetheless and would get the job done and house my wires safely…and save me a trip to the hardware store since I already had it laying around. Besides, what fun is a DIY project without a little rigging anyway?)



Once the electrical box was secure, I followed the easy breezy instructions and this light fixture swap was a wrap. Much better.