Before I can get started on the fun stuff, I needed to tackle the not-so-fun stuff. For me, that’s the lighting.

The previous owner used this space as his office, and while the lighting was decent, it was outdated and needed some tweaking. When I first moved in, there were old florescent bulb fixtures - the long tubes that flicker and hum, and remind me of an old school or hospital.

When I did my bathroom remodel, I had purchased a multipack of recessed LED lights and still had five left. I’m definitely trying to keep costs low, so I opted to use those lights for this project. That meant I could put four in the larger space and replace the old can light at the bottom of my stairs.

But First….Demo

With the ceiling already open (from when I had the new subpanel run to the garage), I already had a lof of space to work.

I started by shutting off the power and removing all of the existing light fixtures in the space. In addition to the two florescent lights, there were also two can lights that needed to be removed.

Removing these fixtures required more holes in the ceiling - it was starting to look a bit like swiss cheese!

Once I had the old fixtures removed, I tried to remove as much of the old wiring as possible. Anything left behind was labeled. (It very likely that I would be the one who has to open the ceiling back up years later and wonder WTF I left behind.

Let there be light

Once I had the old lights and wiring removed, I had to cut MORE holes for the new lights! I used this adjustable hole cutter attachment to get a perfect circle to match my new lights.

With the new holes cut, I ran new wires and attached the new LED lights. These are super easy to install, and because of the clamps on the light, you can put them just about anywhere!

Switch it up

With the reconfiguration of the lights, I ended up with a switch on the wall that was no longer needed. As I worked through removing that switch, I accidentally cut power to all of my new lights. (If you want to hear the full story, be sure to check out my IG highlight!)

The easiest way to fix the issue was to open up the wall and move that cut line over to the remaining switch box.

Yes, this is now a big hole in the wall. But patching this up will be really easy. (I’ll share more of that process when I get there.)

Up Next

With the new lights in place, it’s time to close up all the holes and start working on the ceiling as a whole. All of that icky popcorn texture is going away!

I’ll be posting weekly updates here on the blog, but if you want to see more details, and see more of the behind-the-scenes, make sure you are following me on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok.