Today, I’m sharing with you an update on an update! The saga of my kitchen light has been ongoing since 2021! I decided that I wanted to remove my ugly florescent light box and install a fixture. I was pretty sure that I could remove the box by myself (which I did). I was equally sure that I would need help installing the new light fixture.
Fast forward to 2025 (haha) and I finally got it done. Well, truth be told, I got it done because of Michyle! I have been procrastinating (clearly) on getting the ceiling repaired. Like many people, I despise dealing with home repair people, getting bids, etc…..I did not know that you can send photos to contractors and handymen on Yelp to get estimates on your projects. You can also read reviews and see photos of their work.
Michyle did ALL of the work submitting the photos to people, getting the bids and sending them to me. In the span of a few days, we had chosen a company and scheduled the work.
Neither of us understood why but they said it would take all day to complete and in fact, it did!! Because it was such a small space, I thought it might take half a day but because of material that needed to dry it took all day. The work was done and it is beautiful. It cost more than I had hoped but I think I was engaging in some wishful thinking. Everything costs more these days! However, the price was reasonable.
Let’s go back to the beginning and see where we started.
This panel is open because the bulb had burned out and I was going to change it. However, I got a wild hair and decided that it was time for the light to go.
Most of the removal was pretty easy. Taking the panels out was a breeze and then finding how it all connected was also not hard.
This part got tricky only because it was awkward. It wasn’t heavy but I was trying to not pinch myself or hit myself in the head.
And now she comes down! One of the things I like about doing home projects is that you learn that many things are pretty straight forward and not hard to change, maintain or upgrade. After the frame for the light panels was removed, it was time to take down the lights and the ballast (the light holder).
In order to put up the light, the drywall had to be cut into the find the wiring but also the center. With the light fixture, you need to centered it in the kitchen so that the entire kitchen gets light but also so that it doesn’t look weird.
Now the light is in and I love it. I put daylight bulbs in to the light and it was blinding! I had to take out at least one bulb just to make it reasonable.
So the light and the ceiling stayed like this until this month.
It was very exciting watching and listening to the work getting done. There was lots of filling and sanding and spackling and drying and more sanding and finally priming. The 2 big holes got filled and the four sides also got sanded and filled.
And now you can see how beautiful the repaired ceiling looks. You can also see that I only have 2 bulbs in and that is on purpose. I need to find a light that is not as strong but still gives the color payoff I want. I usually like warm white but we’ll see. Maybe I’ll get a wifi light where I can do color changing!
This is where things will stay for now. I am planning to do some updates to the kitchen but I don’t know what or when. I also plan to do some type of treatment on the ceiling-special color, wallpaper or tiles. I’m not sure yet.
So, I hope with this experience I’ve learned that I don’t have to put off home projects like this. I can easily get bids without strangers having to come into my home and I will know what the cost range is and decide what I want to do.
What say you? How do you handle getting home projects completed? Do you hesitate and procrastinate like me or do you just jump in and take care of it? Share in the comments.
