From day 1 in the house, Hubby and I wanted to replace the hall light. It was a dated, cheap looking, gold flush mount fixture. I wasn't actively looking for a replacement yet, since there were other items that were higher on my list. The perfect light, however came into my e-mail via Rue La La a few weeks ago. It's the right balance of modern with a vintage flair and it's looks make me very happy. It's installation did not.
On moving day when we said "Good Riddance" to the ceiling fan, the installation of the new dimmable light was speedy. I left the room as the first fan screw was being removed and came back a few min later to find that Hubby and the dads had the new light fully installed. I had high hopes of the hall light being as easy......
Here's what we started with:
After waiting patiently for a few weeks until I couldn't wait anymore we had time, I we decided to give the new light a try. The game changed the moment we removed the old light. Let me first remind you- this house is over 110 years old but looks like its been totally updated. Key work in that sentence is LOOKS. This is what we found when we took down the ugly old light:
What?? It even had my handy dad stumped!
Hubby and I first attempted to attach the new light the same way the old light was attached. That didn't go over so well.
After a little thinking and figuring- Handy dad asked me to hold off fixing it until he came up this past Friday. He has much more electrical experience than I do and he was afraid I would open a can of worms if I delved deeper. It was torture having a half installed light for an entire week!
A day off from the 9to5 Friday was such a whirlwind of projects that I neglected to take progress pictures like I wanted to, but we (helpful parents and I) got a TON done!
The old 'box' or whatever you may call that relic, was screwed to the lath, behind the plaster, behind the drywall, yet it wasn't recessed enough to install a modern light fixture properly. After removing it, and doing some poking around with a flashlight and tape measure, dad discovered there was a stud behind the lath we could attach a modern electrical box to! Huzzah! So we bought one, and Handy dad took a hack saw to the plaster and lath in his way. Not too long later, we had a working light fixture what was installed properly and looked pretty!
Ta da!!
Sadly, though the new perfect hall light and the living room light aren't on the same page. Although I still very much like the living room light (and its WORLDs better than the previous fan), I think it may be destined to be in the office ultimately. Not any time soon, but eventually.