The next project for my Kitchen Refresh Program is to redo the overhead lighting for the island. Previously there were two pendant lights above the smaller island and a chandelier over what was the breakfast nook.
I removed the pendant lights and replaced them with a clip-in LED pot light several weeks back. The chandelier was also removed and I left the wiring capped until I sorted the final lighting configuration.
I planned out where the remaining pot lights would go by measuring and placing X’s with painter’s tape. I was not loving it. The pendant locations were never aligned and none of this was going to work. I decided to take a step back and start with what made sense. That was three pot lights equally spaced across the full length of the new island.
I used the electrical wire that was to the nook chandelier and was able to move it to the location of one of the new pot lights. To move the other two pot lights in line, there was not enough slack in the wire they would have to be routed over through floor joists in the ceiling. The only option was to continue the nook electrical line to the two lights in the new location. What is to be done with the existing electrical? You are not allowed nor is it wise to just drywall over live electrical without an accessible junction box. You can, however, eliminate the wire from being live and just bury it behind the wall as “trash”. This is the option I picked.
I additionally installed a new light over the sink. I did not even know it existed, but there is a six-inch pot light to four-inch pendant conversion kit. I had to paint the flange black so it would match the light.
The new lights are in place and on a dimmer. They have five different settings for color temperature and are very easy to swap out should that need to happen. Next up is drywall repair, ceiling texture, and paint.
Total cost of the project was roughly $173
- Three Sylvania Lights = 3x $25 = $75
- 15’ 12/2 Romex Electrical Cable = $41
- Black Pendant Light Fixture = $45
- Pot Light Conversion Kit = $12