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Things are looking great! It was kind of funny to see the hanging paper plates though, before reading the explanation. I was thinking "what kind of pendant lights did she get??" But what a smart idea to figure out what feels right for the space.
Things are looking great! It was kind of funny to see the hanging paper plates though, before reading the explanation. I was thinking "what kind of pendant lights did she get??" But what a smart idea to figure out what feels right for the space.
Just a note I wanted to add on DIY electrical work. If you are not 100% comfortable doing electrical work and do not know the code, I highly suggest hiring a professional instead. My husband, before he went into the landscaping industry, worked as an industrial mechanic which required plumbing, electrical, and hydraulic work and appropriate certifications. It's only because of his experience and knowledge that we felt good about doing this ourselves.
Some things to keep in mind when doing electrical work.
1. Know your load on each circuit. Before you start adding tons of things to your remodel, make sure that you've calculated the load on the circuit.
2. 14 versus 12 gauge wiring. If you have a 15 amp circuit, you might have 14 gauge wiring (20 amp will have 12). We have all 12 gauge. Do not ever wire 14 to 12 gauge.
3. Splicing wires. When splicing wires, make sure you are using a properly installed extension box. It is not code and can be dangerous to have pigtailed wires behind the walls. We had one location where it was required to splice wires. This could become an issue if you're moving a light as we did.
Basically, just make sure you are always following code and doing any electrical work properly. While it may seem easy to do electrical work, the adverse effects of doing it wrong can be devastating.
Okay, that's my public service announcement for the thread.
No work today. It's a very rainy day out (which just tends to sap the energy from you) and with both my husband and I working full time and at times long hours, we need a break every once in a while. But, this brings me to a thought and a question. I see some people paint cabinetry, do major remodels, and other such things so darn fast. I'll be the first to admit it, we're slow. When we tackle a project, I fully expect that project to consume us for hours and days on end. Painting cabinetry? That's a few weeks - especially with having to give sooo much drying time in between.
How do some people seem to complete projects so fast? Are they more efficient? Better products? I am genuinely curious. What tips do you have for making a remodel project just a little less invasive in your life? Inquiring minds want to know.
More lights going in today. Gah - will the lighting part of the project ever end?? My husband will be doing the work while I am out shopping. Yeah, I know, I'm evil. But it's not really fun, fun shopping. My one and only child is heading off to college next month and I've decided to do all of her dorm room shopping in one day. I imagine I'll be a babbling and drooling mess by the end of the day. If not - I'll post more pictures! Cheers!
All of the lighting is done - finally! We've patched all of the holes and now have to go through the overly messy process of sanding them smooth, etc before we can paint. We'll prime first and then paint the ceiling a bright white. Although it won't be today because it's my birthday and I plan to eat cake instead of work on my kitchen today!
I really love the way the new lighting looks in the kitchen and the simple drum pendant/chandelier is so much better now that it's centered between the windows. The old junction box location made NO sense as it was way too close to the peninsula to be usable in that location.
I learned about LED flood lights on this project, something that was new to me. The cans we put in are 5 inch and they took either BR30 or PAR30 LED bulbs. But it doesn't end there. Then you have to pick out the brightness. 2700K is a soft white, much like what you would get from your standard soft white incandescent. I choose 3000K, which is a brighter white because I really love a nice and bright kitchen.
I was completely ignorant about LED bulbs so there was a bit of a learning curve (e.g. bought the wrong ones first). These are PAR30 bulbs which are better for more direct, spotlight type of light. You pick the angle of down light with these. The ones we picked were 40 degrees and felt they still were a bit too spotlight. They also have a ridiculously long life compared to BR30 bulbs. But either choice has a long life. When I had them in, the light didn't spread very much and made me feel a bit like I was in a jewelry store because of the way the light reflected.
After some more research, I realized I was looking for BR30 instead. These bulbs tend to disperse the light a bit more, probably due to their rounded shape. Even though they do not have the life of the PAR30, they still last quite a bit longer than any standard bulb. The good news is they were about half the cost of the PAR30 bulbs as well. With these in, I got much better general lighting in the kitchen, which I was looking to do. Basically, the light seemed to have diffused edges and did not cast as many strong shadows.
So there you go, a quick primer on LED floodlights. I am sure that's not the end all be all of it but good enough. Any errors in the above information are all my own.
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Asian theme ?? 
