| | |

How to Install Your Own Light Fixture

I’m pretty excited about today’s DIY.

Mainly because it means that the kitchen is one project closer to being finished.

The lighting is in! New pendants. New sconces. And when our electrician friend came by to wire in the spots for the new pendants, he made sure that all the plugs and light switches were operational again. So we are operating on full lights. Full power. Pretty exciting, right?

And while we are not certified electricians ourselves (see the warning below), we do have basic wiring skills – and want to show you how simple it is to install your own lighting, be if for your kitchen or any room in your home.

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-21

WARNING: We are not certified electricians. This tutorial is meant as friendly advice about how we were able to install our own light fixtures. If you choose to install your own lighting, you do so at your own risk and we waive all responsibility and liability. If you are concerned at all then consult a local electrician.

If you have been following along on this whole kitchen renovation then you know that we have been collaborating with build.com on several of the finishing aspects of the project. We ordered these beautiful Minka Lavery sconces from build.com…

minka-lavery-71162-84-71

And these stunning Murray Feiss pendants {also from build.com}.

p1145brushed_steel

I was pretty excited when the boxes arrived… lighting makes such a big difference to a space!

There is something about going from bare bulbs sticking out of the ceiling, or open light boxes attached to the wall, to actual working fixtures that just screams “finished”, am I right?

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-3

We started with the scones on the full tiled wall, either side of our DIY hood fan…

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-1

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-2

Many light fixtures come with good instructions and/or safety warnings, so be sure to read the included information thoroughly before beginning.

First attach the metal cover plate with the mounting screws that are included with your light fixture.

Using a wire stripper and cutting tool, you strip the insulator covering off the two wires.

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-4

For a sconce installation, make sure that the mounting screws are level so that the light fixture will sit straight and level on the wall.

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-5

Wrap the ground wire (usually a copper coloured wire) around the ground screw on the mounting/fixture plate. Then match the wires- white to white and black to black.

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-6

Twist the wire ends together and secure them with a twist-on connector, or marette to ensure that the wire ends are connected and safely ensconced inside the marette. We didn’t get a good pictures of this step, but it will look something along these lines…

How to turn a light fixture into a plug in light fixture - an outdoor light becomes an indoor wall sconce at The Happy Housie-10

Then attach the light fixture by placing the opening holes over top of the screws that extend out of the fixture. Secure it by tightening on the mounting nuts that come with your light fixture.

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-7

Done!

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-8

The last step to finish installing this fixture was to install the light bulb (I used a pretty vintage style bulb) and then attach the glass piece to finish it off.

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-14

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-15

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-17

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-16

Aren’t they beautiful? I LOVE them – they have such a pretty vintage feel, and remind me of an old fisherman’s lamp. What do they remind you of??

Next, we tackled the installation of our pendant lights over top of the peninsula. The original light fixture was in the wrong spot with the changes in the layout of the kitchen, so we had our electrician friend set up the wiring for the two pendants by running it through the attic.

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-12

Hint: if you have to move or switch up a light fixture in your ceiling, have your electrician keep the round cut-out he creates when cutting the spot for the new fixture(s) and use that perfectly round piece of drywall to patch your ceiling where the old fixture was removed. We just screwed a piece of wood above the drywalled ceiling and then attached the circle of drywall to the wood in order to patch it. A little spackle, a dab of ceiling paint, and you won’t even notice it.

{We are still planning to panel the kitchen and dining room ceiling but have decided to put that enormous job off until the fall.}

We followed the same basic steps that I outlined above to wire the new pendants into the newly wired spots for them…

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-12

And I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out…

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-13

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-18

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-21

Of course now I think that we need to replace our dining room light with something that works a little better with the new kitchen lighting. It never ends, does it?!

Installing our new kitchen lighting sconces and pendants from build.com at thehappyhousie.com-20

What style would you choose for the dining room? I’m thinking of an orb or globe shaped fixture…

Something like this Savoy House orb/globe light

7-4353-4-chsavoyhouse

Or maybe this one by Cristorama

crystorama-lighting-group-9225-os-144

 

Want to try it yourself one day??

This is awesome! Pin it to remember it!

how to install your own light fixtures with a few easy tips at thehappyhousie.com

Oh, and if you want to watch a little video tutorial on how to install your own light fixture, build.com has a few great ones on Youtube…
 

signature and quote

pinterest  facebook  http://instagram.com/krista_thehappyhousie  twitter  bloglovin  google+  rss

 

Similar Posts

4 Comments

  1. Was the wall fully tiled when you added the sconces or were the tiles precut before installing, knowing you would install sconces? How did you go about this prep step? Thanks!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.