Installing Lights in the Dark

Here’s another midnight update for you.

Martin and I started putting up the cans for all the recessed lights. We want to have limited light fixtures because our home in the airplane hangar is so small and narrow. A lot of fixtures just feels really cluttered to me. Recessed lights will be really great for adding light without visual clutter.

Here’s a good shot demonstrating how tall our ceilings are at their lowest point. Martin is 6 feet tall (183 cm).

Our project progressed about like this:

1. Martin and I took measurements of the entire house last week when we finalized the kitchen layout. Our original plans from months and months ago were off by an inch or so depending on little changes we made during construction (like drywall thickness and framing thickness between rooms).

2. We built an updated layout on SketchUp.

3. We found some lights that fit in our 2×6 framing against insulation. There aren’t many choices. It took two trips to get our necessary lights, and I cleaned the store out on both runs.

4. Martin geeked out on what kind of range the light from each box would cover. He even factored in the pitch of the ceiling and distance between the floor and ceiling in various parts of the house. You gotta love having a German engineer in the house!

4. We decided how many lights we wanted in each room, and I started drawing plans.

5. Martin made a few tweaks to my plan, and we were sold.

6. By then — as you already know from the photos — it was night.

7. We hauled hangar work lamps up the stairs so we could… uh… start installing our lights.

And so began a very long night of prepping, measuring, passing tools back and forth, and installing as many lights as we could.

I’d ask, “Same procedure as last light, Martin?”

“Same procedure as every light.”

Do the lights in your home provide enough light? The tire house is awful, so we’re covering our bases. And what’s your take on sconces? Love ‘em? Hate ‘em? We’re thinking of adding a few…