Randy’s away, the house elves will rip out fixtures. Isn’t that how the old saying goes? Oh well, let’s make it the new saying.

One of the eyesores at Casa has been the kitchen lighting. Big old-school flourescent tubes. Either the ballast or the transformers were going bad in the fixtures, but they were so ugly it wasn’t worth diagnosing their issues. Much better just to let them ride out to the recycling center in the sky.

So gone it is.

I was a bit surprised at the state of the drywall joint underneath the frame, but since we haven’t decided what to do with either the frame around the light box, or the paint in the rest of the kitchen, that’s a project for another day.

Moved wiring, patched plaster, and did some exploring of the space via my iPhone camera in case I ever get the opportunity to completely rip out this section and install a fireman’s pole directly from my office to the kitchen for future projects. And primer, texture and paint, naturally.

Finally, on day four, everything was dry and stable and there was enough natural light to connect the wires safely, so voila!

For those interested, these are 4-inch diameter kits from Home Depot with the light on a gimbal for movement. So far I like them, and the installation went very smooth, but they’ve only been in an hour. If you’re looking for an updated recommendation, ask in the comments.