Lighting & Electrical | One Room Challenge: Week 6
Welcome back friends! It’s Week 6 of the One Room Challenge (where does the time go?!) and I’m still plugging away at our kitchen renovation! You can catch up on the progress thus far here:
Week 1: Kitchen Plans, Before Photos, and Mood Board
Week 2: Traditional Floorplan vs. Open Concept
Week 3: New Floors for an Old House
Week 4: Choosing Appliances
Week 5: IKEA Cabinets & Counters
The floors are done and the walls are walls, so this week was about getting things all closed up and down to a clean blank canvas for cabinet install! Before getting everything patched and sealed up, I had to contend with lighting and electrical so I wanted to chat about that today! I spoke at the beginning of this project about how one of the main instigators for this change was the dysfunctional kitchen layout. Since the kitchen is more than 80 years old, appliances looked a lot different and weren’t factored into the layout which made everything really inefficient space-wise. Designing a new layout was necessary, but also meant moving and running a lot of new electrical for this 21st century kitchen.
The electrical in the whole house was redone in the 90s so it’s not as bad as it could have been. In total, the kitchen had two countertop outlets, a wall outlet (helpful for our smart speaker, or plugging in the vacuum), a dedicated outlet for the fridge, and a 240V outlet for the electric stove.
Since we were moving the fridge and stove, I moved those outlets. Our new stove is gas, so it plugs into a standard 110V outlet rather than the 240V ones specifically for electric stoves, so I set things up so one of each outlet is located at the stove opening. This way, a future owner could choose any appliance type without having to re-wire.
I also ran new electrical for the built-in dishwasher, for a new outlet to install under-the-cabinet lighting, and for the range hood. On the opposite wall, there the fridge will now go, I ran two new dedicated outlets, one for each appliance garage. One of these will hold our microwave, and the other will likely hold a blender and/or toaster so it was important to make sure running these high-powered appliances wouldn’t be constantly tripping breakers.
The result is a new kitchen with 4 duplex outlets spread across the counter top, two outlets in appliance garages, and dedicated electrical for each major appliances. In addition to this room, I made a few improvements to the surrounding spaces while the walls were opened up. I added an outlet to the front hall closet for a vacuum cleaner, and hardwired two sconces and a switch for them into the living room. We also moved the light in the entryway from the wall to the ceiling which has made a dramatic difference.
And on that note, lighting is changing in the kitchen as well! The old kitchen had just one fixture on the ceiling, and since that window doesn’t get much light, the kitchen felt dark much of the time. I’ve added a spot for a second ceiling fixture over the sink, and electrical to install under-the-cabinet lighting. This way all of the workspace will have overhead lighting.
I love the fixtures for this space. For the primary fixture I wanted something simple and VERY bright. I went with this simple brass LED fixture which gives off “daylight.” We have similar fixtures in our offices and the gym and I really love them for feeling energized in a space!
When we’re not cooking something complex, or cleaning, I wanted the option to have softer light in the space (think morning coffee, midnight snacks, etc.) so that’s where the over-the sink fixture comes in. This beautiful pendant is in the same series as the new overhead light in our entry and gives off a beautiful soft glow. The under-the cabinet lights won’t be visible, but will throw light onto the work surfaces under the upper cabinets, and the range hood has its own integrated light for that side of the room. I think we did pretty well considering we didn’t want to open up the whole ceiling for recessed lights!
I’m so thrilled with the progress so far! My dad, who is amazing at mudding and taping drywall, got the first two coats on everything for me, so I’m hoping to finish the third coat where needed, sand everything smooth, and then paint this weekend. If all goes according to plan, I should be building cabinets next week!
Demo- Frame out the new pocket door
- Insulate and vapour barrier exterior wall
- New electrical, venting the range hood
Replace drywall as needed& paintReplace/reinforce subfloor- Lay underlayment
New floor tile & grout- Install cabinets
- DIY appliance garages
- Run new heating/cooling vent for kitchen, gas for the gas range,
electrical for the dishwasher, and water for fridge and dishwasher - Install counters
- Install and grout backsplash
- Install appliances
- Finishing touches
You can follow along in real-time over on my Instagram. And make sure to check out what all the other participants are working on over on the One Room Challenge blog! I’ll see you next week!
