Simple Project: Pot Lights

If you're looking for an easy house project/home update, we found it…replacing old pot lights.  If your house is over 20 years old, like ours, and has recessed lights (aka pot lights) of any variety in the ceiling, chances are the casing is cracked, dirty, and discolored.

This is a project we put off longer than we should have because we thought it was going to be more difficult than it seemed (as most house projects are), but it probably took a total of 10 minutes to replace four pot lights in two rooms, and it made a huge difference!  It's also not expensive ($7 to $12 per light.)

The eyeball lights in our living room were discolored and the "eyeballs" were coming loose, so fixing them was important.  The recessed lights in our kitchen had black interiors that stood out from the white ceiling and called unnecessary attention to how ugly and dirty they were.  Changing them to white not only better matched the ceiling, but also reflected a lot more light into the kitchen.  It's the small things that make a big difference.

Tommie was so excited about accomplishing an easy house project that it inspired him to stay up all night painting cabinets in the laundry room.  I wish we had more pot lights to fix to get him in the mood!

(New pot light versus old pot light…and one happy camper.)

The Wonderful Window Seat

When we talk about all the things we want/plan to do in the house, the window seat was something that got people really excited.  And bay windows are the perfect spot to build one customized to the home.

We have a bay window in the dining room and one in the eat-in kitchen. I was having trouble choosing the best spot for a window seat…until we had a party and everyone gathered around the kitchen, of course.  Decision made: we were definitely going to need more seating in the eat-in area.

This was a project for my dad.  We helped, but he did most of the sawing, building, and measuring.  I was ready with the paint brush when it was all done.  Here's the frame going up below the windows:

Here it is with the storage hole (over which a hinged cover would go) and the beadboard going up on the face of it.  You could just use plywood on the face (which we used on the top), but we wanted a little extra detail on the front. (When it was complete, we added moulding too.)

Here is the lid with storage underneath for Maya's dog food.  Maya, of course, had no problem being one of the first to test out the new seat which conveniently overlooks squirrels in the backyard and food on the kitchen table (her kind of spot).

We painted the seat and the inside of the window inlet all white; I figure this will allow for more colorful pillow options.  As you can see, we are beginning to work on the walls around it too, but there's a lot of prep work because it's painted wallpaper that is peeling up.

Aside from patching up the walls, the next (and most challenging task) is finding an affordable cushion that will work with a custom-sized bench.

It's great to now have a seat that will accommodate at least three extra people in the room…and it looks so pretty.

(Eat-in Day 1)

(Eat-in Now)