First things first, Sam had to remove the fans out of the kitchen and the living room on Friday night. Just one casualty. You can't believe how far shattered glass can travel! Down the stairs, into the living room, down the hallway, all over the kitchen....it was ridonculous!
After that mess was cleaned up I thought to myself "Phew, that was hard to clean up but at least it's over. Installing lights can't be that messy can it?"
Oh boy. Understatement of the day.
Do you know how can lights are installed? First you cut out a 6 inch circle in the ceiling. What is above the ceiling? Lots and lots of dark gray fuzzy insulation. So right off the bat it's raining dirty looking snow when that 6 inch circle is removed. THEN....you shove wires up in the circle. One person has his arm in one circle, another person has his arm in another cirlce and they run wires between the two. Lots of wrestling around during this part and lots more dirty snow falls. After the first few holes my cousin says "Hey Carrie, guess how long it took my sister to clean her kitchen after I installed can lights?" I grimaced and asked "how long?" His reply: 7 HOURS! Shattered glass...piece of cake! Recessed lighting clean up...you feel like you ran a marathon. Super tired but so happy when it's all over!
Have you ever watched "dirty jobs" or something similar when a guy has to stick his arm up a cow's rear end? They go all the way to their shoulder blades and all sorts of "dirty" is oozing out? That's exactly what I was reminded of when watching this process yesterday. Everybody had their arms up in the ceiling holes and dirty snow was coming down upon them. It was so funny to watch!
Our ceiling is pretty high right above the stairs. Sam jimmy-rigged this contraption to reach the ceiling. It's hard to tell from this photo, but if he fell off that ladder, nobody would be laughing (well, I can't promise that) because it would HURT!
My mom was a SAINT and took the boys to her house all day. It seriously helped so much!
Things are starting to take shape:
Now that there is real purdy:
A few broken tools, several hours later, lots of trips to the garbage can to empty the shop vac, and countless moments of laughter later, we have beautiful lights in our house! Huge thanks and props go to my cousin Cody, AKA electrician mastermind; his dad, my Uncle Richard; my mom and dad; my brother Curtis was a HUGE help; and Sam, he helped all day and all night with the cleaning! Here's some random shots of the day:
We put directional lighting above the fireplace mantle. It's so nice! I also love the color the lights gives out at night. It's so warm and inviting. I am one happy customer!!
On an unrelated topic:
I made cookies this morning to take to my parents house tonight for dessert. Today is fast Sunday. Sam came home from morning meetings and said "Hey Carson, on a scale between one and ten, how mean is mom for making cookies on Fast Sunday!!??" Carson thought long and hard and said "SEVEN!". I laughed and responded "You are nice, I would have said EIGHT!" Just think how good they will taste tonight! :)
10 comments:
I'm movin' in! Those lights look amazing. And I really love the arch that brings the two rooms together. Oh, and the mud room, I could really use a mud room.
You're a lucky girl!
That looks Awesome! It's got me thinking of a new project for Dave!
looks ammaaaazing!
so jealous of the canned lighting! they did an awesome job!
i want to come see it in person when its all done!
fun! work! fun! work! I swear it's the exact same thing in the Sweet/Clark/Oram Families!
Your home is looking fabulous!
That looks so great! Good vision you had for the house.
And thanks for the bum hole arm-in-the-ceiling imagery.
It really does change the look a lot! I have 1 more dimmer to install upstairs and then that part's all done.
backl
Very nice! I know you'll love those lights, they make a huge difference. You know you can always still give Nathan a call for that kinda stuff too! He's always up for a good project. :)
So beautiful Carrie. Seriously, I am going to have to consult with your cousin on the possibility of canned lighting in my living room (zero lights in there and I am sick of the floor lamp and the dark). Also, I may hire Sam as a contractor/tutor when we do more stuff on our house. You guys are doing an amazing job!!
Carrie I love what you guys have done with your house. It looks so good. I love the commentary too. I miss you!
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