Living in Light

See this lamp.  It was our only source of light in our living room.  During the day our living room is bright and open.
But when the sun sets it turns into a cave.
The only light source is our TV and this old IKEA lamp that I've been wanting to get rid of for years now.  I think i dislike it so much because it casts so many shadows.  It's not meant to light up a whole room.
I don't think any floor lamp will do that.

And not knowing what sort of lighting solution Tresa was going to get (if any) for the living room so we aren't always straining our eyes in the dim light.

I decided that I was going to install pot lights in our living room.  After seeing what it looked like with pot lights next door.  And how nice it looked.
I was determined to get it done.  It was a last minute decision and I was still unsure until I started opening up some ceilings and walls to figure out how to do it.  But once I finished dealing with the basement drain, I kept the momentum going and went for the pot lights install.

Starting is always the most difficult part of any project.  Where do I begin?  Where should I put this? How should I do this?  Is this going to work?

First you buy a box of banana popsicles.  Because this is what I've been running on this past week.  I'm on my second box.  Mostly because it's been hot and humid.  And this has been cooling down my insides.

Eat as much as you like as you are sweating it out anyways.
And always call someone to help you.  It helps to get started.  And then cut a hole in the wall.  Cuz once that hole is there, that's the point of no return. Figure out how you are going to run the wires.  Because you could spend a long time doing this.  This prep work will help expedite the execution.

Glad my brother came over to help.  Ecstatic that we basically ran all the wiring in 1 day.  All that was left was to connect it up. It's so much more difficult to do it on your own.  It can be done, but it's a PITA. Another set of hands and eyes just makes it go so much smoother and quicker. And having the right tools for the job really helps.  A fishing tool to pull the wires through the walls is a must.  You can't do this project with out it.

Then just set out to do it.  Work steady.  Don't take a lot of breaks.  And it's really not that hard to do.  It's just work.  A lot of work, but if I can do this.  Anyone can.  Just don't take short cuts.

Now we can live in the light.  And it's dimmable!
It looks like I had envisioned. After I saw how it was next door. Ha.