Electrified Diva

Here's a kitchen shoot before the Diva took over

I know you’ve been dying to know what electrical project had me and Mr. Diva electrified!  In the hopes that 2012 is the year of my new kitchen countertops, I’ve really been pondering all sorts of updates in kitchen.  First on my list was the green light fixture that went with nothing!  I thought a little spray paint would help make this light work. 

During my hiatus, I created a little eating area for Petite Diva and myself, where we spend breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner if Mr. Diva is out on the town.  We both love the al fresco feel while being civilized indoors.  

So back to the light…while Mr. Diva was at the office and Little Miss Diva was fast asleep, I decided to start my light fixture update.  If you were hoping for sparks, you’ll be disappointed.  I had already figured out which circuit breaker to turn off…though really the good news stops there.   First mistake was assuming that taking the light fixture down would be a 10-15 minute job.  Seriously, it should’ve been easy, but somehow one of the screws holding it into place had gotten stripped, which resulted in a major headache.  I really started to sweat that I couldn’t get this project done before Mr. Diva arrived home.  I hate to ask for help on my hair-brained schemes since I know he would rather be sitting on the couch with a glass of whiskey watching basketball.  So about 45 minutes later, I finally got the blasted fixture down and was really thinking twice about spray painting it.  I really didn’t want to put the stupid thing back up.  Plus my neck and upper back were already starting to ache from staring up at the ceiling for 45 freakin’ minutes.  Of course, the cheapskate in me won out temporarily.  The light fixture and I braved the cold for a few rounds of spray painting. 

Picture provided by Google.  The cold got the better of me and I completely forgot to take a picture of this step.  Trust me that it looked terrible. 

After 2 coats, I still wasn’t in love and wasn’t sure Mr. Diva would be either.  Why go through the hassle of putting it up if he’s going to hate it?  So, I flipped the circuit breaker back after cleaning up the wires hanging from the ceiling and awaited Mr. Diva's return.  Thankfully, he hated the original light and was all too happy to buy a new one…lucky me! 

Image from Lowe's

We found this great inexpensive option at Lowe’s and thought the worst was behind us.  Mistake 2-4.  The instructions were a little unclear, so while we had all the necessary equipment on the ready, it took us no less than 3 attempts to get this guy in place…another 90 minutes +.  Whew!  I kept reminding myself that I didn’t want to pay an electrician $90/hour to simply change out a cheap light fixture.  With the light and fire extinguisher in place, Mr. Diva and I enjoyed the fruits of labor. 

Thankfully, no electricians OR fire fighters were needed in the hanging of this light.  I’ve got my eye on another light fixture update…maybe I learned a thing or two on this project or maybe I didn't!