Remember when I said ‘next up, front door closet’? That  didn’t happen, which is par for the course over here at Casa Schenfisch. If I get a project in my brain, there are very few things that can stop me from completing them (one being my hubbies new rule of ‘one project per paycheck’, which in actuality is a good rule considering I was contemplating taking a sledgehammer to the bathroom vanity and figuring out how to replace as I go) But I digress.

What we did instead (I’ve got my eye on you, 28″h vanity, that’s mid-thigh for me!) was add lights to the kitchen peninsula. Originally, there was  the ever fashionable cabinets-above-the-counters, blocking sight from the kitchen to the dining room. These cabinets were also depressingly dark, and with a cheapo fluorescent light as the only one in the kitchen, the food prep area was dismal. We took out the upper cabinets to let in the light, but something was still missing…

See how it could just be so much better with some lights (and paint, and new countertops, and hardware…)? The other stuff we’ve tackled some, but the lighting situation wasn’t going anywhere. With winter coming soon, the days get dark at 4:30; I knew we needed to combat that somehow. Here is my lovely husband demonstrating how to make bread in the dark: Busting out my trusty electrical handbook (no seriously. I have one. Thanks Dad!) I knew it would be “easy, peasy, honey, I swear” to add in a junction box and fish the wire through the hollow soffit and tie into the existing light above the sink. Le sigh. Famous last words, right? We realized after some digging/drilling/knuckle scraping that things were done differently in the 70’s than they are now (though thankfully they are more logical now than 1916. Can you imagine the headache this would have been in the old house? Shudder.) The recessed can light above the sink was actually a large square metal box, with a metal junction box attached to the side, which makes poking wires through a bit more difficult. I got stuck on this and went to the Bison game, to clear my head;)

When the Mr. and I got back, it was no problem for him to get it figured out, and we proceeded.

 Of course all this was after dark, making the whole adventure more exciting. I should note: my husband hates electricity. HATES it. Wants nothing to do with any electrical projects whatsoever, where as I have changed out light fixtures and switches in all 10 apartments I have ever lived in. So the fact that he was helping me (and really doing it all and problem solving)is a huge testament to what he puts up with by being married to me:) The easiest part was running the wire and hooking up the fixture, its always the ground work that takes 4x longer than it should.

Here is the immediate effect :

After patching up the holes, we are now enjoying the bread Mike made in the light:)Here is a fancy pants side-by-side:

On to  the next project!