Should recessed can lighting be added to mid century homes, where there wasn’t any originally? And if, so, how? I’m throwing this one open to reader ideas. Natalie writes:
Pam – You link your kitchen to show your round, chrome, recessed lights, but I cannot find anywhere on the website where you say what the product is that you used for those round, recessed lights in your kitchen. We have vaulted ceilings in our “Den” with fake wood beams seperating it into 6 rectangles. The previous owner put in some nice 80′s can lights in each section. We cannot decide if we should replace them or if we should just close up the ceiling holes. If we close up the holes, I am afraid the living room will be dark, because the only light coming in there is from the patio door on one end of the room. So then I thought about recessed lighting to help it be more flush with the ceiling. Any ideas are welcome. I just needed a second opinion, well third since the hubs is just as stumped.
Thanks, Natalie
I ask Natalie whether the existing “eyeball” can lights work. She reports:
They work okay I guess, except that if you use regular light bulbs when they go out they explode. Like explode. And the light bulbs they have to go in there are like $40 for a pack. We flipped the lights on once and the one right above the light switch and entry way into the living room exploded in front of us. Then another one exploded over the couch. So there is currently only one light bulb in them.
I find them bright and kind of spot lighty, if you get what I mean. It is a den, it should be more warm.
And, when she sends more photos, she adds:
And we are actually trying to decide if we want to paint the beams white or not.
What do you think, readers — how should Natalie and Graham get more light into their mid century living room / den? Note, we had a post earlier this year in which readers weighed in (1) keeping a beamed ceiling and (2) with some comments on painting the beams. Although the style of the house was different, it’s worth taking a look — there were 80 comments!
Retro lighting: Square recessed can lights – reproductions 
Dave makes mid century modern wall panels for his living room for $250 
Use a decorative, mid-century living room screen as a headboard 
Become a fan
I’d go for the recessed can lights – who needs exploding lights??
As soon as I saw the picture of your room, I thought: paint the beams. I think I’d go for the recessed can lights.
I wouldn’t paint the beams…I would paint the ceiling a richer color (i.e. reduce the contrast of the dark wood on pale color) so that the beams and ceiling would complement each other & become an integrated “unit.” It wouldn’t have to be a dark color to complement the beams, just something with some presence so the beams don’t look as stark. Such a cool feature of the room!
Sorry, I have no experience with recessed lighting but there must be some alternative to exploding lights! I’ve seen those little “eyeball” lights used for spotlighting artwork in a local museum, but they might not be the best source for general ambient light.
Hello… Long time looker first time poster. Can lights work really well for kitchens. We a cool little 1952 raised ranch in Denver that we have right where we want it after eleven years.
We put recessed can lights in our Kitchen after researching their use in the fifties. We need good light from the peripheral for food preparation and cleaning dishes. We used the “Halo H7RICT 6 in. Remodel Insulation Contact Recessed Housing”. It was super easy to add these. The hardest part was to add the electrical drops in all the new places. You won’t have this problem because the wiring is already there. The trim selection for these cans is very broad. You can find anything from flat white to even copper. The one thing I would do is use incandescent bulbs and a rheostat. That way you can fine tune the can lights with some of your table and floor lamps.
Your beams or coffers are framing a white picture on a white wall. I think they would look really good if you went with some nice color matched wood paneling on either end of the room. You could even find a nice little wall unit to go over the wood panel. That would be hot.
Also, I would ditch the ceiling fan. It may be a forgone conclusion, but it hurts my eyes more than the eyeball lamps.
just my 2p.
Dude, you’s right….there are other ceiling fans I would opt for, if I were to use one, but everyone has their preference. That keeps everything from being the McSame.
We hate the ceiling fan, but it will be one of the last things to be replaced. And, the PO remodeled in the late 80′s, and that happens to be one of his “fancy” additions. So many things he did were just not good.
We have those very lights in our 1941 living room. We’ve lived in the house 3 years but I don’t think we’ve replaced any of the bulbs. We don’t use these lights all that often as we prefer our (mostly) kick bootie vintage lamps. We do have dimmers on the lightswitches that control the over head lights so I don’t know if that makes a difference. It sounds to me (I don’t know alot about these things, though) that maybe too much wattage is hitting the lights and causing the issue with the exploding light bulbs. Maybe a visit from an electrician is in order. The lights are nice to have when we need alot of over head light or I move some artwork (black velvet, ahem) and want to focus a bit of attention on it.
As far as the beams go….I am personally not a fan of anything “faux” but if you do decide to keep them, I would go with the previous readers advice and lay some color on those ceilings! Good luck!
We have two “fake” beams in our back den, installed by the PO. When we redid the back room it was a big point of contention between us if we were going to paint the beams or not (white to match the ceiling). Seriously, these beams were one of the biggest fights we ever had. I guess if that is our biggest problem then we are in good shape lol.
I was adamant that we needed to blend the beams into the freshly painted ceiling. I eventually got my way and painted the beams white, while being scowled at the whole time. In the end, she finally admitted it looked great, and was MUCH better than these brown beams drawing your attention and making the ceiling feel lower.
Pam has picks of the before and after of the back den she is welcome to post (Mike and Lindsey from OKC who recently sent you the pink bath re-do pics and some previous owner before and after shots)
I would love to see these, Mike!
One other suggestion is to install a nice light kit on the ceiling fan. If you decide to get rid of the other lights all together. I know Lowe’s has some nice ceiling fans with lights that have a retro look to them. That may be enough light in the room, and possibly add a couple of table or floor lamps as well.
Sorry to be the dissenter, but I really don’t like the look of recessed can lights in general. I agree, get a retro-inspired ceiling fan and keep the beams and use paint to lessen the stark contrast with the beams. Get some table and/or floor lamps.
On our retro-inspired fan, we use the fan a lot in the summer, but we don’t use the light too much. Fortunately, our LR gets lots of natural light, and our table lamps are usually enough.
I’d leave the lights alone. They’re practically invisible, especially when you have the room furnished and the eye is attracted by more important objects. For visual reference on those vaulted beam ceilings, look at Dallas, Tx area MLS. They were very popular in “older” home in that area. You can see many different examples of how people have dealt with them. I prefer them as they are in the natural wood color as they are balanced in their placement on your ceiling. To paint them out would diminish the architectural quality of your room, and to paint them some funky color would look, well funky. Have fun!
Recessed lights LOOK great and can give any room beautiful Museum-Lighting.
That said, I would never add them again. Why? Because it is EXPENSIVE, INEFFICIENT lilighting. Stand under one and feel the heat….then glance at your electric bill…..then buy a replacement bulb. I once was told that even when dimmed, these fixtures still pull lots of power. There are those new lamp bulbs…but the light is “different” and not many are dim-able.
That said- Why not just ignore them? I would think that the size of that room would require THREE substansial lamps spread around the room. Try that prior to calling the contractor. Picture lights may also work here. It appears that you have lots of electricity already in place: Sconces or wall lights maybe? Hardwired picture lights…as I have in a dark hallway? Or a strip or two of WALL mounted 1975 type track lighting. I think they will be the must-have for retro-renovators of the future.
Since this is used as a LR….do you really want extensive light evenly placed everywhere….like a Supermarket? Sucking up juice while dimmed (which they will usually be)?
I would leave the ceiling alone…it will look completely different if the walls were painted a color…even beige.
I don’t mean to sound push-y here, but I don’t want you to regret shelling out $.
Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing…or as I say “Let the NEW owners of the future do it……” Weight the price of $40 for a pack of lightbulbs vs the expense, time and hassle of can-lights.
Get a price from a contractor, and then think of all the other fabulous things you could do in the room with the money.
Good luck and have fun!
I’m with Gavin, go with lamps. I know ceiling fixtures and lights are common and maybe some are indicative of mid century homes but in my opinion, most ceiling lighting is harsh and unattractive. I rarely ever turned on any of the ceiling fixtures of the homes I have owned. I am a total lamp fanatic. I have at least 20 lamps or more some stored in a closet and I change them out every so often to keep things interesting and different. I use mostly low wattage bulbs in most so I can get a nice soft glow most of the time, but then have larger lamps with three way bulb sockets located in places where I know I’ll be reading or need task lighting. Those lamps however are rarely turned on otherwise. I also make use of candles all the time along with my low wattage lamps because I love the atmosphere and look of candlelight too. it’s atomsphere all the way for me..scrub all the thoughts of ‘right and wrong’ blah blah blah..do what you like and what makes you feel relaxed, comfortable, and ‘at home’.
I’m with Gavin as well, no one wants to sit under examining lights. I spent that fortune he was speaking of with recessed bullet spots at the condo in Florida, and they are expensive to operate.
Leave the ceiling alone, you may consider refinishing the parquet flooring a little darker, and maybe, if the house can handle it, do a few high-powered 50′s Asian style pieces of furniture with big hardware, some comfy jewel toned seating, and a punchy, large Edward Fields area rug, vintage of course!
Enjoy the challenge and have fun doing it.
I can’t comment on lights; I don’t know enough on that subject. On the topic of painting the beams, it depends on how you plan to decorate the room. If it’s going to have a rustic Adirondack look, for instance, maybe you would leave the beams unpainted. If it will have a more MCM look, maybe painted would be better. Whatever you plan, I would think it would be good to have all of the trim the same. The photos seem to indicate that some of the door trim is painted, and some is stained.
I have similar vaulted ceilings in my ’59 bungalow (butterfly roof). It actually has recessed lighting in the living room and den which is original to the home. We purchased the home from the original owners and it came with all the architectural drawings.
We wanted more light but installing more recessed lighting would have meant ripping out original plaster celings that were in perfect shape. As well, with new fire regulations, the insulation boxes that were required for recessed lighting would not have fit in the small space between our ceiling and roof.
We opted for gallery lighting and placed these lights http://www.kendallighting.com/products/track-lighting/mp1602 next to our beams and put low wattage flood bulbs in them for fantastic ambient light. We went for the largest size they had. They also set off the angles of the ceiling and the beams beautifully.
Here is an article with some photos of my home but it there aren’t any shots of the lighting we added. Feel free to email me at seejanesell@rogers.com if you’d like to see more photos
http://www.ottawaathome.ca/Living/2010-05-10/article-1072082/Style-Revolution/1
(Pam, I’m diong my best to get us to 80)
All that said- My own livingroom would look great with a few canlights, but would only highlight the old rug, the sofa that needs reuphostery and less than perfest walls.
Think about this for awhile: I think canlight are fantastic when everything else in the room is new and perfect.
I agree that it sounds like there may be an electrical problem causing the exploding bulbs. My first choice would be to have the wiring checked out to make sure it’s delivering the right about of power. Once that’s taken care of, a dimmer switch should fix the problem of them being too bright.
In the end, I’d leave the lights if at all possible. I don’t think they look bad at all, but that’s just me. As for the beams, if they are original, I’d leave them too…but if not, painting them white will help elevate the ceiling, and I think they’d look good either way.
Ditch the beams, paint the ceiling a shade deeper than the walls, and do some retro inspired track lighting.
Whatever you decide the exploding lights must go – just that concern alone is a distracting, uncomfortable presence to the room and I would constantly be worried the wattage, voltage or wiring is faulty and will lead to worse problems. Well, I worry, I am a worrier but consider consulting an electrician or lighting expert as to why they are exploding in the first place (just getting too hot?).
Lighting: The warmth of a room is affected but the ceiling/wall color, furnishing and the layering of light sources as well as the bulb type (bright white, balanced, even pale pink bulbs can change the overall feel). Personally I like the smaller recessed lights whether they are trimmed in white or chrome. Call me crazy, I even like updated track lighting on a vaulted ceiling such as shown in the other article – something about it feels kinda retro to me even when they are new and you can angle the light anywhere to diffuse it or highlight artwork/a seating area. I think the main point is layering light sources because anything on a dimmer will help keep things from getting too “spotlighty”
Beams: I like beams in a den because they feel cozy but I could go either way on how to treat them. Painting the beams a paler tint or the ceilings a darker hue then present to lessen the contrast is a good suggestion. If I kept some contrast I would probably even add a few beams (smaller or equal size) to break-up the big squares. If I kept them as is I could probably paint them white and go for more of a coffered ceiling look.
I’m gonna go with….yeeeaahhh. I’m planning it for my own LR. It’s like a great antique auto restoration, presented with soft lighting in the right places while it’s being shown to highlight the quality. It/s like going from flat audio to surround sound! 1950s TV lamps had the same affect.
Like neon under-car kits, if it would have been around in the ’40s and ’50s, it would have been used! (I know, there were prob some applications for recessed lighting then, but I’m generalizing).
I totally agree with the comments about the ceiling fan (my throat clenches just looking at it) and all of the white.
The beams may be fake in the sense that they are not holding up the roof, but they are very real in the sense that they are period pieces, handmade, of wood. Seriously! This is vintage real wood trim in fantastic condition. To make them seem more at home, what you need is some wood in between the ceiling and the floor, and some colour in the room.
I would cover that entire white wall at the end of the room in built-in bookshelves, made of wood that is finished in the same tone as the wood beam detail and the floor.
Fill those shelves with art and books, throw a lushly colored rug on the floor… install some great retro track lighting, and if you want to keep the fan replace it with something groovy. Me, I’d take it out and put a Sputnik chandelier up.
: )
If you had a few decent track runs up, you wouldn’t need to use the recessed lighting that you don’t like, and one set of safe, non-exploding bulbs would last you a good long time.
i would address the trim in the entire room, especially if you have light carpentry skills. the ceiling beams look off balanced to me. if you made the door and floor trim thicker, and perhaps added a wainscoting type detail, the beams would look less arbitrary and fake.
so yea, i would retain the beams painted or natural, as long as they integrated into a unified trim scheme for the room.
as for the cans, i give them a big “probably not”. those work OK with a sort of 80′s sunset magazine look. if you went in that direction, perhaps a few narrow skylights would make it more complete…
i would pull out all those light fixtures, replace the cans with relatively small hanging fixtures. if you paint the beams, i would bring back the warm materials with the fixtures. woven, fabric, wood types. if you leave the beams, i would go white or glass on the fixtures.
the ceiling fan is always a challenge, good looking fans are expensive. but probably worth the cost to impact. you could get an artemis if you feel rich.
Keep the beams. As someone who just bought an old house (1903 Colonial Revival) I can tell you that painting over wood is a terrible idea. I love the look of beamed ceilings, it’s true to the original look and frankly, if you wanted a new house, you would have bought one. I also hate canned lights, they don’t stand the test of time, they’re inefficient and they’re a pain to change light-bulbs.
I think the beams bring in warmth rather than making you feel closed in. Quite the opposite, they’re cozy and classic. As for the fan, if you must keep it, switch it out with a prettier one.
Hi!
The first thing I have to say ( and it has been said before) is call an electrician to check those light fixtures…there is NO reason that there should be exploding anything! Not good at all. The second thing is if you want to keep a ceiling fan, do change it out…The Modern Fan Co. is a good place to look. Third, regarding the cans, if they can be stopped from exploding, they can be kept, though there are different types of ceiling fixtures that might be more appropriate, and work well for highlighting art and such.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22007527@N04/2287946877/in/set-72157623622206307/
Just as an example in my own home…I got them pretty inexpensively from e-bay, and they replaced, you guessed it, eyball cans, though slightly smaller ones.
As far as the wood goes, I am more fond of keeping the wood, and perhaps change the color of the walls and / or ceiling to make the room richer overall…that way,there would perhaps be less of a contrast. You have a wonderful ceiling, the beams just highlight that fact.
All in all, good luck and happy renovating !
LOVE your light fixtures, Christa! It’s a fabulous room!
Take those crappy lights out and find some yummy retro hanging lights. Mix a few colors or go with the same color. I love aqua and red together but coral is tugging at my heart also…or maybe salmon…but orange is good too.
These are all wonderful suggestions and ideas. Gives me some more things to research and decide on. I saw one comment about putting a built-in in on the back well, well guess what, there already is one…right beside the fireplace! http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/eh9Kr7X6a8eJQhfeMfUryA?feat=directlink
Yes, the fireplace is pink, which is why the room will be painted turquoise. It is the middle color on the wall in between the built in and fireplace. We also have a couch in that room that is the exact same color as the fireplace. (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/DSACNDE_9Uzlh30MKPeYZQ?feat=directlink)
I also want to agree with several people about the fan. I hate that fan. Haha. It will go, just haven’t gotten a new one yet. We have also considered just using lighting from the fan (which is what the other houses on our street have), but I am afraid it would be too little. We currently have an arch lamp for the room, and one table lamp. The patio door gives light to only one side of the room. The buffet and TV go on the wall that goes into the kitchen (first picture).
From the comments so far, I am leaning towards painting the beams a very light brown with white ceilings (I am weird about ceiling being anything other than white). The stain job on both the ceiling beams and the built-in were done by the previous owner, they are very splotchy and poorly done, which is why it would be easier just to paint them instead of re-staining.
Still undecided with the lights though. It is such a hard decision. I like the idea of smaller recessed lights, but I also like the idea of no ceiling lights.
Anyway, I hope that gives everyone a little more insight and I really, really appreciate all the ideas! Everyone on here is so great with resources!
Oh and Linda – are you from Dallas? Our house is located in Farmers Branch! =)
Natalie,
What did you end up doing to finish this project and can we see the results?
Your room reminded me of the space I have in a mobli home with vaulted ceilings and fake beams. I want to paint and I’m not sure if I want to paint over the faux beams. The ceiling needs painting so bad and painting around 3 beams seem like tedious project. My ceiling fan is white and was added to the home- not original but extremely functional for hot Texas weather with no central ac.
The white against the white ceiling does not take away from what the rest of the room . The previous ower started painting white on the hall wall and stopped against a pepto bismal pink. I’m not a creative type, but know good taste when I see it and try to follow that lead. I look forward to seeing what you did. I was excited because I was also considering a teal color for the room.
How did that work out? My main wall is currently a antique pink floral wall paper like fabric with stains that I cannot get out. I think I will have to Kiltz it, and add floor molding because the previou owner put id dark hard wood planks and forgot to replace the molding. The home is about 900 sq. feet and I’ll have to be careful to have minimal furniture and use a color that will open it up and be cheerful. I have thought about additional lighting in the ceiling expcept for blowing fuses from electrical overload. No exploading lights yet. I am anxious to see your end result and thank you for sharing your home project with us.
I would leave the beams the way they are. Priming and painting multiple coats would be daunting-especially with your hands and arms over your head! Paint the walls and in between the beams in a warm candlelight yellow or ivory. Then, bring the same wood tone as the beams, (or at least a color as close as you can get it) and sprinkle it around to the other parts of the room. Such as end tables, bookshelves and or bookcases. That way the beams will look like they belong. How about that floor? Could it be refinished to match the beams??
As for the lighting, I agree with the others. Get a good electrician to look at the wiring before you make any decisions. In my opinion, I’d keep the cans and put them on dimmers.
I agree with Gavin on just ignoring those lights and using lamps instead. As for the beams …. don’t paint them. I have beams too , original to my 65 ranch- they are meant to be the color of the wood, not paint! I just went to an open house that also had beams…and was sad because they had painted them. I remember babysitting in that house in the 70′s and the beams were not painted then. My feeling is: why have the beam if you’re just going to paint them? They are meant to be seen.
I think that it’s an excellent idea to just ignore the ceiling lighting and use mood lighting around the room with lamps and sconces (you can get great vintage ones that plug in and you don’t even have to have them wired). I don’t think you asked about the beams but I think that they’re beautiful.
You could also remove the ceiling fan and hang a large period appropriate fixture there. I wish that I could attach a photo of the one that we have in our house – we have a ceiling just like yours but ours is all wood with wood beams. We found a hanging fixture with three huge lights hanging from it and it’s really pretty and gives nice light along with some lamps. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to put a link to a photo of the room here..
sure, put a link, kelly
Sure thing, Pam! Thanks!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53699664@N00/4304832966/in/set-72157621644975601/
I agree with Eartha – replace the fan with a cool pendant or other MCM style fixture.
Then take Gav’s suggestion and get lamps or task lighting for other areas where needed. This will be the quickest and least expensive approach.
As for the can lights – get an electrician out pronto or put a flat box over the switchplate so no one can turn them on. You’ve definitely got a problem there and don’t want to start a fire!!
thanks Ertha! very cool fixture! (But now I’m even more terrified of Jack…)
Our 1964 family room has two can lights at each end, and in the middle where they can shine on the fireplace, two of those frogeye looking spotlights. Ours have never exploded no matter what kind of bulb we put in them. We have used regular incandescent light bulbs, spotlights, floodlights. Some last longer than others. It would be a good idea to have an electrician look at them. They may need repair, or maybe you are just using the wrong kind of bulb. There are quite a few choices when it comes to those bulbs, and they all look exactly the same, but with different numbers and recommended uses.
We also have walnut beams on the ceiling, which are part of the original mid-60s colonial decor. There is a wide walnut panel molding all the way around the ceiling, and the French doors to the sun room are walnut as well. We wouldn’t dream of painting them. The floor is walnut stained oak.
The builder stopped by for a visit not long after we moved in, and confirmed the lights were original.
if the lights are staying (and exploding), that usually happens (as atomgrrl stated) when there’s too much power getting to the bulbs, tough it isn’t necessarily wattage, because watts don’t go through wires, current does (watts is the work, i.e. lighting the lamp, done over time). current is voltage divided by resistance. In order for the current to be high enough to blow your bulbs, either you need a significant voltage potential (your lights aren’t wired at 220v, are they?) or you need very low resistance in your bulbs. Or, something is causing the excess current at the bulb socket. Another thing could be bulbs of too low wattage installed. I’ve done it before where I bought the more inexpensive bulbs, only to find out there wattage rating was too low, and putting them in a high rate wattage light fixture (and therefore high current as current is directly proportional to power) caused them to explode. Check the type of light fixtures you have and whatever tech spec sheet/booklet they came with to see if you’re using the proper rated bulbs. If that isn’t the case, time to call in the electrician (if you’re keeping them)!
wow, that sounds like a really good explanation of wattage vs. voltage. alas, my brain is just not wired to understand this, so no matter how many teams i read it i will not understand. just as: i cannot work the THREE remote controls it now takes to run our big flat screen tv that replaced the old one killed mercilessly by a thunderstrike (no it wasn’t the surge protector — it was the cable itself!) Three complicated remotes. Three. Did you hear me? Three! Insane.
I would love to see grasscloth on them thar walls!
And, call an electrician. Good luck.
A bit late to this party, but…. For those of you concerned about the authenticity of recessed lighting, check any Saxon’s (“Oh, Happy Happy Happy” was one of his books) cartoons in the New Yorker from circa 1960, his post and beam fantasy houses had the big (probably brass) bezel can and pinhole spot lights, and some eyeballs too. They would have been the height of cocktail chic back then….
And get the wiring checked, blown bulbs are often an indicator of bigger problems (or cheap bulbs, but I know you aren’t using them).
If you paint those beams someone will be very, very frustrated someday when they try to return this room to its original appearance. I would not try to impose a newer aesthetic on it. Touching up the stain is not that difficult to do. For a less contrasty appearance I might consider mellowing the white-white ceiling with a tiny bit of golden or rose tin, just enough to alter the color of light in the room but not enough to make people notice that it’s not pure white.
Those ceiling lights look good just as they are. Any other kind of fixture would have to take the slope of the ceiling into account. Pendant ball fixtures could do that but I think they would be too intrusive … there are too many.
Overhead lighting has a way of somehow pressing down hard on your head. At the time your house was built people often overdid this kind of lighting because they simply hadn’t had experience with fixtures like this or they thought of it only in utilitarian terms. Once the electrical issue is resolved, which should be first priority for safety reasons, I’d use those ceiling lights only when bright light is required. Examples might be cleaning or looking for a lost contact lens. For all other purposes I’d rely on lights that are no more than head height: floor or table lamps.
I’d put in the can lights. Your house is not a time capsule and lighting is one of the most important things in your house. Put them on a dimmer switch and then you can really highlight your room without blinding people.
NO to recessed lighting. My architectural lighting designer spouse says no to recessed lighting in general, regardless of your home’s era. Recessed lighting is spotty and makes for a dark ceiling. What you really want is lighting that will throw light UP and down. You can do this with a pendant or floor/table lamps. For example, think George Nelson or Noguchi, or even the cheap Asian paper lamps (Ikea has some decent knock offs). Think glowy. We have a similar living room (1960s split level) and have a couple floor lamps that are white globes, one illuminated wall that changes colors (dichroic glass and a computerized timing system with down lamps) AND we have one of your aluminum cans (came with the place) that points at our fireplace. We swapped all of our fugly 1970s brass fans and lighting fixtures at Portland’s infamous Hippo Hardware. Cheers!
Thanks for the comment, Erin. Note, though: Somebody loved those 70s lights and fans back when… and they’ll likely be “hip” again soon – some are already!
You could replace the ceiling fan with a single pendant light, perhaps a school house style shade. Cover the can lights up and paint the ceiling a burnt orange. Love the wood beams!
Recessed lights are very mid-mod. Our house had square ones in every room. The fixtures produced very poor lighting by todays standards. So when we rebuilt the house we replaced them all with modern cans.
For the ‘exploding bulbs’, I wonder if you somehow got some defective ones. In any event, you might consider replacing them with LED bulbs of the same size (PAR38?) and never worry about it again. LED bulbs use about 1/7th the power for the same brightness too.