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!
Kristen says
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.
george says
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.
kate mckinnon says
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.
Shane Walp says
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).
kimmeth says
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.
MaryE says
Ditch the beams, paint the ceiling a shade deeper than the walls, and do some retro inspired track lighting.
Maryanna says
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.
Gavin Hastings says
(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.
Jane says
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
Judi says
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.