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!
Gavin Hastings says
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!
Larry says
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’.
Jeff says
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.
Linda says
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!
gsciencechick says
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.
Justin says
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.
MikeD says
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)
Natalie @ Chadwell Chronicles says
I would love to see these, Mike!
atomgrrl says
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!
AaronC says
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. 🙂
Shane Walp says
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.
Natalie @ Chadwell Chronicles says
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.
Andrea says
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.
MCMeg says
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.
Deb says
I’d go for the recessed can lights – who needs exploding lights??