DIY recessed lighting

Have you ever wanted to install recessed lighting, but don’t know where to start? I felt the same until I took a walk down the lighting aisle at Home Depot realized just how easy it would be to go from this….to this….

And it took me less than an hour and cost less than $20!!!

What you will need is an “old work” recessed light. It will look like this…

Located on the same aisle, you will also want to get a trim piece for the recessed light as well. There are a lot of trim styles to choose from, I got this one because it matches the other recessed lighting around my house.

The easy to follow instructions on the recessed light make it super simple.

First, and probably the most important part of this project is to turn the power off at the breaker for the particular light that you are working on. Next, disconnect the existing light fixture.

Then trace the instruction sheet, it is a template for the size hole you’ll need to cut out of the ceiling. After you have traced it, make sure there isn’t anything in the ceiling that is going to prevent you from making the cut. Using an awl or a nail, I like to poke small holes in the ceiling to check.

I was originally going to make my cut evenly around the existing light, but after poking through the drywall with an awl, I discovered that there was a beam that would prevent me from putting the light there. I moved the template over and made the cut. After you cut the drywall down, figure out how to get your particular light box down. This one was nailed to the beam, with a little force it was easy to get down.

Now grab the recessed light and with a flat headed screw driver, pop one of the little slots out. This is the hole that you will feed the wire through

Feed the wire from your ceiling into the box, connect the wires…black to black, white to white, and copper to copper (or sometimes green). Now that the wires are all securely fastened, put the box end of the recessed light into the ceiling first and then push the light into place.