New Old Lights in Kitchen

We had been without a light above the sink for about 10 months, which didn't seem like a big deal until you found out in the morning that those pots & pans you washed the night before weren't quite as clean as you remembered.

On Saturday I realized that we had these old lights sitting in the basement, so might as well clean them up and use them.

I had hesitated to do anything with these because I thought they had rust, but it turned out to just be a little dirt. This was already looking easier than I expected.

Disassembling the lights went quickly in spite of some hard-to-reach bolts.

Old wiring. Gross. The sockets were still in good shape.

Note: Ace Hardware has these in stock for $4.50 ea. I opted to keep the originals, though.

After a quick sanding, the lights were ready to go. I wanted to make sure I didn't get paint inside the lights since the bare metal has a nice look. Solution: Roll up a cereal box and put it in the cone. It was much easier than taping would be and still allowed me to get the bottom edge of the light.

I finally bought myself some wire strippers, which was a worthwhile purchase. $7.50 at Ace.

Success! Ace Metallic spray paint: $5.99. New wiring: 60¢

Looks pretty good! Finally, we'll have some clean dishes.

The Ace Hardware in Carmel is a fantastic place. Every single person there knows what they're talking about. Even though they're 1/20th the size of those larger places, they have just as many staff there and everything you could need to complete a project. If you live in Carmel, go to Ace for everything. If not, find a locally-owned hardware store in your area. You'll find a much more knowledgeable staff.

--Zach--