Box beams and recessed lights

4 years ago

We are building our new home and having some trouble figuring out placement of recessed lights in the great room/kitchen. We want to add box beams/painted faux ceiling beams to our ceiling after closing. Size of the space is 18x36 total (18x20 great room, 18x16 kitchen, roughly).

I'm not sure how to place the lights. Kitchen comes with recessed lighting but great room doesn't. We were going to add 6 to that room. It's difficult to predict spacing and placement of the beams and our electrician says that even if we designate location, it could be limited by ceiling joists.

Would it be easier just to have them not put any in and add lights into the beams themselves? I'm afraid the ones we may add won't match the kitchen ones. Alternatively, should we try to get them as close to where we THINK they might go and accept some asymmetry? Would asymmetry be noticed? TIA

Example from the model home we want to emulate below (obviously with less lights lol).

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PRO

Mark Bischak, Architect

4 years ago

Do not locate recessed lights in the fake beams, it will scream "fake" more than "beam".

Plan the beam layout, plan the light locations, see if there is any joist conflict, alter light locations.

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Comments (10)

wdccruise
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
How about running the wiring from the wall switches/dimmers into the ceiling, leaving a coil of Romex (wire) at the approximate location of each light? When you're sure where you want the lights*, cut holes in the ceiling, feel around for the wires, and attach the wires to the fixtures. Retrofit cans and canless lights do not have to be attached to joists; they are light and can be held in place by the drywall alone.

If you're not sure of the color temperature of the recessed lights, there are selectable ones.

*If you decide to add an additional light, you can always daisychain it off another one.
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dax1210
Original Author
4 years ago
@Mark Bischak -- yeah, that makes sense. I'm playing with layout tools now. How does the pic look in terms of having it not centered completely?

That is approx 42" from the wall on each side (width is 18 ft). I do have them evenly spaced length wise, 5 feet apart in between beams. I don't know if that is too noticeable. I'm thinking I'll tell the electrician to keep the lights 5 feet apart and 42" from the wall. I don't know how precise they will be though.

@wdccruise -- i don't think my tract builder would let me leave extra cable up there. I could theoretically place fewer cans and that way I can space the others after beams are placed. I'm not sure if the retrofit cans would look different though.
User
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
What is the status of the work? Are the joists installed? Is it possible to draw the location of the joists accurately? If so, you could design the beams around the joist pattern. I've been forced to do that many times even when there were no beams involved.
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
The lights not being centered does not bother me. Ideally, in a composition sense, the lights should be centered, but there are many other factors involved in laying out lighting. And frankly, no one is going to notice, unless the space is not sufficiently illuminated.
PRO
Charles Ross Homes
4 years ago
The placement of recessed lights is constrained by framing if you use a conventional "can." Ultrathin LED downlights might be the ticket for your application.

https://lithonia.acuitybrands.com/products/downlighting/canless-solutions#t=ablProducts&sort=relevancy&layout=card
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Virgil Carter Fine Art
4 years ago
Never in a box beam. Nothing screams "fake beam" more than something like this...
GreenDesigns
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
“Nothing screams "fake beam" more than something like” any fake fad beam. If it doesn’t appear structural, and this doesn’t, Skip it.
User
4 years ago
A coffered ceiling is an architectural design feature that does not need to be structural. I usually design them with veneer plaster on blueboard with crown or cove moldings.

Because there's a lot of leeway in the design of coffers its not difficult to align it with the framing but you need to measure carefully and draw carefully. I'm not aware of another feasible solution.
PRO
BobH
4 years ago
If you can get a measurement from a wall to the center of the first joist above and also check the joist spacing and post the floor plan of the area with dimensions, it can be laid out pretty quickly.