Ideas for suspended ceiling lighting
Looking for ideas for lighting in our basement rec room which has a suspended ceiling with the typical 2x4 panels, which we will retain (no drywall!).
The previous owner installed fluorescent lights behind plastic lens when he finished the room. Since the ballast on most of them was starting to fail, we replaced all of them (except one) with some LED light strips. The cool light color is not to my liking -- they have that typical dentist-office look.
While it's not bad enough to remove them and start over (and DH likes them), an alternative might be nice for the remaining opening, which is in the center of the room. Note in the photo that there is an electric outlet at far end of this opening.
Comments (13)
Karenmo
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Suspended ceiling light part names and advice needed
Comments (1)"Also, how does the tube connect to this part at the bottom and to the canopy at the top? " If you use a hanging tube it is normally threaded into the canopy and a lock nut used inside to prevent it from unscrewing. The same threaded hole and lock nut is used to attach the 'down tube' to the body of the chandelier....See MoreAlternatives to an acoustic tile suspended ceiling?
Comments (3)Bead board or tounge and groove onto panels. Tin tiles would be a cool one too. You could also do a wood grid of painted trim and put cut sheet rock into the spaces. Make it look like the below ones. The last one would be harder to do than the other....See Moreneed advice for choosing a suspended ceiling for the basement
Comments (2)I would definitely choose small tiles. The larger ones will make the room look shorter and suffocating...See MoreAdvice/Opinion on Kohler Purist Suspend Ceiling Mount Faucet
Comments (18)Big nope for me. Here is what I see: Water lines in the ceiling means if I ever want to change out to a regular faucet then what? Electronic mixing valve that connects wirelessly-I have enough issues with wireless technology I dont need more frustration just to use my kitchen faucet. I see cords getting tangled. There looks like a lot of moving parts to the attachment point in the ceiling. Having to control it from a remote. No thanks. And when you see the advertising about the remote it says: when in need of attention you will see a flashng red light which indicates battery low, connection issues or valve issues. Again no thanks. Just having a remote you need to have on the counter is a big drawback. Having to touch it to control the faucet would not work well with yucky hands. At least with my regular faucet I can use the back of my hand or an elbow to turn it on. The price tag-Yikes This is something that belongs in a show kitchen. A kitchen that rarely gets used....See MoreKarenmo
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoI thought the can or pot lights suggestions were good for our one remaining unconverted light panel, but DH nixed that idea.
He thought it would look weird if most of the lights in the rec room ceiling were the long strip light type behind the plastic lens, but one was a totally different round pot/can style, and we should go forward with the LED strip lights in all the locations.
Do you think it would look odd if we had this totally different style of the round pot/can light in one place, surrounded by panels with the strip lights? (We expect to sell and move in a couple of years so we need to care about appearances, LOL!)
I included a layout of the room below. The panel in question is in the middle of the room, shown in blue in the diagram, and in the photo above. If we did the pot/can thing that is where it would be.
Karenmo
3 years agoKarenmo
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoOur rec room has a suspended ceiling metal grid with 2x4 ceiling tiles. We won't change the grid but will replace the tiles as needed. Here is a photo to give an idea:
This photo is looking from one end of the long family room to the window at the other end other. On the floor plan, the photographer is on the far right looking to the the left wall.The blue arrow points to a "black hole" which corresponds to the image posted above depicting an area where the tile had been removed for replacement of the original fluorescent light. (Also the turquoise area in the diagram!)
What is a little unusual in this basement is that the original owner who finished the rec room did not have the original fluorescent lights hard wired. Instead, he installed electric outlets at the light locations and used plug in shop lights. It seems like that ought to make it easier for us to relamp the whole thing with LED can lights, but I can't figure out how!
HALLETT & Co.