Need to cover 10” square hole in post & beam ceiling & add lighting
Holly Dungan
7 months ago
Hi, I have a 1960 Alexander home that I’m remodeling. In the kitchen, we removed a large commercial hood that was vented up through the post and beam ceiling which has been removed. I now have a 10 in.² hole in the ceiling that I need to try to cover.
The hole is above my kitchen island, and I would like to install lights there. Wondering if anyone has any creative solutions to cover the whole? I was thinking a custom built wooden thin box to house the electrical wire and cover the hole, but my contractor says that will be expensive.
I looked for lighting which had large ceiling mounts, but I’m not seeing anything that sizable either. I would like two large pendant Sputnick like lights centered above the island. (I think!)
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Need more natural light in kitchen - x post
Comments (14)The first and least expensive thing you need to do to lighten up the kitchen is to repaint it going a shade or two lighter of the same color paint. It looks like you've painted the greatroom and kitchen with the same paint but because the kitchen doesn't get a much light as the great room, using a lighter shade in the darker room will help fool the eye into thinking the rooms are more equally lighted. Next, and this may be a totally crazy idea but... It looks like you've got tons of natural light in the adjoining great room so I was wondering what you could do to borrow some of that light. Your arches and columns, combined with the dark wood (especially the dark ceiling beams) in your kitchen, plus the dark metal scrollwork on your lighting fixtures AND the fact that you have steps going up from the great room into the kitchen put me very much in mind of the "gothic cathedrals" in Europe. And that led to this idea. How about adding a "rose window" effect above the central archway leading between great room and kitchen to let more light into the kitchen. Attached is a link to an image of a rose window over an arched opening leading from the nave to the high alter of a cathedral that will give you a better idea of what is inspiring my idea. Basically, I think this would mean cutting a large round hole (like a round window) in the wall above the central archway and then inserting metal scrollwork to give the impression of a rose window. This would doubtless require a bit of reframing but it would cost a lot less than trying to add additional windows on the exterior kitchen wall. And, extra light from your greatroom would pass through the hole into your kitchen. Then, to make the rose window look like it was part of the original plan, you could find (or have made) some similar but smaller pieces of gothic scrollwork to hang over the archways leading to your front door and over the niche on the wall opposite the kitchen. Add a metal scrollwork quadrifoil design to the front of your hood (that smaller 4-leaf clover shaped window you see at the very back on the inspiration picture is a quadrifoil) and your stove very subtly become the "high alter" of your home. LOL! I'm also thinking that if you eventually find the western sun creates too much glare, you could hang stained glass in the kitchen windows instead of curtaining or shading them - which of course would add to the gothic cathedral impression. Anyway, I know its a crazy idea but sometimes you it helps to think outside the box. Here is a link that might be useful:...See MoreReplace ceiling beams/joists due to rat infestation over 10yr period?
Comments (11)It will be easier to see what is what when the shake roof has just been removed and sunlight hits the area for the first time since 1964. Make sure the attic floor is covered in plastic tarps before the horrendous mess of a shake roof removal starts to fall all over the attic. Also cover the yard area near the house to keep old nails and wood debris easy to find and clean up....See MoreAdd faux beams?
Comments (106)Way up thread you said "...but will give some thought to perhaps painting the ceiling. (Although that sounds like hard and messy work. I don't know that I've ever painted a ceiling, out of ALL the painting I've done in my life!) I've done a lot of painting, too, and I can tell you that if you think painting a ceiling is hard and messy, just you wait until you start unloading those bookcases to paint the insides. Either you have to paint just the backs which means carefully edging all four sides, or you paint the entire inside of each box. You'll be on a ladder for the top row before you switch to lying on your back. If you're going to do it I guess foam boards would be the way to do it, but even that sounds pretty tedious to me. Your bookcases are beautiful as they are....See MoreHelp lighting a kitchen around a weird beam in the ceiling
Comments (34)Thanks for the help and suggestions with the photos. The beam will be just as low as it it now. It would just be about a third narrower. I got it about the recessed lights over the island, but I was wondering if there is any way to make this more decorative too? Also, would that be enough to light the whole kitchen (except the eating area)? Any advice on how many lights or how strong they should be? The kitchen will have a reddish brown hardwood and white cabinets. Mostly existing appliances. Also, we just put LED recessed lights in another room and they just don't dim enough. Any thoughts on lights that actually dim? Stick with incandescents or try something else? Thank you!!...See MoreHolly Dungan
7 months agoHolly Dungan
7 months agoker9
7 months agoHolly Dungan
7 months agoHolly Dungan
7 months ago
PROGalilee Lighting
5 months agoYou can make a custom chandelier that works on sloped ceilings. The canopy can be big enough to cover the hole.
Here are some ideas.
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