We’re definitely staying on “track” in the back of the house as I continue to work on sheetrock, painting, and now installing the new track lighting that arrived recently. The lighting in this space has been a long time coming… like so many things in this house. Richie rewired this area allowing us to put lighting down the supporting beams of each room. He also replaced all the outlets and switches. I have a thing for white outlets. They can’t be off white, or tan, or “ivory”. They must be white. It’s just a thing with me. THANK YOU, RICHIE!
So for several years Richie has been bitching and moaning about how we need to order our track lighting but honestly I was always so focused on other parts of the house it just wasn’t a priority. Now that I’m finally in the studio space and getting close to completing my workout room… lighting quickly became a priority. Richie wanted black, I wanted simple, and I think that’s what we ended up with. Lets face it, track lighting isn’t all that pretty, interesting, or fabulous. It functions, it lights stuff up and it’s adjustable. I guess those are all good things for a studio space.
I ordered 3 track lines and 10 track heads. They are all WAC brand and it’s a “H” track in case anyone might be interested. Track lighting comes in J, H, and L. That’s Juno, Halo, and Lightolier.The H system is known as 3-wire single circuit systems and is the most popular track system. The J is a 2 wire-wide single circuit system and the L is a 2 wire-narrow single circuit system. It’s very confusing to me. Richie tried to explain it but honestly “who cares”! My eyes were rolling to the back of my head and I eventually passed out. All I know is mine is “H” and all the tracks in my house are. What would he say to me “that’s woman’s work”…. well, “that’s man’s work”. Just make it look pretty, sweetheart!
Shamefully the beams in the studio part of the house have had wire dangling from them for years. I’m sure we were violating all kinds of code and habitation laws. Whatever! We’re trashy like that.
First Richie had to actually install a box for the wire and then nail up rough cut boards to cover the channel. All the beams in the house are rough cut which means they are not sanded nor have a super smooth finish. We had to stay “rough” with the cap so it resembled the beam.
The board gives the beam a nice finished look and it hides the Romex wire. (always a good thing and it’s code required). It doesn’t come perfectly flush with the edge of the beam because again… rough cut means NOT PERFECT. One side might match and the other side hang over. You have to compromise and leave a small gap on each side. It’s cool.
Then the track wire gets tied to the electricity and the track screwed into the newly installed boards. Actually track lighting is SUPER simple to install. I think even I could do it if I wasn’t so freaked out over being fried with electricity. (yes, always turn off the electricity, friends!)
Once that was done I stained the boards and put the lights in. I’m still playing around with them and haven’t decided which type of bulb I’m going to end up with. I love the idea of LEDs but I’m having a hard time finding ones that will fit. Not to mention the LEDs cost almost as much as the lighting! INSANE!
oooooo, pretty! Well…. sort of. YES, it is. Okay… maybe. I’m diggin’ it. Yes, pretty works!
Richie’s studio is around the corner from my workout room and it’s a total and complete wreck but we went ahead and installed the lighting in there too. Best to get it all over with. Richie can do just about anything but gets cranky if I don’t do it in a way that makes sense to him. It all had to be done at the same time. Okay, okay…
So here is his lighting. Excuse the mess.
The lights on the wall that I have circled came with the house. They are AWESOME and we love them. They’re Lightolier fixtures. Yes, again with the word “Lightolier”. Lightolier is a company that manufactures and sells a wide array of lighting fixtures. It was founded in 1904 by Bernhard Blitzer under the name of New York Gas and Appliance Co. In its early years, the company specialized in fancy decorative chandeliers then made a shift to high-end design and architectural in the 1920s. They also happened to be the first to introduce track lighting systems. It’s all so intertwined, isn’t it. I just can’t keep “track”. These were most definitely made in the late 50’s, mid 60’s and they weight a ton. They just don’t make anything like they use to. (another reason we stuck with black… it matches) You can see I’ve started on the sheetrock too.
His studio has 2 six foot tracks and 6 heads. We’ll also add some under cabinet lighting when it gets closer to the finish line. (like 3 years from now) JUST KIDDING! It better not be. HA HA!
I look forward to him having a lovely space filled with light (track and natural) so he can get back to making art and being creative. Richie is a wonderfully creative person and he’s an amazing musician. All of this has been put on hold while we work on this house and I’m excited for him to get back in the groove. Artistic people suffer when they can’t do their thing!
So the lights are up and I’m happy about that. I’ve also been working on my storage cabinet in the workout room (below) … trying to pick out a touch of color for the sliders and I also want to paint the door the same color. Picking out paint is NOT my favorite thing to do. TOTALLY MADDENING! Another reason that white rooms have been so much fun for me. Stress and fret-free choices are becoming more and more welcome in my old age. :-)
A teaser! I’m working on it. …….
So which one did I choose? Well, I’m saving that for the next post. Lets just say that the color I’ve had in my head for years didn’t quite turn out the way I’d planned. Home renovation is such fun!
what fun! (it’s my lunch break). a quick aside: i want richie’s particle board cabinet with the sliding green doors. those are dope. i gotta remember to show jordan those (he’s working on his shop in the garage). those lights are awesome and i am happy for the tutorial! i couldn’t tell you what you meant by all that H, L and J crap, but i will sure sound knowledgeable if it comes up in conversation (please help it to come up in conversation!!). i cannot wait to see what color paint chip you picked, but i see some of my favorite colors there!!! i agree picking one out can always be a bitch. chip v. wall does not actually equate! cliff hanger!
great work guys!!! it’s coming right along..
Hello gorgeous! Are you wearing your scarf today? I’ve been thinking about that all day today. It’s so darn pretty!
Those peg board sliders/masonite are all over the house. We removed some, but saved others. My cabinets in the workout room are peg board too. I’m sure those green ones will get a face lift but it was the “it” thing to use in the 50’s. They were also in the bathroom… but I just couldn’t deal. I nixed that design quick! HA HA!
Did I impress you with my track lighting technical jargon? It really did seem like I knew what I was talking about didn’t it. SUCKERS! Actually and unfortunately I do and it’s all so dull. Thanks for hanging in there with me.
Why in the world they don’t do paint chips in 8×11 I’ll never know. I mean I’d seriously pay ten cents or whatever to have a bigger one. That tiny piece of paper doesn’t help me at all. GIVE ME SOMETHING here… an old lady can’t see it when it’s that small. SO yes, hard to imagine. I’ll leave you hanging on that cliff for a while. The outcome is so boring I need to try to get you excited some way. (or at least make your arms sore) HA HA! Love ya!
ha. you even knew it was me as anon! not sure how that happened :)
ps huge scarf success XOXOXOXOX
You are so punny! Glad no one got fired. Everything looks great.
Fried, I mean fried not fired. Ohhhhh. Too much work for me today. I need to go home and take a nap!
Hey Jessica! Did you get your nap today? When you said that I realized just how tired I am. I need one too. And by the way… getting a pink slip might not be such a bad idea. I wouldn’t mind getting “fired” from my home jobs. I haven’t gotten a raise in years and the boss works me like a dog!
I knew what you meant! I didn’t get fired or fried. But I have been zapped by electricity before and it’s so freakin’ weird. It trips you out for just a minute. YIKES! We’re very careful, though… but it does make me nervous. Thanks for looking.
Please move to Canada so you can come finish our basement. That lighting in the context of the room is stunning Stacey. *Fans self*.
We are both in blue paint swatch hell. Isn’t it madness how the same shade can look 10 different ways depending on the location of the room and time of day? James is like pick one. I am like yeah sure, we all saw what happened with the purple wall of blinding bright colour.
Okay Alex… I bought my ticket and I’ll see you in two weeks. We can finish your basement and talk CSS style sheets for days! I WISH! Wouldn’t that be fun. I’ve said it a hundred times I’ll say it again. I’d rather work on your house than my own. It’s much more fun! OMG, the blue paint swatch has been TOTAL hell. Maybe that is what hell is really like… having to pick colors out all day… this one is too blue, this one is too green, this one is too bright, this one looks like neon, this one is…. HELP!!!!!!! Then the day light changes and darkness sets in and I’m like “Is that seriously what I picked…. What the hell happened to the color I chose? Sleepless nights and starting over the next day. Yep, that might be what hell is like. I’ll just hope I get to heaven… lots of white. HA HA HA! Hope you’re color fiasco ends up well. Mine eventually did and I’m really happy with it. More to come. Thanks, Alex.
You lost me at WAC, but oh my god, both the lighting in your workout room and the studio looks amazing! I’m not a gym girl myself either, I sweat a lot and the thought of OTHER people seeing me sweat profusely and turn red as a beet is abhorrent to me!!
HA HA! Hey Michelle. Sorry about all the tech light talk. I guess it was all pretty WAC-k. Trust me, I feel the same way. My brain begins to cloud and I nod off when someone tries to talk to me about stuff like that. I try to leave that stuff to the husband/handy man. But just in case someone was looking for track lighting… WAC brand is pretty good. :-)
Thanks so much for the nice compliment. I think when it all comes together it’s going to look pretty decent. I’m super “pumped” to have a space to work out. I do love to get my sweat on but like you I HATE being around other people. I just can’t hold my gut in for that long, dang-it! Glad to know I’m not the only red beet out there. I start to get a little pickled beet too. It’s not pretty. Thanks for looking. Sweet friends are keeping me going on this place. I certainly appreciate the encouragement!
Yay Lights! Totally agree with you on “Man’s work.” Electrical = Man’s work. Just make it pretty :)
Man’s work equals anything that might get me killed! I’ll leave that to him. (KIDDING!) But seriously, he doesn’t buy plants or pick out colors, tile or bed sheets. (woman’s work) Heck, Brittney… I sent him to buy light bulbs for these lights and I got 3 cell phone calls from the store from a man who was totally confused and incoherent. I finally told him to come back and I’d buy them later. I told him that was “woman’s work”… come home. (lol)
You hardly even notice the lighting against the beam! Very subtle… looks great, and I’m still in love with the grey stain you used on the wood.
You’re not kidding about electrical stuff freaking me out. Seeing Paul dig around in wiring makes me nervous! Even if it’s off, it still doesn’t seem like a good idea…
We replaced our kitchen lights with leds. HOLY cow they were expensive. We were planning to swap them out one at a time, as the cfls went… but once we installed a few new ones, I liked them so much better. I had read online that some people didn’t like the “white” of the led bulbs, but I far prefer it to the cfls, which I could never find the “right” shade of… either too yellow or too blinding-spaceship-taking-off.
Looks great… getting to the details is the best part!
Thanks Victoria! I appreciate you noticing that. We definitely didn’t want the lighting to stand out. It’s not that pretty.. so the less attention it draws, the better!
I’m still on the hunt for LEDs I’ve spend almost $500 dollars on bulbs (NO, I’M NOT KIDDING!). But every single one of them went back to the store because none of them fit.
Either the necks were too long and the bulb stuck out or the globes were too wide and they wouldn’t fit inside the track head. VERY FRUSTRATING! I’m determined to use LED’s but for now they’re full-on-heat halogens. You think electricity is scary…. HOT HALOGENS might be scarier! (is that a word? scarier?, more scary?) you know what I mean.
Well, not only are you a lucky duck for having a home gym but it also has an indoor “track” hee hee! Who knew there were those different classifications for track light systems: ‘H’ is for holla! They look cool – leave it to you guys to install them so seamlessly.
If we ever do up our basement, I always imagined that we’d do track lighting in white, (cause that’s how we roll around here: when in doubt, white) but these dark ones might make me reconsider that…
It occurs to me that setting up your workout room has been a bit of a…workout… :)
Yes, an indoor track was always in the plan… except it’s really hard to run on. That whole upside down gravity thing is making it difficult! An indoor pool is next!
You’re so funny! And yes, it has been a workout… LIKE EVERY ROOM IN THIS HOUSE! It’s my fault, really. I’m slow and everything has to be done just so. I can’t spread a bit of paint until everything has been properly sanded, wiped, caulked, puttied, primed or whatever other prep work is necessary. It sucks being so anal. Then when I think about it every single inch of every single space of this house has been touched by my hands and changed, updated, and re-done. I’m exhausted! Who’s got the energy to work out!
The lights look fantastic! I have track light envy now. They’re just perfect. I bought some for my laundry/walk-in closet before I knew the ceiling was going to have to be furred down, and the lights look way too big on the lower ceiling. Grrrr…but that’s a worry for another day after I get moved in and everything else taken care of. I can’t wait to see what color you chose.
Thanks Dana.. don’t even get me started on light envy! I’ve done nothing but think about your new light fixtures since you teased us with those pictures.
Those track systems have really been life savers in this house with the way the electricity runs. It’s a butterfly roof so I do understand about the low ceiling part.
Mine are probably a little low at the end of the slope… but oh well. Yes, we’ll both worry about it when we having nothing else to worry about. Hummmm…. I wonder when that will be, Dana? HA HA! Always something to worry/think about isn’t there. Blue paint chips are HELL! It was hard to choose but I hope I did okay. Thanks for visiting!!!
Blue! LOVE!! Of course, I do. Now I can’t wait for your next post. I’m wondering what you picked. That blue can be tricky. Ours looked grey when I rolled it on, but I continue to love it now.
Okay… back to the lighting. You are such a punny girl! The track looks awesome. Exactly like it should; like it’s always been there. And it looks like you got a ton of light going on in the area too. Nicely done!
It’s always Tyson’s job to play with electricity too. My dad was an electrician and that stuff can do some crazy stuff to your body. No thanks!
Yes, Yes, blue! I love your blue wall and honestly I’ve been drawn to a blue-ish, aqua-ish, gray-ish shade for a long time. I even realized I used it in my header on the blog. For some reason I’m drawn to it lately. Mine looks gray too, Danielle.. but then it changes as the daylight changes. It’s always a surprise!!
I’m happy to finally have light and I CAN SEE – I CAN SEE! The only problem now is I can see all the mistakes I made in the sheetrock. BUMMER! I’m trying not to look. I’ve got to get some pictures up quick so it will hide all my screw ups. HA HA! Thanks, D.
We are big fans of the track lights in our house. We added some to the master bedroom and VIOLA! I can see my clothes in the morning. It was a miracle.
Oh my goodness… I’m a freak about lighting. I hate a dark house and I need to see everything! My husband really teased me in the beginning when we were running the new electricity because I wanted lighting and plugs EVERYWHERE I could fit them. Now he sees… (literally) how much of a difference it all makes. Track lighting is such a great solution for our house and you can add or subtract lighting any time you feel like it. Which is further proof that I’m a control freak! HA HA! Thanks, Rebecca. So happy you stopped by!
P.S. I am getting more and more in love with just painting things white and decorating with accessories. I have screwed up so many paint choices over the years. SIGH… I painted the bedroom red once. What is wrong with me?