As I was widening the doorway (these posts) between this kitchen and dining room I had to keep in mind that the homeowner’s wanted some pendant lights installed above the new countertop. This isn’t very difficult, as long as I plan ahead.
I did the rough wiring before I even put the header in. This included adding a switch on the adjacent wall where I moved the other switches to. Then, I left a couple gaps in between the filler pieces of 1/2″ plywood in the center of the header where the wires would go.
Under the header, I would install a very thin ‘pancake’ electrical box. I put these in place next and then marked the locations on a poplar board that I would be using to trim across the top of the opening.
With the locations marked I traced around one of the pancake boxes and cut out the hole with my jigsaw. Now the board fit perfectly and those thin boxes were nearly flush with the face.
Installing the lights and determining the best height was all that was left. We decided on a height that was around 22″ off of the countertop, but they can be easily raised if the homeowner decides that they are too low. It’s a matter of personal taste, I suppose.
The finished lights really helped to show off that heart pine countertop.
-Peter
