Artwork, Lights, Outlets, And A Partially Loaded Walk-In Closet
I changed my mind on what I wanted to work on yesterday. Instead of working on the island, I decided I wanted to try to knock off as many of the small items left on my to-do list as possible. I won’t bore you with every tiny detail, but I started off the day with 30 items on my list, and I got 14 of them done, and the 15th is in progress. So it was a very productive day! And getting almost 15 things knocked off of my list felt so much more satisfying than just trying (and possibly failing) to get one big thing done. I needed that boost yesterday.
The first thing I wanted to get done was hanging the pictures and lights above the washer and dryer. I purchased these picture lights (affiliate link) that come ready to be hardwired, but I didn’t want to put junction boxes in the wall. So I decided to wire them so that they can be plugged in instead. Thankfully, they had a hole in the backplate so that they could be wired for plugin.
To do that, I purchased two of these extension cords from Home Depot…
And then I used my wire cutters to cut the receptacle end off of the cord.
Using my utility knife, I separated the three wires.
Next, I identified the hot wire and the neutral wire. The wires inside of extension cords are almost never wrapped in black and white, so it’s not quite as easy to identify which one is hot and which one is neutral. But all you have to do is look at the sheathing on each wire. You’ll notice that the sheathing on one will be smooth, and the sheathing on the other will be ribbed going the length of the wire. The ribbed wire is the neutral that connects to the white wire in the light fixture. The smooth wire is the hot wire that connects to the black wire in the fixture.
Hopefully you can see what I mean in the photo below. The wire on the bottom is the smooth (hot) wire and the wire on the top is the neutral (ribbed) wire. You do have to be careful not to pay attention to the areas where the individual sheathings were cut or torn apart. Those torn/cut parts can often be mistaken for the ribbed sheathing, so you have to be sure to ignore those areas.
And then stripped the end of each wire about 5/8 inch.
And finally, I put the wires through the hole on the backplate of the light, and wired the cord to the light — smooth to black, ribbed to white, and ground to ground.
The installation was the same as it would have been had I hardwired it. I used the same mounting plate provided. The only difference is that the cord comes out the bottom of the light and runs behind the picture.
I really love these lights. They come with a remote, and you can change the color as well as the brightness.
I want to share one more of my projects from yesterday that might be helpful for some of you. I have four outlets that were covered over by the closet cabinets, so they needed to be uncovered. Generally, I used box extenders so that they outlets can be extended so that they’re flush with the back of the cabinets. But in this case, there wasn’t enough wire to bring them forward that much. So I had to get creative.
I used my Dremel Multi-Max to cut a rectangle that was about 1.25″ larger than the outlet on each side. And then I used a full coverage paintable outlet cover on the wall.
Then I used 1/4″ wood, cut to the width I needed on my table saw, and made this dimensional frame. The back part fits into the rectangle I cut and sits against the wall, and the front part frames it so that the cut edges of the cabinet back are hidden.
I put it together with my hot glue gun, did a little caulking, and then placed it into the rectangle cutout and secured it with 5/8″ 18-gauge nails.
And then I painted the whole thing to match the back of the cabinet.
I actually like that it’s set back from the cabinet like this. Since this is a section for hanging clothes, I feel like it’s safer having it recessed like that. So it worked out great!
And once that paint was dry, I could finally start bringing stuff in! I didn’t get very far with it, but I did get this section filled…
And then I brought in all of my handbags and got them arranged.
So I am inching my way towards that finish line, slowly but surely!
More About My Walk-In Closet/Laundry Room
see all walk-in closet/laundry
room diy projects
read all walk-in closet/laundry
room blog posts
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Those outlet framed boxes are the best tweak ever! Looks so professional — well, it IS professional. And the blouses and handbags and art and lights — woo hoo! If it were me, I would be hard pressed to leave the closet!
That looks great!
Have you thought about arranging your clothes in rainbow order, a la Home Edit? It makes your clothes easier to find and it looks great too. Plus it’s just fun.😀
I was going to say the same thing. I worked retail in my younger years so rods that are not organized by the color wheel drive me nuts. My husband thinks I’m insane lol
I just started doing that this winter! It’s so much easier to find what you’re looking for, and also to know if it is in the closet or the laundry! I am always looking for a top that I wear often, and it tends to get caught up between two tops, so I’m hunting it back and forth. Now I know where it should be, and can quickly grab it and get dressed!
WOW – Really looking great…and so much space…you must love, or will love more, working in there just doing laundry and closet organizing. Everything looks wonderful. Getting down to a short list…almost time to move on the the next room! Congratulations on such a successful project…one of the best…I thought the studio was awesome, and the pantry, but now the closet is amazing!
Yaaay….beautiful….great to see clothes coming in. 🙂
You clever girl you. I love your work around on the outlets, this is so classic looking too. I love the lights and the framed artwork, superbly done!
Cheers to you, Matt and “The Gang”!
Ditto! to the above comment! I think it would be difficult to hang your clothing in colors as what I observed is you love pattern and color, not just for your home but in what you wear. I think you have an ability to gather so many different patterns, shades of color and make it look like it all belongs together. I find you fascinating as you bring it all into something beautiful! Great job!
Happy day this is!!!
I’m a firm believer that completions give energy rather than expend it. So I’m definitely in camp “tick off 15 items” rather than persevere with THE ONE that may/may not get completed.
Your purses show your artist’s eye. Both in the choices themselves and in how they’re arranged. So very lovely, the whole kit and caboodle.
100%amazing!!!
Dang I really like how you did the outlet. I agree for the application it will be nice to have things plugged into a recessed box, not sticking into clothes. Seems safer to me too.
JAlso, sometimes I try to anticipate how you will do something. I thought for certain you would arrange your bags and clothes like a rainbow of like colors together. For some reason I thought that would be how you would create order and balance, structure. Silly me. Bravo on all your progress. Giving you a hearty pat on the back and ‘atta way!
Kudos! Love your colorful selection of blouses! Looks like mine. I wear nothing but print/floral tops. When you’re a 48DD, hand to mouth has a whole different meaning! Lol One difference tho . . . mine are all scrub tops which have 2 or more very large pockets. Very comfortable and frequently on sale below $20 at Uniform Advantage. I had to stop getting emails because I couldn’t resist the prints/colors.
Can’t wait to see the closet finished and loaded in with all your clothing, shoes, etc. I wish I had half your energy! Between taking care of Matt, and Cooper and building this dream closet, I don’t know how you do it!
Thanks for the great tutorial about outlet boxes! I need that in my sewing room with all the bookcases lining the walls.
I know you still have things to finish but just seeing clothes hanging and purses on shelves gives us an idea of how close you are to completion. Great job.
Beautiful! All of it! I love finding a person who’s not afraid to wear and decorate with color in this “neutral is safe” world we suddenly have. Color is HAPPY!
It makes my heart so happy to see all your pretty things populating your gorgeous closet!! You must be so proud and pleased! The pictures and lights are lovely. I am so happy for you!
Yippee clothes in the closet
It’s so very exciting seeing the finish line ahead. Great job getting so many of the small things checked off your to do list yesterday! Well done & also a huge well done to your Mom helping clear out and clean the closet room for you!
That little compartment for the outlet was genius! I almost thought you were going to put a little door on it, so it looked like a mouse house!😁 But it is very classy! Question: I don’t remember, did you wire the lights by the mirror over the jewelry section? I don’t think I ever saw it lit up. Just curious! The picture lights look great too. How did you learn about the wires being different colors, and how to identify them? Is the neutral always ribbed?
The lights by the mirror are wired. I just forget to turn them on. They’re on a separate switch from the ceiling lights.
The neutral wire is always ribbed. If you forget, you can just look at the plug end of the extension cord and see which wire goes to the neutral (which is the wider of the two prongs), and which wire goes to the hot (the narrower) prong. You’ll see that the ribbed always goes to the neutral (wider) prong, and the smooth always goes to the hot (narrower) prong. And, of course, the round prong is the ground wire, so it will be in the middle.
Kristi –
I’m wondering why you didn’t gold-leaf the frames you already had on your artwork instead of buying new ones?
It was just a time issue. I didn’t want to add yet another project to my list. I wanted quick and easy so that I could move on to other things.
Don’t you feel accomplished? Have a great weekend.
It is all completely gorgeous. Congratulations on moving things in! I especially love the outlet frame solution. You are so clever.
I understand your time restraint and excitement to move onto other projects instead of gold-leafing the frames you had. Thank you for responding.