Updating Staircase Lighting – An Easy DIY That Makes a HUGE Difference!

One of the items on the House Makeover Agenda for 2015 is updating some of the horrendous lighting that is all over the house.  We won’t replace all of them, but the plan is to update most of them this year.  We’ve pretty much figured out which ones to attack, and what the plan is.  Earlier this year, we decided to start with updating staircase lighting.

Staircase Lighting Before

These fixtures are ugly and dated.  Two of them matched, one didn’t.  They hung down, but were exposed to the hallway & playroom.  I was always afraid my son would throw things at them or pretend to be Tarzan. Plus, the light & shadows they cast on the ceilings and walls gave me a massive migraine.  

They had to go.  

Here’s the view from the entryway downstairs:

Yikes.

The plan to update the staircase lighting was to just replace the junction boxes with recessed cans and use LED recessed lights.  So, that’s what we did!

Installing Recessed Cans

This job to update the staircase lighting is relatively easy and cheap, but it does take some time.  You can do it all from below, but we did the connections from above, because the stairs made them hard to reach.

Since we did this exact project in the last house, we already had a 6″ hole saw bit for our drill. That meant the only supplies we needed were the cans and the lights.  We also picked up a drywall patch and some ceiling texture since we were going to be moving one of the lights to center.  We needed to patch the hole where the old junction box was.  Since we were just replacing the existing lights, we didn’t need any additional wiring.

The first step in updating the staircase lighting was turning the power off at the breaker. Then we removed the old lights & junction boxes and used our drill to cut 6″ round holes in the ceiling.

We used Halo Air Tight IC remodel can housings and these LED lights.  I like the look of the lights, they are easy to clean, and they don’t have as much of a draft as regular flood lights do because the light and the apron are all one piece.  

You can make the connections below, and then slide the can up through the hole, or you can get the can in place and locked and then make the connections in the attic.  The Lights screw in and connect in about a second.  Not only do they not cost as much to run as regular flood light bulbs, but they last for 20 years!

The Updated Staircase Lighting

Check out that difference!  The new staircase lighting is so much brighter, and uses less electricity to boot!  Those old lights with all of their facets gave me a massive headache.  Now, there’s not as much glare and shadows on the walls.  It’s so much cleaner!  The plan is to add some more lights on the catwalk/hallway next to the stairs, but that’s probably a project for the fall. We did this in 2020 – post to come- stay tuned!

This staircase lighting job took us the better part of a day to complete, because there’s always something.  In this case, it was the clips on the cans.  They are tricky to lock into place.  Make sure your can clips have the soft, spongy material on them, and you might need a flathead screwdriver and a hammer for extra leverage getting those in place.

What’s Left To Do

Here’s the list for the stairwell/upstairs hallway:

• Change Light Fixtures to Recessed Cans
• Add Recessed Cans to Hallway
• Move/Add Switches
• Paint Walls & Trim
• Add Crown Molding
• Add Built In Bookshelves
• Possible New Window/Window Seat?
• New Balusters
• Open Up Stairwell Wall
• Remove Carpet/Add Wood Risers & Treads
• Wood Floors
• Gallery Wall

Make sure you’re following me on Instagram for the latest on our home remodel! You don’t want to miss a thing!

What do you think of our updated staircase lighting? Have you updated any lights in your house?  Which was your most challenging?  Have a favorite light fixture?  Tell us in the comments!

Check out all of the Stacy’s Savings Total Home Makeover posts here!