Jon Youngblood: February 2013

This project was spurred on by several things;

1) Amber got a new set of Stainless Steel pots and pans for Christmas and we didn't have the storage space for them all.
2) We never really liked the harsh florescent lights that were chosen as the main lighting in our kitchen.

After doing some research on pot racks I came across some that had a wooden boxed frame, so that's where the idea came from to repurpose the harsh florescent light box into a lighten hanging pot rack.

I removed the plastic diffuser and started analyzing the boxes structure, and what kind of lights I wanted to use. I won't kid you, it took a lot of time to figure out which lights would work the best, how I was going to mount them, and how it was all going to fit together since the pieces would have to be angled in through the lip around the bottom of the box.

The first thing I did was to create the metal rack. I drew up my layout in AutoCAD and went to work with the welder. Thanks to a friend I was able to get them powder coated so they have a nice durable finish.

After a month of debating different options I finally settled on what I needed to do. I purchased a set of 3" recessed light fixtures from Lowe's to go up inside the box, and since I was concerned that switch from florescent to the more focused recessed lighting I got a few more fixtures for additional light.

I added lag bolts to the existing box frame mounting so it wouldn't pull out of the ceiling with the additional weight.
I then added a new frame to support the new light base.

I used some 1/4" bead board plywood to dress up the interior of the box. The lights I'd selected came with a mounting bracket that is designed for 1/2" sheetrock, so I had to add a spacer block on top to get the thickness I needed.

Since there is an air gap between the new mounting base for the lights and the ceiling, I had to cut a larger opening in the ceiling for the upper portion of the lights to have clearance.