Disclosure: I only recommend products I have used myself and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain
affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.
Our kitchen had a few low hanging light fixtures that were really weighing down the visual feel of the kitchen. One was a huge pot rack! My husband and I are both TALL (I’m almost 6 feet and he’s well over 6 feet), so the pot rack was at forehead height for us. Ouch! We never hung pots on it because that would make the clearance even lower. The pot rack light HAD to go! For the other light over the bay window nook area, we replaced a commercial fixture with a drum from World Market, HERE. The fixture that was there when we bought the house that made the space look like it was intended for a dining table, which we tried and there simply wasn’t space for that set up. So, yes, we swapped out the fixture for a second time, replacing the drum with a LED pancake “recessed” light. Don’t worry, we kept that gorgeous drum light fixture and used it to replace our dated Master ceiling fan.
What We Used:
For our kitchen, we chose the 6″ diameter LED light by Commercial Electric, found HERE. This brand also offers a 4″ diameter, but we wanted to maximize the amount of brightness. Most kitchens have multiple recessed lights that overlap in illumination. Since we weren’t installing a standard recessed lighting set up in our kitchen ceiling, we went with the 6″ size to make up for what we lacked in quantity. If you’re not sure what size, a quick search for “recessed lighting cone of light” will help you figure it out and more!
Installation
The pancake lights are not like the traditional recessed can lighting, where you have to install the housing. These new LED flat “pancake” style lights wire up like you normally would wire a new light, but the installation from there gets really simple. The two springs on either side of the light (see the red tabs on the diagram above) provide tension and clip the light to the ceiling. That’s it!
The Process
The pot rack fixture 
The drum fixture 
Updated View
WOW! Can you see how removing those two fixtures eliminated the visual noise? I swear my ceilings are two feet taller now! We can see straight out the bay window and watch our kids play! We can move around the kitchen without ducking! Such a simple and inexpensive option made a world of difference in our kitchen.
Now, it’s your turn!
Start small, make mistakes, learn from them, gain confidence,
and then nothing can stop you!