Kitchen Island Pendant Light Box

Staci Marie
by Staci Marie
12 Materials
4 Hours
Easy

It was time. Time to update our kitchen island lighting. I wanted individual pendants but putting two more electrical boxes in the ceiling was more than we wanted to tackle.

So, this is how we worked around that issue and updated our island lighting.

This project was free for us because we built it using leftover wood we had on hand from previous projects.


Please Note: I am not adding the dimensions of our box because everyone's kitchen island will be a different size and shape and you will want to customize your box to your island and the look you're after.


Material List:


  • 1x10 board for the main board the pendants would be mounted to (cut to your projects desired length)
  • 1x2 boards for the sides of the box
  • Wood glue
  • 1 1/2 & 2 inch nails
  • Wood putty
  • Sand paper
  • Nail Gun
  • Table Saw
  • Miter Saw
  • Paint
  • Pendants
  • 2 Wood cleats made from 1x4
  • Anchor screws (wall dog brand)



We have heavily textured ceilings so we cut a 45° angle on our box sides so there was less wood trying to sit flat against the ceiling.


Then we mitered the ends so our box sides would be nice and neat.


We completed those same two steps on all 4 of the box sides. Then we used wood glue and the nail gun to attach the sides to the flat portion of the box. After everything is glued and nailed together the box is finished.


At this point we took the box inside and started laying out the spacing and how we wanted our pendants to look.


After figuring out the layout we filled the nail holes and any other imperfections in the box. Once dry we sanded the filler and the rest of the box smooth.


Time to paint! I used Behr Premium paint & primer in the color Cameo White to finish off the box.


You will notice now all the holes drilled in the box. The 3 holes in a row are what our specific pendant lights needed to be attached to a ceiling. You will follow your lights needs. The 2 big holes you see along side the ends are for the cleats we are using to hold the box to the ceiling.


This is the underside of the box. You can see the electrical cords from the pendants coming through the back to be wired together. You will also notice the outline of where the cleats will be placed.


The top photo are the cleats we made to hold the box securely to the ceiling.

The bottom photo is of the cleats being installed to the ceiling and leveled out.


This photo also gives you a look at how textured our ceilings are and the reason for the angle cut on the box sides at the beginning of this project.


You can also see the one electrical box that was available for hanging a kitchen island light and how making the box allows us to have 3 separate pendants instead of one.


Here is a close up of the pendants being attached to the box prior to hanging.


So we went from this....


...to this!!

It's looks fresh, new and updated.


This is a close up of our old kitchen island lighting.


And this is a close up of the new box we made for our new pendants!


Now to change out the pendant over the sink. 😉


Resources for this project:
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
3 of 4 questions
  • Lee Rakoskie Lee Rakoskie on Sep 22, 2019

    I have the same ceiling and wanted to do this since moving in! How do you determine the angle? I have a vaulted ceiling and I am stumped.

  • Kathy Kathy on Sep 23, 2019

    Where did you get the pendants?

  • Josh Josh on Nov 04, 2019

    Anyway you could tell me where to find a kitchen light like the old one you have?

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