The accent wall in a Houston Heights master bedroom where I’m working is a little dark. Here I’ve removed the light sconces , and am getting ready to skim-float to smooth the textured wall . A little more light would be helpful!
My bright 100 watt light bulb is screwed into a little gizmo that’s quite handy . It’s a socket for a light bulb that can be plugged into an electrical wall outlet . Alternately, as you can see, because there are two holes in the bottom of the metal prongs , you can slip the ends of the electrical wires into those holes .
Of course, you have to be careful that the ends of those two wires ( one white and one black ) don’t touch each other . That could cause a spark and a shock , and maybe even trip the circuit breaker . Oh, and, also, be sure to turn the power off at the switch before doing this. If you want to be extra-cautious, you can kill the circuit at the breaker box – but really, turning off at the wall switch and then taking care not to let the two wires touch each other, will be pretty safe.
When ready to work around this improvised lighting , especially with metal tools or wet wallpaper , I will turn off the power at the switch , remove the socket thingie from the wires in the wall , use screw cap wire nuts to cover the exposed wire ends , and tuck the wires a bit into the electrical box .
Once the paper’s up in that area, I can reattach the socket and get me some light again.
I stumbled upon these things at a garage sale decades ago, and got maybe 10 of them for a buck or two. But they’re still available in electrical departments of places like Home Depot and Lowe’s and our neighborhood favorite here in central Houston – Southland Hardware . They cost about a dollar or a dollar and a half each .
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