Bathroom light fixture

I recently finished the rustic bathroom shelves (after the medicine cabinet died, see previous post) and noticed that the bathroom light fixture was going bad (apparently common for older bathrooms with poor ventilation). Sometimes one or both of the lightbulbs didn't work at all, then would randomly start working again. I checked the light switch to see if it needed to be replaced, but it was fine, so it was time for a new light fixture. I got a $10 light fixture at Walmart. It is probably not the trendiest light fixture, but it looks several decades more current than the last one and will work fine for a while!

I have never done any electrical work at all before, but I watched about a dozen youtube videos to learn how to do it. The instructions that came with the light fixture were so unhelpful, it would have been less confusing if they gave NO instructions. Of course you need to be super careful and connect everything the correct way, but it wasn't too difficult. I had to stop a hundred times and check to make sure I was doing it right, but it wasn't hard.

Here is the youtube video from Home Mender that I found most helpful for my situation:  https://youtu.be/SjXe8PFz0Cg

The main problem that I ran into was that the new light fixture was shorter than the previous one, so when I started to attach it to the wall, there was a gap on top AND bottom where you could see old paint and even a little bit into the electrical box. I knew I would need to repair the wall to cover those gaps, so I didn't attach the light fixture all the way yet. I got a drywall patching kit, cut 2 strips of patching and used spackle stuff that came with the kit to fix the wall. It dried in just a couple of hours, but I didn't get to finishing it right away. It was working and secured to the wall, just not totally bolted down.

the gap

A couple of days later, I finally got around to completing the job. I had to take the bulbs back out, face plate off, etc, so that I could bolt it down, but I've now securely attached the light fixture to the wall and we're good!

 It is really hard to get a decent photo in this little bathroom, so sometimes the walls look blotchy and purple, but they are actually solid white!


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