We bought this house in January of 2020. That was a hell of a year to move into a new house. Just as we got mostly unpacked and ready to tackle some home improvements things shut down and the supply chain buckled and … well … not much got done.
That was okay though. We changed our minds of some things since then. But bit by bit we’ve been doing a bit of painting and moving something around. My home office set up has changed several times. First it was going to be in the basement. There is an unfinished room we were going to have finished. But back in 2020 we couldn’t get anyone to do the work for us, and we couldn’t find all the supplies we needed to do it ourselves, so it didn’t happen. So I set up my computers in one of the guest rooms. And then I set them up in both of our guest rooms, one for my fun/gaming PC and one for my work computer, because I learned that having the separate from work and home to be important. Then my gaming computer went to the “music room” on the first floor, and I moved my work desk into the closet of the guest room, which was now the “LEGO room”.
The closet was an inspired choice. It’s one of those shallow wide closets, with double doors, not folding or sliding ones, just deep enough to put an IKEA desk in. I put the desk and some shelves, and it works great. The inspired part is that when the work day is done, or on Friday when I sign off for the weekend, I can close the closet doors and work just goes away. Hidden from view, and, as they say, out of sight, out of mind. The mental load that takes off at the end of a day/week is so lovely.
The Issues
Once of the issues with the closet is that it, like most closets, doesn’t have any power outlets. So I had to plug in surge protectors with very long cords into outlets in the main room and then run them along the wall and under the door to be able to plug everything in. Another issue is that the light in that closet sucks.
This brings us to recently, when we finally began to do the work to implement the full vision of the “LEGO room”. We emptied out the room and I migrated my work to the “music room” for the days I’m home (our return-to-office policy puts me there two days a week). We painted, and now are in the process of buying wood to build the French cleat shelving that is going to cover most of the walls to maximize modularity of display for our LEGO sets, mostly buildings. So while this was happening, this was my moment to address the closet’s power problem.
The Project
First, replacing the light. The builders decided that the best light for this closet was one of those under-cabinet lights you usually find in kitchens. In fact, our kitchen had four of the exact same ones, which I replaced months ago with better adjustable lights since the old ones kept flickering. I couldn’t decide on what sort of light I wanted, and with the builder’s choice of light it meant their wasn’t actually a proper light box in the wall or ceiling to install a normal light anyway. Then my wife had an idea: what if I put in an outlet and then we could plug in some pendant lights we have from IKEA, which we could then hang from the ceiling wherever? Genius.
Second, a power outlet for my electronics, which include: a printer, laptop, a monitor, speakers, a GoogleTV connected to the monitor, and my Nintendo Switch. The monitor connects to the laptop, GoogleTV and Switch, and I toggle it to whichever one I need. I only use it as a second screen for the laptop when I have meetings, and the Switch is there because my team at work sometimes “commutes” on WFH days with Mario Kart 8. Luckily, there is an existing plug outside the closet on the same wall. It spends much of it’s time behind the open door, and it where I’d had my surge protector previously. I can jump off that and put a new outlet inside the closet.
Execution
We head off to Lowe’s to buy what I need, and I have to get them to unlock the cage the electrical wire is kept in, because apparently people will steal it for the copper. Wire, four outlet boxes, two outlets, and two cover plates. Just in case you are new to home improvement and electrical work, when you buy outlet boxes there are two kinds: new work and old work. It is literally what it sounds like. New work boxes are for when you have an open wall and can screw directly into the stud at a 90 degree angle. Old work boxes are for when you have an existing wall you are cutting a hole in and either need to screw into the stud at a 45 degree angle, or you won’t have a stud to attach to and need boxes with these little plastic flap things that brace against the drywall itself. Obviously attaching to the stud is preferred, but not alway possible. I bought both kinds of old work boxes because I hadn’t cut into the wall yet and my stud finder isn’t always reliable.
Back at the house I do the light first. The existing wire is in the ceiling, fairly close to the front wall. I make sure the power is off and then I verify the power is off with my tester. Then use the outlet box and the cover plate to judge where to cut the hole and the outlet box as a template to outline, and it happens to be around the existing spot the wire is coming out. When I cut the rectangle of drywall out I discover it is literally perfectly lined along the stud. I do some test fits and adjustments, and then I feed the wire through the box, put the box in the hole, and screw it’s two screws into the stud. I wire up the outlet, finish installing it, put on the cover plate, restore the power and test the sockets. Success! I hang the pendant lights.
Now the other outlet. On the outside I determine which side of the existing outlet the stud is on. On the inside I’ll want to be within the same gap between studs as it but against the other stud. I measure how far from the closet door the existing outlet is on the outside, then I go inside and measure the same distance. Now I know where my gap is. I use my stud finder to find the other stud, then I use my drill and do a test hole about an inch off where I think the stud is just to be just I’m in the gap. I use that pilot hole as a place to inside my blade and then cut toward the stud until the stud stops me. Now I know where the stud is exactly. I use my outlet box again as a template and draw out the hole I need to cut, then I cut it out. Because the outlet on the outside has it’s plate off and the outlet is hanging out, a little light is coming through, and from the inside I am able to verify that I didn’t screw up and I’m definitely in the same gap. From the outside outlet I punch open one of the unused wire access points in its box, then I feed my cable in. I fish it out through my inside hole and then pull enough wire through. With the power off, and verified off with the tester, I attach one end of the wire to the existing outlet in the appropriate spots, then reinstall that outlet in its box and close it up. I then go inside, feed the wire through my new outlet box, put the box in the hole, screw the screws into the stud, and then I wire up the new outlet and install it in the box. I turn the power back on and test both the old existing sockets and the new sockets, just to be sure I didn’t mess things up. All working!
Wrapping Up
Then I clean up all my drywall mess, and put away my tools, and pack up the extra wire (I needed like two feet but couldn’t buy less than fifteen), and put the two unused old work outlet boxes that are for when you can’t connect to studs in a bag with the receipt to return to the store later. With that done, we can move on to the next part, which is building a new desk and putting some better shelves in the closet for the printer and other odds and ends. There are plans for this space as it returns to being my office, among other things.
Throughout all of this, I was fairly confident in my ability to do the work. One, because I’ve done it before. In our old house, we had a bonus room off our garage, and the wall it shared with the garage had no power in the bonus room, so my father and I performed the same “add an outlet off the existing one on the other side of the wall” process, but with him leading as at that time I hadn’t done it before. But also because my father had taught me this sort of stuff, both when I was much younger and later when I lived in the house just three doors down the street from him. Not to mention I’ve always been a “figure out how stuff works” kind of guy.
Not everyone has a dad who can pass on this kind of knowledge, but as long as you are willing to learn, and do a little leg work to ensure you aren’t getting bad info, YouTube videos are a great place to pick up these sorts of skills. There are some good channels that just do thorough guides for simple home improvement and maintenance. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying everyone can and should do this. Remember that unfinished room I mentioned? When we finish it I want to add three or four power outlets in there, and I’m not going to just daisy chain them off the one outlet in there. No, I’m going to hire an electrician and probably add a new circuit entirely, because that is not work I’m willing to do, and our plans for that room are bit more intense.
Still, this was a very satisfying project. I can only hope installing the French cleat shelving goes as smoothly.