Small Kitchen Projects - Its Electric!

Now you'll have that song stuck in your head.  If not, you're gonna rock down to Electric Avenue.  Now that's in your head.

Okay I'm done, I just couldn't resist.

Before I write, I want to say here:  Electric work is no joke, if you're not sure about it, call in a professional.  It can be really dangerous stuff (even the simple things!).

Whether you are ready to do it or not, take a look at what we did this weekend!

After the sink fixture, we headed back to Home Depot (our favorite store!) and bought paint and new sockets, plates and switches.

Changing out switches (or... switching switches) is not too tricky, but there's a really important first step.  Find your Main Service Panel, or, Breaker Box.  This box controls all of the electricity to your house.  Once you open it there should be several labeled switches.

Closed Box

Open Box.  Find your switch(es) and turn them off.

                     



 Find the switch with the label that corresponds with your project.  For us it was "Kitchen Receptacles".  Switch them to off to stop the electricity from going to those outlets while you work.  Once they're off, test the outlets with a special tool called a Multimeter which will tell you for sure that the electricity is off.

Once you're positive (har har) that all of the electricity is off, you can get started.

For this task you will need a screwdriver and a pair of needlenose pliers. Changing out an outlet is fairly straightforward.  There are two sides to the outlet.  One side is hot, one side is cold and there's a ground wire.  There is a small marking on the back that will tell you which side is "hot".  The naked wire is the ground wire.  When you are taking the wires off of the old outlet, make sure you note where they were attached.  They should go to the same places on the new outlet.

Cold side and ground wire at the bottom.

The new outlet, hot side.

To detach the old wires, use a screwdriver to unscrew the small screws on the side.  Use the pliers (if necessary, some of our wires slipped off easily) to get the wire out from underneath the screw, remembering where you detached them from for later.

Changing out an outlet.  All of these photos have been taken on my
cell phone since I can't locate my camera.

Repeat that procedure for all of the screws.

To attach the new outlet, put the wire under the appropriate screw and tighten the screw all the way (make sure the wire is snug underneath the screw and doesn't pop out, this connection helps to complete your circuit, without which your electricity won't work (or at least won't work properly/reliably).

Repeat the procedure for all of the screws.  Push all of the wires back into the recessed area and screw in your new socket!  Put the plate over top, turn the electricity back on, test it again with the multimeter and you're all done!

We chose white ones to match our trim.  We didn't NEED to change out the outlets, but we hated the beige ones and they're inexpensive to do.  Pretty!