If, like me, you are sentenced to work in a dim basement shop, you know there’s always a need for more light. I solved this problem with a few steel electrical-box covers and a light with a magnetic base. I screwed the metal plates to ceiling joists in convenient places (the screw holes are already in the corners of the plate). Now I simply move the light where I need it and stick it to the metal plate. If I need light in a new place, I attach a plate at that location. To keep the extension cord out of the way, I drape it over two or three hooks I have screwed here and there into the ceiling joists.

Drawing: Jim Richey

Drawing: Jim Richey