I bought a dinning table fixture from a home improvement place that was going out of business. I hung it over my dinning table and ran new wire from the new fixture to a new switch. I ran another piece of wire from the new switch to an existing switch for power that goes to my attic light. On the hot switch I hooked up the black wire on the top screw and the white wire on the bottom screw (existing wiring matches). Then at the new switch, I spliced all the wires together and then plugged the black wire into the top and the white into the bottom. The fixture has a switch inside it that controls a bottom light and candelabra type lights at the top. Here are my problems. The candelabra lights won't come on. (It has occured to me that the fixture could be defective) Also, the bottom light is very dim. I assume you must not be able to run a new switch off an old switch (at least not the way I have it wired) because now the light on the fixture that does burn toggles off of my attic light. Also, the new switch is backwards. When it says it's on, it is off and visa versa. I had to unhook the wiring because one of the lights was always on. How can I wire the switches so that each fixture works off the appropriate switch? I really don't want to run any more wire!! Please help.

I want to change the existing light fixtures in my home with new fixtures(kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, hallway). I would like to do it myself, what do you recomend for me to learn how to change my light fixtures. Or should I hire a professional?