I have a home with a dark living room because they never put a light in there. I know this is typical of many older homes, where they expected people to use lamps, and some even had switched outlets for the lamps.
I dont like lamps. They waste space, are easy to knock over, and most dont provide good light anyhow.
Because of the way the building was made, it's impossible to run wires inside the structure above the ceiling, without serious damage to the ceiling or other parts of the building. I cant fathom ripping apart a ceiling and having to rebuild it, just to add a light fixture.
I am aware of the channel stuff, which is sold as "Wiremold". I've seen that stuff used in commecial buildings, but never in homes. I did check into it, and it is easily available, and dont seem hard to use. It is rather costly though.
The more I think about it, having "Wiremold" or just a plain piece of romex across the ceiling is not much different. Either way, there is an obvious wire running across the ceiling. And plain romex is actually less thick, so it's less visible than that channel. And both of them can be painted to match the ceiling color.
So, I'm more inclined to just use exposed romex. It's cheaper and will do the same thing. And I know enough how to lay it flat and straight.
Where it comes down the wall, to a switch, I should be able to fish it down inside the wall, and just make a small hole at the ceiling where it enters the wall cavity. There is already a switch on that wall for the porch light. The plan is to just remove the single box and add a double box there so I can have 2 switches. I already checked and that box has both hot and neutral in it.
So, my only question is whether it's legal (by code) to have exposed romex in a home? I cant see why it would not be legal, since my garage has all the romex exposed, except thats not a living space, and in the house it will be attached to a finished ceiling, rather than to the studs and rafters in the garage.