How to Disguise Smoke Detectors

Trip the circuit breaker that supplies electrical power to an overhead lighting fixture, for example, in the kitchen. Test the light switch to confirm that there is no power.

Place a ladder beneath the overhead lighting fixture. Remove the screws from the sides of the dome covering the bulb. Place the dome aside. Unscrew the bulb and place it aside.

Remove the screws surrounding the overhead lighting fixture with a Phillips screwdriver. Pull the fixture off the ceiling. Remove the screw-tab connectors wound around the twisted pairs of wires with your fingers. Separate the wires. Place the fixture aside.

Push the wires that are in the hole in the ceiling through the center of the smoke detector mounting plate. Screw the plate to the ceiling, over the hole, using wood screws and the Phillips screwdriver.

Twist the end of the black wire from the smoke detector around the end of the black wire from the hole. Twist the end of the white wire from the smoke detector around the end of the white wire from the hole. Twist the copper-colored wire from the smoke detector around the copper-colored wire from the hole.

Twist the end of the black wire attached to the hanging ceiling light's base around the twisted pair of black wires that extend from the smoke detector and from the hole. Twist the end of the white wire attached to the base around the twisted pair of white wires that extend from the smoke detector and from the hole. Twist the end of the copper-colored wire attached to the base around the twisted pair of copper-colored wires that come from the smoke detector and from the hole.

Place the hanging ceiling light's base on the ceiling, next to the hole. Screw wood screws through the precut holes in the base and into the ceiling using the Phillips screwdriver.

Place a screw-tab connector over each pair of twisted wires. Screw the connectors onto the wires until resistance is felt. Push the wires into the hole. Place the smoke detector against the mounting plate. Twist the detector onto the base with a clockwise motion.

Place a bulb in the bulb socket at the end of the hanging ceiling light fixture. Restore the electrical power. The smoke detector is now disguised by the presence of the hanging light and the bulb's illumination.