Do a search for Wiremold products that can be used to surface-mount an extension to the circuit.

I think what you are suggesting would apply if I wanted to run power from the receptacle outlet to a new surface mount box for a light. But that's not what I want to do.

I want to install a floodlight right over the electric box where the receptacle is and not drill into the wall. So I wonder if there is some kind of bracket that can facilitate that?

Most wall lights come packaged with a round back plate as shown here. The back plate is attached to the electrical box and the fixture is attached to the back plate. You can also buy one.

I have installed several lights so I'm familiar with those brackets. But I didn't think they could be attached to the same type of electric box that a receptacle usually sits in. The electric boxes for receptacles are square and on a duplex box the screw holes aren't in the middle, while the boxes for lights are usually round. So even though I haven't tried it yet, I didn't think I could center one of these light brackets on a square box. I thought I'd need to make some sort of modification to make it work right.

Are you saying that these round brackets can be centered over a square box? If so then I'm good to go!

Take off the outlet cover. Hold the back plate up to the electrical box. Can the back plate be rotated and positioned so it can be held in place by the screws that now hold the outlet, and will the fixture cover the hole in the drywall? If so, ta-da!

I tried.

Hi, Just an idea. Put the light on a table back side up. Take a spare outlet out of a drawer or where ever. Place the back of the outlet on the back of the light fixture and see if some screw holes line up. If they don't line up drill a couple of holes.

Good Luck Woodbutcher

"Hold the back plate up to the electrical box. Can the back plate be rotated and positioned so it can be held in place by the screws that now hold the outlet"

I assumed that a regular mounting plate would not interface with a square outlet box, but maybe that is a bad assumption. It's possible a standard lamp mounting plate that is designed for a round electric box will also screw into a square duplex box.

I have not bought the lamp yet because I don't know if I can mount it over the outlet, so I don't have a spare mounting plate handy. Does anyone have a standard lamp mounting plate that they can hold up against a standard duplex box to see if the holes line up?