Lights on, anyone home? (Day 215 of 273)

Before you can run wiring for the lights, it turns out that you have to decide where those buggers are going to be. So, I started putting up the recessed cans (6" diameter lights) in the ceilings. These are the most affordable way to light a house and they're very discrete. In volume, the housings cost about $8 each, but then the trim kit (what you see) ranges from $5-25 each.

Nancy and I modified architect Berg's original lighting plan to our needs and whats. It turns out that we'll have about 50 recessed cans in the house. The highest concentration will be in the pantry (8), but don't forget about the kitchen, 2 bedrooms, 2 closets, and 3 baths. For the two rooms with vaulted ceilings, we used a version of recessed can for slopes. No big deal, they just cost 5 times as much ($38 each). We bought a dozen of these, which runs the total for overhead lights up to 60. Hell, electricity is cheap and we'll use the new CFL bulbs to save a few watts.

Now we need to make some more expensive decisions, specifically for directed and specialty lighting. For directed lighting, we need high intensity halogen spots (kitchen counter, hanging art pieces, etc) and for specialty lighting its the bigger ticket items, like hanging glass fixtures over tables and the kitchen island. We've looked at few lighting stores in Seattle and haven't been taken with any particular style or look yet, but we need to finalize this before I install the overhead boxes from which these lights will hang.

At the notorious Potato Bake (a Kala Point fund raiser chaired by my associate home builder), we met an interesting women named Karen Hoeve who lives about 2 blocks away. She is an interior decorator who specializes in Craftsman (Art and Craft style) houses, particularly lighting and color selection. BINGO. We invited her over last night to see some of her work and have a glass of wine; what a character and live wire. Hopefully she'll have some ideas upfront before we run the budget into the ground with consulting fees.

So, this week the main job is to install the overhead electrical and switches, all wire 14 gage wire. Meanwhile, Nancy has been hand painting our window and door trim with oil based paint (latex is for wimps), and I've been nailing it up. When all the trim is up, we'll be ready to start hanging Hardiboard with Troy Ellis, our framer's able son. Of course, I still have to build a little porch and steps for the back of the house door, so you don't walk out and break your neck from the 2 foot drop to grade. That little porch will take me a couple of days to do, since I have to pour a little footer for the 4x4 posts to rest on. Looks like we need 10 days in a week to get this house finished. We're already toying with the idea of asking for a 3 month extension on our Kala Point building permit, which would push the 273 days out to 365. You read it here, first.