We just finished our pre-electrical walkthrough with our builder.  I can honestly say that every day of this home build journey I am learning something new, especially the bigger picture of understanding the building process.

The decisions we make now will have an impact on how we live in and enjoy our home so I’m taking them pretty seriously… That’s why it took me hours of careful deliberation before finalizing our electrical and lighting plan! Thankfully our superintendent and lighting rep have been incredibly patient and helpful!

Here are my top electrical and lighting items to consider when building and I hope they help you with your build.

We took our time thinking about electrical and lighting things to consider when building our house

1. Planning your interiors

As we went room by room through our house, I would ask myself ‘What will we do in this room?’ and ‘Where will our furniture go?’ before committing to any lighting options.  Start with function and adapt your lighting depending on the needs in the space — and put a dimmer on every interior light if your budget allows!

2. MAP OUT LIGHT FIXTURES

Now is the time, if you haven’t already, to think about where your chandeliers, pendants, wall sconces and can lights are going to go. It’s also a good idea to know the sizes and drop measurement of these. Your electrician will need to mark out the number of hanging pendants over your island. One big dining room light or multiple over your table? Wall sconces are important to mark here as well.

3. Outlet Placement Matters

You need to be able to turn on all those light fixtures you just mapped out right? It would be nice to not have to walk across the room to turn on and off. Think about where you turn the lights off and on from. For example we are placing a library sconce above our banquette with an individual switch so we don’t have to walk across the kitchen to turn them off. Not a new concept, but this is where you’ll want to plan your dimmer switches as well.

My advice is to place the outlets where it’s most practical and to make them discrete.

4. Exterior Outlets

Here you want to consider what activities you do outside like power washing the patio and driveway, vacuuming your car. Maybe outlets inside or just outside the garage door. Place outlets where you need to plug things in. We will definitely need an outlet at the patio and near the bbq grill.

5. Holiday Lighting

I couldn’t let a list go by without special planning for Christmas lights! I am pretty excited for these extra outlets we will be including. Think about adding outlets outside on the soffits of the house for lights, or around your front door for lighted garland . Inside think about where your Christmas tree will go, in the corner, etc. Don’t forget near the staircase as well as the top of the mantle for your lighted garland!

6. Consider mixing lighting solutions

There are so many options for lighting solutions — recessed cans, flush mounts, sconces, low hallway wall lights, floor lamps, pendants, step lights — and so much more.  If you don’t have a lighting expert to help you plan your lighting, I suggest taking the time to research all the lighting options out there before meeting with your electrician so you can develop a plan that works and will add interest to your home.

7. CAT6 CABLE or ETHERNET

I work from home and a fast and reliable internet connection is a must. Installing these lines at the time of build will make life simpler if your home uses a lot of devices that are all trying to connect to the WI-FI at the same time! Directly connecting to these lines when cleanly installed in the walls allows kids to download and play video games while I’m trying to binge shows on Netflix.

8. Plan where TV’s will go

The electrician needs to know this and your builder can beef up the studs here to accommodate heavy wall hanging tv’s and mounts if needed. The outlet should be recessed and can include extra USB ports, direct ethernet lines, cable & phone lines all in one neat box.

9. Decide where to place control panels

Another area of the electrical and lighting to consider when building is where to position control panels — heating and cooling, lighting, home security etc. It’s a good idea to decide early what kind of technology you intend to use in your home so you know exactly what control panels you will have, and can decide on the most practical and least obtrusive place to position them — last thing you want is a panel right next to your beautiful artwork!

10. Make provisions if you’re unsure or budget restricts

Building is expensive and unfortunately by the time it comes to lighting and electrical, the budget can be blown and those ideas of an integrated audio system, or a statement pendant light may be on the back burner. My suggestion is to make a plan for these things by running the cabling you need to those areas — so you can add them later on.

11. Walk through your decisions if you can

It may have taken a few hours but I’m so glad we decided on our electrical and lighting once the house was framed rather than at the planning stage. It meant we could walk through the house room by room and see exactly where light switches, outlets and light fixtures would be placed and spot any potential issues.  Walking through your decisions can help you identify and overcome issues early and see new opportunities that you just can’t visualize from a plan.

12.  TAKE PICTURES

Once all the electrical components are installed, take lots of pictures. It would be nice to know where all those lines are running through behind the drywall!

13. Take NOTES

Bring a notebook, measuring tape and a pencil with you. Take notes, take time to measure, use your pencil to write plans on the framing itself. Take your time, don’t let the electrician or your builder rush you.

14. BUDGET

Last but not least don’t forget that pesky thing called the budget. Every little addition will add up. So be sure to ask the costs, what is included and what isn’t.

I’ll be posting pics after our final walkthrough with the electrician and the low-voltage tech to show our outlet placements in a later blog post!

Do you have other top electrical and lighting things to consider when building? Share them in the comments below!

While on spring break, we recently received notification that Jonah’s school district has decided to close schools from March 16-20, 2020 for Coronavirus prevention measures.

As a family, we are staying calm, using common sense, and continuing to practice good hygiene by regular and frequent hand washing. When it comes to grocery shopping, we are only buying what we need.

Now that Jonah will be home from school for a week, I have put together a homeschooling schedule to stay organized and continue his learning and education at home. Feel free to use it and tweak it to work for your student’s curriculum and family lifestyle.

I broke up his schedule to incorporate the core subjects he’ll be missing at school, while adding two online resources: Scholastic Learn At Home and GoogleClassroom, mixed in with snack breaks, outside and creative time. There are a ton of online resources available, but I also recommend working with your student’s teachers and district to see if they are offering or recommending any online/remote learning tools while schools are closed.

Jonah’s Homeschool Schedule

Scholastic Learn At Home

Google Classroom

As we are faced with a situation that is unfamiliar, we realize that our ‘homeschool day’ may not be perfect and that’s ok as we adjust to something new and there will be some bumps along the way. We got this!

It’s been one week since the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant along with his daughter Gigi, and other families traveling together last Sunday – John Altobelli, his wife Keri Altobelli, their daughter Alyssa Altobelli; Christina Mauser; Sarah Chester, her daughter Payton Chester; and pilot Ara Zobayan. I haven’t gone a day this week without thinking about all the families, friends, and communities the fatality has affected.

I didn’t personally know Kobe Bryant or any of the passengers on board, but the situation itself is relatable and felt on so many levels because innocent loved ones, children, families were involved whose lives ended abruptly. To lose a child is heartbreaking as a parent.

You don’t have to know someone personally to recognize their contribution to the world and their long lasting legacy as an athlete and a human. Kobe Bryant was the face of basketball for almost 20 years and is regarded as a symbol of perseverance, strength, and love.

Early Memories of Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant was 17 years old when he got drafted in the NBA, straight out of high school in 1996, and 18 when the season began. I remembered the event well because I was a sophomore in high school where I played on the women’s basketball team. Naturally, I followed some sports coverage and sports news, especially basketball. As with fellow athletes on our high school basketball teams we were excited and inspired by this up and coming high school athlete turned pro. Admittedly I wasn’t a huge Lakers fan as I was a Sonics fan, but many of us in high school still viewed Kobe as a peer since he was our age when his NBA career started which made him that much more relatable. He was fun to watch throughout his 20 year basketball career, and despite some of his misgivings and mistakes, he grew and matured into a loving husband, father, and devoted coach before leaving the world.