I’ve Seen the Light

Even though construction has been underway since March, planning has been going on since last summer.  Even prior to purchasing land, Rusty and I have always loved going through houses under construction, looking at house plans, and dreaming about our future home.  It’s always been a hobby of ours.  When we were deciding on room sizes, Rusty pulled out an article from 10 years ago he had kept that offered recommendations on how much room you should plan around a table to be able to seat someone while another person moves behind them comfortably…seriously.  There has been a lot of thought put into how each space would be used and there hasn’t been a day that we haven’t touched the house in some way.

It was no different when we started considering lighting.  On Lynn Taylor’s recommendation, our first step was to visit a lighting experience center last fall in Ashland City.  That place was awesome!  I’m sure they have similar setups around the country if you aren’t local.  They had everything from step lights and star ceilings to automatic room darkening blinds and art lighting…and the ability to see the effect each had on a room.  It was eye-opening…literally.  I had no clue how much of an impact lighting had…I just thought I’d pick a fixture and we’d call it a day!

Instead of staring up at a panel of recessed fixtures at Lowe’s, I could see in a dark room the difference between 6″, 5″, and 4″ recessed fixtures…the different lenses…the different trim kits…and the different bulbs.  Nuts.  The different effects on a space are dramatic!  I learned quickly that the accepted “contractor favorite” that we were planning on using due to its price and availability was my least favorite fixture.  I also got to see the difference between fluorescent, halogen, LED, and Xenon lighting for under cabinet and accent lighting – I didn’t even know how to pronounce all those things much less the difference between them.  Ever wanted to set the mood or look like you were home when you weren’t?  With the push of a button (or better yet from your iPhone), you can light your path from the garage entrance to your bedroom instantaneously…insanely cool.

The reason all of this is so important when you’re building is that it’s easy to wire for everything you want long-term on the front end.  Before you break ground is the time to plan lighting, networking, whole-house audio, intercoms, security, and home theater.  Rusty went so far as to learn photometrics.  In Google SketchUp, he placed the actual circle of light that each fixture would cast based on its size and bulb type.  Did I mention that he is a smart cookie?  This then allowed him to determine where more or less light was warranted.  Needless to say, our home may have the capability to be seen on a satellite;-)

HINDSIGHT IS 20/20:  Lighting has been freakin’ fun!  We are actually going to be making a lot of our own fixtures so we will be relying on the recessed lighting starting out.  We will most likely cap a lot of our fixtures starting out and let the recessed lighting be our sole source.  We don’t want to stick something up just to get done BUT finding time to build stuff right now isn’t an option.  I don’t think being unable to see is going to be a problem;-)

Pendant light made from insulator

Egg basket light

Wine barrel globe light...now if I just drank wine;-)

Mason jar chandelier...this one is from Pottery Barn but this is DIY doable

Cement Pond

What I’m finding as we build is that there is sometimes a big discrepancy between “up to code” and “best practice.”  I’ve also learned that just because something is “the way it’s always been done” doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the best way to construct my forever home (or any home for that matter).

Our Cement Pond aka the Garage

The best example of this was my first trip to a local block company last fall.  Our designer, Lynn Taylor, had spent a lot of time and energy putting together a very detailed plan of our foundation.  At the time we were unsure whether we would be going with brick or stone covering our foundation – actually we were quite confused about the structural differences needed behind the scenes to plan for the different exteriors so I was completely ill-equipped for the trip.

Needless to say, I left very frustrated.  The first question I got was, “Why would you do it like that?”  Next came the, “I’ve been doing this for 25 years and I’ve never seen it done like that.”  My response should have been, ”I’ve seen a lot of houses built in the last 25 years that are falling apart.”

Lynn had prepared us…she had said that we would get some questions about some of the details on the plan.  She confirmed that she would lay out some construction and historic detail that would go against “how it is always done” and that we would have to pay attention to execution.  Her plans focus on “best practice” according to each trade and that we may have to go to bat to get the quality we desired.  This interaction at the block company became the basis for an ongoing joke between Lynn and us…we called it the “your-designer-is-smokin’-crack” look.

Lots of People Order 20 Tons of Sand...Right?

And so it goes this past week…I got questioned on why we were wanting to take an extra step on drainage (see previous post titled Draining Work).  Likewise, I’ve had to decide between two polar opposite views of how to pour concrete – fiber vs. wire.  I think I made the right choice but both subcontractors came with outstanding recommendations and both were equally convincing with their explanations about why his way was the best.  It did force me to do some research regarding the topic, however.  I can’t say that my research pointed out a clear winner but it did teach me that there is a difference between cement and concrete…I never knew.

HINDSIGHT IS 20/20:  Knowledge is power.  The Clampetts incorrectly referred to their swimming pool as the “cement pond” – they would have been correct in calling it a concrete pond.  Cement is merely a component of concrete;-)

Stock Up and Save? – Part Deux

Part 2

Okay, so we are extremely picky.  We admit it.  Every stock house plan we looked at, we wanted to change something.  Too much square footage, too little.  Too cookie cutter, too crazy.  Too Presidential, too Hee Haw.  The list went on and on.  That’s when we started seeking the services of a residential designer.  Rusty and I have a definite draw to the Craftsman / Arts & Crafts / Bungalow aesthetic so this is where we started our search.

Our Googling led us to Lynn Taylor of Taylor Made Plans in Nashville.  We were definitely drawn to her portfolio which included homes where we could see our family living, playing, and entertaining.  We loved the historic detail of her plans as well as her straightforward approach to design.  I remember Lynn saying at our first meeting that she would think about how our family was going to live in and utilize each space.  While Rusty could talk to Lynn about detail, I could count on her making suggestions to help make our house a home.

After our first meeting with Lynn, we knew she was the right choice to design our abode.  I was a little freaked out when she refused to take any samples of house plans that “came close.”  She was literally designing our home from scratch which made me very uneasy.  Of course, I trusted our instincts and Lynn’s ability…as well as the 18-page document we handed her complete with room-by-room suggestions and pictures;-).  And off we went on our design experience…

HINDSIGHT IS 20/20:  If you decide to go with a residential designer, be prepared.  I think Rusty and I could have been more prepared for that first meeting.  We had an idea of how many square feet we wanted but we had not yet finalized the room sizes we desired.  Had we pegged our room sizes prior to meeting with Lynn, we would have realized that our original square footage request would have given us Oompa-Loompa sized rooms;-)