We have a house! Well, not technically ours yet, but there’s been a ton of progress and we’re so excited! We’ve been working with Jordahl Custom Homes on designing our home since our first design meeting back in June of 2021 and to see a tangible house take shape is a surreal feeling. Last week, we had our electrical and lighting walk-through where we had the chance to walk through our home for the first time since being framed (I cannot express how exciting this was!!). Our electrical walk-through was with, Molly, our designer with Jordahl Custom Homes and Houska Electric. Everyone was a trooper while we spent two hours outside in 10 degree weather.
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Not only was it exciting to walk through our home, but Nate and I were also able to select all of our interior and exterior lighting options and placement, outlet placements, light switch placement, etc during this meeting. Molly and Pat, the electrician, were attentive and provided helpful feedback on our electrical items. Even though we are building our 3rd home, this process can feel overwhelming. We’re not living in the home yet and there are so many decisions to make. Don’t even begin to ask me where I want the light switch to turn on the hallway light. Again, Molly and Pat were so helpful with placement suggestions.
Planning
Before our walkthrough, I sat down and planned a few spaces, such as our office and mudroom. Because we will eventually build-in cabinets, I wanted to ensure that the outlets are placed in the correct positions. The plan is to add a built-in desk in my office with a printer cabinet, which needs an outlet. We also will build-in lockers in the mudroom, complete with a drop zone/charger station. Nate and I also added various recessed lighting throughout. We’ve learned in the past that you can never have too much light and recessed lights are not something you can easily add after the finished work is complete.
Jordahl Custom Homes offers a standard lighting package included in the home (think basic black or silver lights); however, you can also purchase lighting fixtures through their network of lighting suppliers. There is also a third option for lighting, no light fixture, and installing your own after move-in. Due to the electrical code in our area, the electricians can’t cap the electrical wires in the ceiling and place a plate over the wiring (I’m sure that they can do this in some areas). Instead, they can install a porcelain plate with a lightbulb.
In areas where we wanted light fixtures, we opted for porcelain plates and we’ll replace them after we move in. I have already purchased most of our light fixtures; however, we did select a few fixtures through Jordahl that the electricians will install pre-move in.
Lighting Walk-Through Tips
Even though the electrical walk-through can be overwhelming, these tips can help make it a smoother process with less stress.
- Plan ahead – Like I stated above, we planned ahead on the spaces we knew where we’d build in cabinets
- Plan for more – If you’re questioning on adding a light or outlet to a space, add it! It’s a lot harder to add lighting or outlets after the space is drywalled and finished. We’ve learned this in our previous two builds. I can’t even count how many times I said ‘I wish we would have put a light here’.
- Budget more than you think – In our first design meeting, Jordahl supplied a list of common electrical additions with pricing (it was so helpful). At the beginning of the building process, Nate and I totaled what we thought our electrical budget should be and then multiplied that by 1/3. That’s just what we thought we’d end up spending after the walk through was done.
- Plan for changes – Be flexible. Your electrician may have suggestions or ideas that are different than yours. Sometimes you have to trust the experts.
Lights we’ve purchased
Here’s a glimpse of what we’ve already purchased for our new home. I wanted our lighting to feel classic and elevated. We’re just waiting on the kitchen pendants, which are supposed to arrive in the next week or two! Everything is linked in the image below, just tap the item in the picture.
Forgot what we have planned for each space? View our kitchen and living room inspiration. Stay tuned as I will recap our previous design meetings next week.
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