more bright ideas
In January, we did a post about lighting choices for our soon-to-be-demoed spaces. Since then, we’ve purchased the island light and the reach lights for over the kitchen counter. We’re still planning on this drum pendant for the dining table, and some simple can lights for the ceiling adjacent to the bedroom and bathroom.
For the living room lighting, we wanted something that would integrate with the exposed structure but not be too visually heavy. We looked at Bruck and Techlighting, which both offer modern, low-voltage linear systems. Ultimately, we ended up picking a Kable Lite system from Techlighting. The installation will be similar to this, but the joist spacing and cable spacing will be tighter and the cables will run within the joist bay.
We’ll have two runs that span from wall to wall and each run will have 4 lights. We’re deciding between these two options. We like the simplicity of the one on the right, but we might need the extra vertical drop in the one on the left since the cables will be slightly recessed above the bottom of the joists.
We’ll also be buying a fan to go in the new stairwell. We’ll do a similar configuration to our bedroom fan (the Cirrus style by Modern Fan Co.) but with a down rod and no light (so similar to the image below but with maple blades).
For the loft, we decided that we would install a switched outlet (with the switch at the top of the ladder) with the thought that we would have some type of small wall sconce or desk lamp instead of a ceiling fixture. We’ll also just pre-wire for some type of ceiling fixture in the 2nd bedroom, but aren’t going to buy that just yet. The only thing left on the lighting list is under cabinet lighting in the kitchen. Since we only have one wall of upper cabinets, we really don’t have much under cabinet space, about 30″ on each side of the vent hood. Most under cabinet lighting we’ve seen is bulky, clunky and just generally blah. To keep with the overall aesthetic, we really didn’t want to build a valence to hide said clunky lighting either. We looked for more minimal options, especially LEDs, but most were cost-prohibitive. On the verge of having to make an under cabinet compromise(!), our contact at Lighting Supply told us about LED tape lights.
Pretty sexy, huh? These “tape lights” are made by ET2 Lighting and consist of a row of LED lights on a circuit board type strip that is lightweight and adheres to the underside of the cabinet with simple 3M tape. The product line has a few different options that range in brightness and available lengths and most can be joined together to create longer runs. The power end of the strip is connected to a driver/transformer that is then wired back to the panel. In our case, the driver will go in the cabinet above the vent hood since it’s centrally located and will also be housing the duct for the vent. Even though we’d install the lights towards the back wall where they’d be less visible, ET2 also sells aluminum channel that can be installed on the outboard face to serve as a valence (the strips also come with protective plastic cover). We’re still working on final pricing for the whole system, but the general numbers are really not too bad and comparable if not less expensive than more traditional under cabinet options. Plus, the lifespan for LED lights far exceed that of fluorescent, halogen or especially incandescent and since these won’t be on all the time we’re expecting to go years without needing to replace them. Woo!
I just realized that the irony in this post is that we’re also proposing a major reduction in artificial lighting due to our new windows and skylights. But nevermind, there’s always winter…when darkness can come as early as 4:30. (I tend to repress that memory as we’re on the downward slope towards summer.)
progress report: week 9
Maybe it was the Monday holiday, but this past week flew by without a lot of physical progress on the house. Unfortunately, our schedule and mother nature didn’t cooperate with each other so we weren’t able to install the 2nd skylight. We did do some more framing (I know, we weren’t really done…) and some planning and research for the electrical side of things. To summarize:
1. This past week, we’ve been giving more thought to what kind of whole house sound system we want. First we visited Magnolia Audio, where we learned that we could spend anywhere between $1,000 and $100,000 equipping our 800 SF house. We did learn about a few cool products, such as Sonos, a wireless music system that allows you to control everything via your iPhone. We then looked into what the chain stores had to offer and came up somewhere between the two. At this point, we’re leaning towards quality over quantity, with a pair of reputable bookshelf speakers in the living room, a new receiver/amplifier, and the Sonos system. We’ll also eventually install a couple outdoor speakers for the backyard. (Down the road, we’ll be converting part of our basement into a media room, so we’re not planning for any surround sound or video components for this project.) While others would absolutely say we need speakers in the bedrooms and bathroom with individual volume controls and devices that massage the incoming current, we’re just not convinced it would be worth it for our lifestyle and how open the layout will be. (However, we did invest in a full security system with remote monitoring so we won’t be depriving ourselves of techiness.) But what about you audiophiles out there? Anyone have a favorite system that is simple, good-quality, affordable and aesthetically pleasing?
2. As mentioned above, we’re still waiting for enough dry weather for skylight #2. We framed in as much as we could on the inside…
Kyle also framed in the opening for the roof window in the loft. We just ordered this guy a few days ago so install will be at least a couple of weeks out. Still, it’s exciting to visualize an opening there. Even better, we noticed that you’ll see some blue sky from the kitchen space below.
3. Thanks to good ol’ life safety codes, we also ordered 7 smoke and carbon monoxide alarms last week. It does seem a bit ridiculous, but we’re all about “doing it right”. (FYI – we actually ordered them off Amazon for much less than HD.)
4. Lastly, we’re making some final decisions on the rest of our lighting and have started to install j-boxes. Check back mid-week for a post about that and how we finally found some cool under cabinet lights!
Hope everyone is having a relaxing Sunday. We just spent the last hour or so looking at reglets and detailing the various connections that we’ll have between different materials (like where the drywall on the walls meets the wood on the vaulted ceiling). I know, we’re not normal.
things we like
We still have a way to go before we can start talking furniture and accessories, but it’s certainly a fun diversion!
I recently put together this collection of ideas for our future dining and living area. Unfortunately, the only thing we currently own is the IKEA table! We plan on buying several items this year, but others may be on the wish list for a while and a few things are simply ideas. We know we won’t be able to afford everything at once, which works out well since we also want the space to evolve over time. Right now, we’re planning on a combination of more affordable finds from IKEA, West Elm and Etsy, coupled with custom DIY pieces and long-lasting classics from the Eames collection, Artemide and Heath Ceramics. As part of our overall goal to live more sustainably, we’ll try to buy non-toxic, easy to clean and durable products that won’t end up on Craigslist or at the Goodwill anytime soon. For colors, we’ll be starting with white walls and our dark brown cork flooring. By choosing the big-ticket items in more neutral colors, we can constantly reinvent the feel of the space by changing up the accessories and artwork. [As you can see, we’re into mustard yellows, dark browns and cool blues at the moment.] A steel ledge that will run nearly the entire length of the south wall will provide display space for rotating artwork and a low-slung shelving unit will house books and a media hub. One of the challenges with creating a “great room” space is finding that balance between über minimal and distracting clutter. We think this palette will mesh well with the kitchen and provide interest without overwhelming the space.
But for now, the aesthetic of bare studs and plywood will have to do.
progress report: week 8
Typical Seattle, Memorial Day weekend was mostly rainy and cool – perfect weather for working on the house. And napping. And watching TV in bed. What it wasn’t good for was installing skylights. Fortunately, we got a surprise break (sun break that is) on Monday afternoon and were able to quickly change the day’s game plan.
1. Not counting those pesky skylights, we are done with framing! On Sunday, Kyle and Dustin finished up installing the rest of the miscellaneous blocking as well as furring out the old kitchen wall. For whatever reason, that wall was framed with actual 2″x3″ studs and was thus out of plane with the adjacent walls. This job entailed string lines, laser shooting, and lots of furring strips – but she’s done!
2. With framing more or less done, it’s time to move on to electrical! We’re looking forward to this because even though it can take a bit more brain power, it’s a lot less messy than framing and is easy to do on weeknights. The first and most important step was finalizing the electrical plan. Now, when we moved into our house in ’06, we had an outdated electrical panel and 7 outlets. That’s right, 3 outlets in the living/dining room, 3 in the kitchen (one for the fridge, one for the oven, and one for everything else!) and one in the basement. Kudos to the previous owners who must have had a very small electrical bill, but we needed to bring things up to at least the 20th century. Before we moved in, we hired an electrician to update the electrical service to the house, install a submeter in the carport, and put in a couple of outlets in the bedroom. Since then, we’ve gotten by with extension cords and power strips. But now is our chance to design and install a much more functional layout – and we’re not talking about just plunking in a few more outlets. It’s time to modernize things, with data, audio and cable, more (and better!) lighting and switch locations that actually make sense!
Here’s the plan we worked up. This allowed us not only to finalize the design, but became a shopping list of sorts.
On Saturday, after 3 hours at Home Depot and 17 phone calls between the two of us (I stayed at home to price check things online and verify dimensions or other requirements that we forgot to check), we were armed and ready. The electrical will be a task in itself, but thankfully the minimal amount of rough plumbing is done and the mechanical system was installed with our future layout in mind.
3. On Monday, I assembled the kitchen island frames so we can know exactly where to place the pony wall that will run behind the cabinets and house a couple electrical outlets. (There will also be a custom, open shelving unit that goes on the left side, which will hold the microwave and Bailey’s bowls.)
5. We weren’t expecting it, but Monday afternoon brought some sunshine! We took advantage of the weather by cutting a hole in our roof.
Insta-light!
Cutting the hole and installing the skylight was the easy part. After that came the tedious chore of pulling the surrounding shingles, installing flashing, and then re-shingling the surrounding area. We still have two more to put in and they’re both twice the size of this one. But it will be worth it, in fact, it already is. Even with the single skylight the amount of natural daylight in stunning. Plus, once we have drywall up it will be a light-reflecting great room of glory. That’s right, glory.
This skylight also frames a view of our neighbor’s cedar tree. Sometimes, nature has to be borrowed.
We’re hoping that we’ll get a little more nice weather this weekend so we can truly cross framing off the to-do list. But since Junember seems to be in full force, I’m not too optimistic.
room with a view
Once the loft began to take shape, we started thinking more about windows and skylights. The easiest solution would be to install a window on the gable end, but ehh…we couldn’t make it work with the composition of that elevation. So, skylight. But where? If we placed it on the north side we would have great diffuse light and avoid excessive solar gain…but if we placed it on the south side, would we get a view? We quickly dug into our archives and pulled up the photos that we took on the roof right after we closed 3.5 years ago (because doesn’t everyone climb up on the roof to get a sense of their new surroundings?) This is the photo we found:
Not bad…it’s what realtors would call a “territorial view”. Ok, so we could get a solar shade if it meant we could have that. Just to be sure, Kyle crawled up on the roof again last weekend to confirm the situation. Sadly, once he got to the right place and put the camera at the level of the skylight, we discovered this was our view instead:
(And no, the tree is not on our property. Don’t get any crazy ideas.) We panned a bit to the west. Bah, no good. I’m not taking the news well.
The crane-your-neck view to the west was better, but was it still worth the solar trade-off?
Or could we be happy with better light and this view to the northwest?
And actually, it’s not even a skylight. In order to provide egress (in the event that there was a fire and someone was sleeping up there), we decided to go with a roof window. Something like this by Velux:
In addition to interior solar shades, Velux also offers a “heatblock awning” – a shade mounted to the exterior of the unit (but operated from the inside as seen in the lower left photo). While interior solar shades definitely help, the best way to reduce solar gain is to keep it from coming through the window in the first place. And if we want this little oasis to be tolerable during the summer (remember, we’re Seattleites – we think 80 degrees is unbearable), a little solar barrier might be worth it. As an extra incentive, Velux also offers a standard 40% discount for licensed architects (who are using the products in their own home). Yes! They know the way to our hearts!
So, now all we have to do is cut three big holes in our roof. The roof that we installed by hand less than 3 years ago. It will be worth it.
Images above from www.veluxusa.com.
