Darby in the dark

I spent last night browsing Pinterest for ideas when building a house. I found a site that someone had put together listing all the regrets of the first time home builders in her community.

Most of them I had already read in the many blogs I follow. Things such as spending money on structural vs cosmetic.

One regret I found interesting is a lighting one. They regretted never having visited their model home in the dark to check the lighting. Once they moved into their home they found their lighting insufficient for the evenings. They would have added extra lighting had they known.

I took this advice to heart and drove out to the model home this evening at dusk. Luckily it's winter and that's at about 6pm, as Susan is about to leave. We arrived at 5:50pm as the sun was going down. It wasn't dark, but dim enough to need lighting inside. I went through the entire house and turned off all the lights. Susan is fantastic about letting us make ourselves at home.

The first thing I noticed was all the light switches I flicked off and on that seemed to do nothing. Note to self, walk through with the electrician so I know what switch belongs to what.

Second, the switch placement bothered me in many ways.  Some switches, and the thermostat, were placed in the middle of the wall where one would normally want to place art or photos. Those need to be moved to the edges of the walls.  Also, in the kitchen I had to go to four different switches to get all the lights off. One next to the refrigerator, next to the sink, next to the peninsula and in the nook. I want to have them all together.

We will need to get lamps for the great room. There is only one overhead light that shines down on the fireplace. We don't want to litter that tall ceiling with lights. Nor do we want to deal with changing a lightbulb two stories above us.

I have to say I agree with this tip. It is a definite must before building.