Meeting with sub-contractors- electricians & heating specialists/plumbers

A day of intense feelings…all good ones.  My first visit to Vermont in a while what with winter weather and holidays.  My sister who lives in Vermont had driven by recently and told me all of the windows are in and that it looks so good- like the old house is rising back up.  I was excited to see it.

The windows are beautiful, real wooden grills that divide the glass. They are energy-efficient and are the type you can flip inwards to clean.

Seeing the inside of the house with windows brings me back more and more to the original house. I remember standing in those rooms, looking out windows, and it does feel similar.

The new view is the same

If anything, we do have an extra window here and there which will add to the light in the house. It is gorgeous and I am feeling very lucky.

Living room

There was a flurry of activity at the house when I got there.  The electrician Tim Schoolcraft from Harmony Electric in Randolph, along with his assistant Ken were there, already putting in the junction boxes for plugs and switches (the plastic electrical box that sits in the wall, nailed to a wooden stud).  We went over the plans and he asked me where I would like switches and if they should be three-way switches (turn a light on and off from two different locations).  We went through every light location in the house.  It’s a whole different experience thinking about the lights in a room from a floor plan vs. living in a house and noticing when a switch isn’t conveniently placed.  I had to think about- where will I enter this room, what light will I need to turn on if it is dark out, where will I exit the room, where does the switch need to be to turn it off again? 

Tim Schoolcraft from Harmony Electric

I really liked Tim.  He is knowledgeable and patient.  He didn’t try to influence me to go in any direction with my decisions.  He just asked questions and jotted down the answer on the plans.  Sometimes where you put a switch is arbitrary and sometimes it is important.  He could tell me what the usual place was for a particular switch though, which helped. 

He worked with me and Joe to mark out where the dining room table will go and then figured out where the center would be for the chandelier I have chosen over the table. 

Dining area on right, kitchen to the left. The half-wall in the original house will instead be a sizable island

We walked through the whole house together, 1^st floor, upstairs, the basement.  I am very particular about the fixtures I want for the house, except for the basement.  The basement does not have to match any period style, just be functional.  The only place I am allowing recessed pot lights or can lights is in closets and the basement.  (I forgot to take a photo of the basement!)...really the first time I have been down there since I was in the old house. The cellar stairs are in so I could go down. Huge. I can't wait to put in the ping-pong table I promised my granddaughters and maybe even a model train project up on tables? We have one small separate room that will be either an exercise room or an extra bedroom if we need it. There will also be a separated area/closed up, lockable room which will have the boiler, the water heater, etc. It will be out of site but also accessible by the hatchway up and out to the north side of the house. If we needed work done, a repair person could come into that section of the house without any access to the rest of the house if we weren't home. Joe thinks of everything. He has so many great suggestions.

I will be buying all of my own fixtures and I have already picked them out.  I just have to make sure they are quality fixtures.  I will go to a lighting store in Vermont to see what they have and buy locally if they have the same ones I want (and hopefully higher quality).  Last night when I got home from Vermont, I sat down and went through every fixture and sent images and specifications on each up to Tim so he would know what the box size and shape should be. 

The chandelier I picked out...I love how it isn't too frilly (no jingling, dangling glass) but still looks a little fancy, yet rustic at the same time

I like this sort of thing.  It is fun to imagine them all up in the house, adding to the style.  I am pretty straight forward in my approach.  Simple is best.  On the side of vintage or 1920s-looking if possible, but not too ornate.  Consistency from room to room except when the room use demands a different style or a different fixture adds interest to the room.  I’m going with all black fixtures/bases except for the bedrooms which will get a bronze or browns. 

Sconces in bedrooms

Sconces in other rooms

Sconces in screened-in porch

Light over kitchen sink

While I was there, I also met with the heating specialist/plumber that Joe uses- Barry.  Last name unknown. He will give me quotes on a boiler to run the radiant heat in the basement along with radiant heat panels in the rest of the house.  We will use mini-splits just for AC.

Also working, were three others besides Joe with the construction crew.  Still hammering on a few framing details like closets.  So all together there were eight people there including me.  All of sudden it hit me…”I am paying for all of these people.”  Kind of daunting when you look at it like that.  Joe is done there for a few days while the electrician works on the wiring. 

Upstairs north bedroom. My older granddaughter has already "called" the nook area to the right of the windows for her bed! The other bed in this room is bigger but she wants that cozy nook! This house will also have tons of great hide-and-go-seek areas with little doors into under the eave storage, hidden closets, a tiny door in the hallway that used to go to the secret passageway will be part of a large set up cupboards.