Sharing the 7 Principles of Interior Design
Read More#33 Tech to simplify our day
Automated Faucets
1. We automated the faucets with this motion or touch technology from Delta Faucets. It keeps the countertops clean from dripping hands and it keeps faucets clean from dirty fingers. Oh, and it makes the necessary yet mundane things like washing hands go faster. It even has an LED light that indicates the water temperature. We have these faucets in the main bathroom, the master bathroom, and in the kitchen.
Automated Blinds
2. We automated the blinds with PowerView and SoftTouch technology from Hunter Douglas. With a quick tap on the wand or a click on the remote, the blind moves in place while you walk away. Once again, a twice-daily task is faster making our day more efficient and our outlook (literally) sunnier.
Automated Garbage Bin
3. We automated the garbage cabinet with servo drive technology from Blum. With a gentle push on the handle or the door, the garbage pops out at me. Our first thought was to keep the cabinet in good shape but having the ability to open this cabinet hands free is awesome (like when I just cracked an egg)! It’s another small way to make daily tasks more efficient.
Automated Lighting
4. We automated the lighting with motion sensors. More often than not, my hands are full when I'm entering certain rooms like the mud room or the laundry room. A motion sensor removes the burden of stumbling through a dark room or having to drop everything to flip a switch. Every time I enter the laundry room with a full basket of clothes in my hand, I’m so grateful for that sensor. Also, coming in from the garage with my arms loaded with my work gear and the mail, I’m so grateful for that sensor. We used the Lutron brand in our home which also has some great additional features that allows us to control some of the dimmers with an app on our phone.
All of these features cost a bit more but daily life is so much more efficient! Keep in mind that many of the features involved some planning and a lot of help from our electrician. We can still both recall our frozen feet and hands when doing the electrical walk through very early on in the building process. Thinking through these details, however, has proven to be so WORTH IT!
Moving Day!
Whew... moving is hard work! We're getting more settled as the days go by and LOVING our new digs!
Construction is behind schedule so the contractors worked hard to get us a temporary occupancy permit. We sold our previous home and we needed to move! There is still some interior work to be done and lots of exterior work to be done. We appreciate not having to move to a temporary home though.
Here's a gallery of pictures taken by Liz Schaefer just as we're starting to move our things in.
A special thank you to all of our heavy lifters and packers - you guys rocked!
We can't wait to share more pictures of our home after each room is completed. Our daughter settled right into the art room. It has one of the best views in the home!
#10 Circle Window
On the other side of that beautiful circle window our daughter dreamed up is the mudroom. Below is a conceptual sketch by my design collaborator, Lindsey, showing a brilliant idea for built-ins around that circle window.
Can pretty be used to describe a hard-working mudroom? We think so.
Conceptual sketch
After days of working out the details based on this concept, we placed the doors, walls, columns, and built-ins (both on the interior and exterior) so that things are centered and properly proportioned. We are really excited to see this built and installed!
The windows are in!
The dormers are in too!