Monday, February 7, 2011

Indoor Lighting


Over the weekend we were in the big house working on the electrical.  There was a chill in the air so J got a roaring fire going to make it cozy for working in.  15 years ago he built the fireplace and the octagonal tower that is the master bedroom.

We had my daughters boyfriend Roberto over for the day to help work on the electrical in the big house, this was a birthday and Christmas gift from him.  He's just about ready to become a journeyman electrician, and does this everyday, so we are so thankful to have his expertise and help.

J wired the barn, and cabin himself years ago, but he is a much better carpenter than electrician.   He ran all the wires in the big house, with books laid out before him, learning and studying how to do it along the way.  Then he put up the sheet rock, but the electrical was never finished, with outlets and lights. 

Currently we're in the sheetrock stage, the next step we're  planning is to stain all the wood and beams inside. Then we'll tape,  texture, and paint, then come the floors, trim and cabinets.  The cabinets J will hand- build to hold the large granite counters we have sitting waiting to be shaped.  He will also custom make all the trim throughout, and build some built in bookshelves. 

The master bedroom on the second level looks out over the garden, and has a small fireplace.  There is also an upper loft that will someday be a book nook/ hideout, or just a warm private place to retreat.  I'm excited to be able to have indoor lighting, and see the glow coming through the windows at night.  Now we just need to get our wind powered generator system hooked up to run the whole place.  I don't think solar power is the way to go in our climate, too many grey days and not enough sun.  But a windmill, we already have, we just need to buy the tower to get above the treeline (a very tall tree line)... someday we will... all things in time.  Building a home takes time, money and energy, plus a lot of patience.

4 comments:

Chione said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tracy said...

Julie I don't know how I missed you all were building your own house as well. It looks beautiful!

Jewel said...

Tracy, Yes we are building a real house to live in. It's been kind of an art project, and is taking years to build, as you know with cash. It was the original house Jarin built and lived in 30 years ago, then added on in stages.

We have been living very comfortably in the barn and also have the finished cabin too! Someday we'll probably rent out one of them.

Tracy Campbell said...

I so love the master bedroom, Jewel. Just looking at the pic already makes me feel as if I were there, admiring the outside view while feeling the breeze. I say I'm excited to see how it all turns out. We just moved in here in Bay Area a few months ago, and we're transforming our house into a feel-good one. We've already installed the windows and shutters on some of the rooms yesterday. I wanted to achieve that breezy house feel.