“Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays!” No truer words have been sung or spoken, especially by those who have built a custom home. Finding the right spot for treasured holiday decorations to bring style and spirit to the season is a thrilling adventure. Knowing people will be visiting your home, whether it is for a visit to see your new house or a holiday gathering, it is important to consider when you are making your house plans how you will use your spaces to entertain before you have completed the home building process.
The number one thing to consider while building a custom home for the holidays is where to place electrical outlets. Consider where they ought to be placed so they will be easy to access and usable for your needs. Whether it is in the kitchen or in other areas in your home, outlets are always important, yet rarely considered.
- Will you be using crock pots and warmers on a buffet? Put an outlet there to accommodate your needs.
- Will you be storing multiple appliances on the counter top, such as a coffeemaker, blender, telephone, and an iPod charger? Put an outlet that’s large enough to supply power to all those items.
- Will you be using lighting on your landing or a ledge on the stairway? Put an outlet there, too, so you are not limited in what you can do.
- Will you get a lot of use out of outlets in the floor? How are they more convenient there than on a wall. Think about it now before it’s too late.
- Will you have exterior lights hung up for the holidays? It is much easier to put outlets on the eaves of your home, as well as an interior light switch nestled out of the way, during the home building process than afterwards.
You don’t want to regret not having that access to lighting and power once you’ve lived in your house for a month….or a year…or even more. As the years pass, your decorations and design style will change, and your electrical outlets, if smartly placed, will always be there to provide the power source you need. So, carefully consider your holiday needs when you are creating your ho