When I was making reference calls during the builder selection process, I talked to one couple and asked a few questions about how they interacted with the builder and they mentioned that a lot of the decisions were handled by their designer. They had a designer. We didn’t have a designer. We had an architect, a civil engineer, a mechanical engineer, a structural engineer, an arborist, a landscape designer, a builder, an EMF specialist, an electrician, etc. but no designer.
But then I realized that we did have a designer for this project, its just that I had not been paying them. Daphne has been handling the role of designer for our Sudbury River house. With some guidance from the architect, Daphne has been making all the decisions that a professional designer would handle.
So that leads me to Daphne’s latest design vision. The proposal is to add woodwork accents to the living room (and also the dining room although I do not have a picture of that). Here is Daphne’s hand drawing of the proposal, which I annotated with labels.
In this sketch, it is as if we are standing between the dining room and the living room, looking South towards the living room wall where the entertainment system will be located. The idea is to have wood slats that go up the South wall and across the ceiling, meeting somewhere over the reclining loveseat (not shown).
It should look very pretty but will also provide some level of sound dampening and maybe also break up some of the EMF standing waves that would otherwise bounce off the flat surfaces. Daphne would also like cove lighting around the outside of the living room ceiling, but we are not sure can make that work since it requires a significant drop ceiling.
If you do not know what cove lighting is, here are two pictures from the internet.
The cove lighting is even more problematic with the slatted wall. Where do the cove lights go in relation to the slats? Where do the slats go in relation to the cove lights. But having indirect lighting in the room with the TV would be really nice. It doesn’t reflect off the screen as badly. It might be that the cove lights stop at the edge of the doors. I might put them on only three walls.