Lights, switches and plugs for every ground floor room (kitchen and family room, living room, entry and stairs, office, powder room, mudroom, guest suite) and now upstairs too: the landing and hall, both kids' rooms, the kids bath, the primary bedroom and the primary bath. The kitchen + family room also has the Sonos speaker spots and their wire runs, and the Cat6 network runs from the office to the TV console, the landing and the guest sitting room. Rough electrical is not inspected yet, so there is still time to change the plan.
A 3D model built in code. Pick a room, downstairs or upstairs, then drag to look around and scroll or pinch to zoom. Turn layers on and off and try the scenes. Each room sheet below the model has a 2D plan for the electrician. The kitchen + family room sheet also draws every wall and each side of the island flat, with each plug and switch at its height.
One page per room: plan, light placements, switches and plugs. The kitchen + family room runs several pages with its wall drawings. It takes a few seconds to build, then asks you to confirm the save. Email the PDF to the electrician.
Counted from the layouts in the model. A starting list to price from. Tap a room name to open it above.
Local showroom: Lite Line Illuminations in Los Gatos carries trimless lines. Ask whether they offer layout help.
Modern rooms layer light. Ceiling lights for general light, hidden light for glow, and one or two pieces you actually look at.
| Layer | Where | What | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under-cabinet LED | Kitchen uppers, mudroom lockers | LED tape in an aluminum channel, 2700K, set at the front edge | The best work light on the counter. Hides the source |
| Pendants | Island, dining, breakfast table, entry | Island: one slim linear pendant. Dining: a sculptural piece about 30" above the table | The lights you look at. Brass ties to the hardware |
| Soffit light | Along CB-2, CB-4, CB-5, CB-1 | A thin linear LED along the soffit edge (see below) | Makes the beam soffits look planned |
| Wall wash | Quartzite TV wall, office shelves | Adjustable 4" downlights, 12" to 18" off the wall, aimed at it | Bright walls make a room feel bigger |
| Sconces | Kitchen range wall, living room, powder, guest bed, primary bed, primary bath vanity | Wall lights at eye level. Polished gold in the powder room and primary bath. The guest bath and kids bath get a 48" LED light bar over one large mirror instead | Light at face height is warmer and kinder than light from above |
| Step lights | Stair wall | Small recessed lights every 2 steps | Safe at night, looks custom |
| Toe-kick glow | Island, every floating bath vanity, the primary tub ledge | LED tape, on a motion sensor at night | Night light that makes cabinets float |
| Slope and step glow | Upstairs: kids' rooms, primary bed headboard wall | LED in a small channel at the top of a knee wall or on a ceiling step | Makes a sloped attic ceiling look planned |
| Skylight well LED | Guest sitting room, kids bath, primary bath | LED tape hidden in the skylight well | Glows at night instead of a black hole |
| Night lights | Upstairs landing and hall | Small recessed wall lights about 12" up, on a motion sensor | The walk to the bath at night, no glare |
| Switched outlets | Living room, office, guest sitting room | Outlets on a wall switch for lamps | Lamps come on with one button |
| Controls | Whole house | Lutron RA3 or Caseta with scene keypads | One button sets a mood. Fewer switches on the wall |
Your room notes ask for fans in every room except the living room. The model puts one in the office and guest bedroom. The family room gets a chandelier instead (your call, 2026-10-29). The guest sitting room skips the fan (your call, 2026-10-19). Upstairs, both kids' rooms get a fan box only for now: box, blocking and wire at rough-in, a blank cover, and the fan later (your call, 2026-10-26). The primary bedroom has no fan box yet.
Six ceiling speakers in the kitchen + family room, on two Sonos Amps that live in the TV console. Spots, tags and wire runs are on that room's 2D plan.
Sonic's internet comes into the office. The Google Wifi router and a switch sit on an open shelf there at P5, and every Cat6 cable starts at that shelf and runs to one spot, like spokes. Three Wifi units: the router in the office, a point at the TV console, a point on the upstairs landing. The guest sitting room is wired for a 4th unit or a TV later. You supply the cable.
| From the office shelf (P5) to | Cables | Feeds |
|---|---|---|
| TV console, P18 | 2 (1 live, 1 spare) | Small switch in the console: Wifi point, both Sonos Amps, soundbar, streaming box |
| Upstairs landing, P3 | 2 (1 live, 1 spare) | Wifi point on the wall, about 60" up. Up the stair wall behind the shelves |
| Guest sitting room, P4 | 1 | A 4th Wifi point or a TV later |
| Total | 5 runs | About 300 ft, measured on site. Buy one 500 ft box |
The soffits make one rectangle around the family room: CB-2 and CB-4 down the sides, CB-5 at the dining end, and CB-1 along the slider. CB-5 rests on the south end of the pier by the range (your call, 2026-10-29), so its soffit runs from the pier east to CB-4, about 1'-2" to 2'-5" off the range wall. They drop 2" to 3" below the ceiling. Steel sits right above, so nothing can be recessed into them. Three ways to handle them:
Crisp corners, painted the ceiling color. Lay out the downlight grid so no light lands closer than about 12" to a soffit. Zero added cost.
A surface or mud-in aluminum channel along one side of each soffit. Reads as a deliberate light line. Needs the soffit framed with a small reveal. Shown as "Soffit glow" in the model.
Build the soffit a bit wider with a lip so LED tape washes the ceiling. Best glow, but the soffit gets wider and lower. Ask the GC and Plan A before choosing.
This also answers the open ask to Plan A in beam-ceiling-issue.md: how to make the soffits line up with the lighting and look intentional.
Decided 2026-10-18: 4 inch. Kept here for the record.
| 4 inch | 6 inch | |
|---|---|---|
| How it looks at 8 ft | Small, quiet, modern | Large holes in a low ceiling, reads 1990s |
| Spacing | About 4 ft apart (ceiling height ÷ 2) | About 5 to 6 ft apart |
| Count downstairs | ||
| Light quality | Tighter pools, easy to aim at counters | Wider wash, more glare in your eyes at 8 ft |
| Fits around beams | Easy. Small housings slip between joists and steel | Harder. Bigger housings need more clear space |
| Cost | More fixtures, so more total cost | Fewer fixtures, cheaper to buy and wire |
| Verdict | Chosen. Use everywhere downstairs | Only in the garage, if anywhere |
Want them even quieter? 3" or 2" "small aperture" downlights are the high-end modern look. They cost more per light and need more of them. Good for the open plan if budget allows.