The programming of each room and space drives the electrical layout.

How will we use the room? What big furniture items will go where? What electrical devices are needed and where are they needed?

Although answering these questions was a little more complex than I expected, the decision making process was relatively straightforward – except for two of the bedrooms.

It seemed obvious how each bedroom should be arranged, and we installed outlets, reading lights, and light switches accordingly.

That said, I could not ignore that there were alternative arrangements, which one may prefer in the future. Actually, it just comes down to how many options there are to place the bed.

Should we decide to move the bed around, it would be nice if everything else could move with it. Mainly reading lights and conveniently placed outlets at each side of the bed, one on a kill switch, the other not.

At one point it dawned on me that this could be arranged by installing a couple of additional electrical boxes and a few more feet of conduit.

With this built-in flexibility, we have our reading lights, light switches and outlets handy, no matter whether we decide the put the bed one way or the other.

The electrical boxes for the set of “in case we need them” reading lights can be covered with a plate, but will be available and ready to use if we need to move the bed around.