Outlets under each front window for Christmas candles all tied to a single switch, or better yet a timer. Outdoor outlets for Christmas lights tied to the same switch.

Outlets on the mantel for decorations if you do that.

I made sure there was a switched outlet in my craft room. I use it for my iron so I can turn it on and off with the switch and not the stupid dials on the iron itself. And at a glance I can make sure the iron is off.

Floor outlets if you plan on arranging your furniture in the middle of a room at all.

Outlets in the broom closets for plug in battery powered things.

I added an in-door switch to the closet light, but should've added one on the pantry door. I have since retrofitted with a motion detector light switch as you are always going in and out of the pantry with your arms full. We also use a motion detector switch in our PR as DH was perpetually leaving that light on.

Leave switches and chases for wiring and such under walkways outside so you can add landscape wiring and have choices for switches.

We added outlets inside the bathroom vanity cabinets so that we could plug in an on-demand hot water pump. Also you may want an outlet under the kitchen sink for automatic faucet, water filter, etc.

We also have an outlet behind the toilet for a heated toilet seat (yes it's expensive but so worth it in the winter).

We didn't do it in the present house but intend to in the new house. Got the idea from someone here. A switch in the master bedroom that will turn on and off all outdoor lights.

We do have a switch in the foyer now that operates all of the front outdoor electricity to turn on and off Christmas lights.

Love my drawer in my bathroom vanity with the outlet that allows me to leave my hair dryer plugged in. My electrician didn't want to do it. He would only do it on the side of the drawer. Love it.

We wired a closet up with cable, phone and electricity, and it's where our wifi router lives. We also put a plug under the dining table in our great room, so that if we want to put something on the table that needs power, we don't need to stretch a cord across a walkway.

This may be obvious, but if you plan to have a TV on a wall, have them put a plug where you plan to hang it, and install conduit in the wall for cords to DVD player, cable box, etc...

Outlets in pantry and in some built in shelves for charging. Some of the closet doors are wired so that their lights come on when the door is opened. Exterior outlets under the eaves in case we want to install hurricane shutters later... good for Christmas lights too.

If you still have a land line, get a hot phone jack - you can power a cordless phone without running a cord to the nearest outlet. I have my electrician to thank for this - I didn't know it existed.

A switch in the master bedroom that will turn on and off all outdoor lights.

This is more investment than most people want to make, but in this vein, we have a home automation system that allows us to have completely programmable switches and buttons. So we can easily turn off (or on) all the lights in the house from our bedroom. We could easily program it to do the same for the outdoor lights, but we have those on a schedule (also via the system, so it's in sync with sun up/sun down throughout the year).

Wow! Heated Toilet seat for $75 - that is in my price range.

You guys are the best - thanks so much. I hope others find this useful as well. I added every single suggestion.

Red_lover: I am working with a condescending electrician, which is one reason I reached out to GW because if you don't ask, this guy won't tell you. If you have a sec can you post a photo of your drawer outlet so I can show mine it is "easy" to do?

Well if you're looking for pampering and something electrical, I love love love my heated towel bar. There is something wonderful about stepping out of the shower and wrapping in a warm towel...the heater then acts like a radiator keeping the bath warm while I'm in there.

Oh, redlover reminded me...we have an appliance garage in our master bath and we put an outlet in there so we can plug in our electric toothbrushes, waterpik, etc.

Also electrical: we added electric radiant heat under our tile floor in the master bath. It's really nice.

We did an in-drawer outlet:

We also put a low plug in a broom closet for a roomba or dust buster or something.

Door jam switches in all closets so they turn on automatically when you open the door and turn off when you close it.

I did not want outlets messing up my backsplash in the kitchen so all of ours are hidden (under cabinets/ under counter or in the side of cabinets)
Hidden outlet:

Out door and in-cabinet lights also work on a timer so they go on and off automatically every day.

We also did a charging station in our dog room for all the clutter. Inside of the cabinet is a hook up for a fax machine & wireless printer (slide out shelf):

Plugs are inside of the area w/ the little holes for cords to come out.

This post was edited by beaglesdoitbetter on Thu, May 29, 14 at 22:56

Beaglesdoitbetter . . . . Can you explain how the outlet in the back of the drawer was installed?

I'm thinking the romex wire must exit through the sheetrock and through the back wall of the cabinet, with enough length to move forward and backward each time the drawer is opened and closed. Is there anything extra we need to do to allow the romex to move freely? Thanks for your help.

I would not use Romex because it is not made to be bent often.

A better option is stranded wire in a metallic flexible conduit.

We have a water cooler for those big bottles of water that get delivered. (I didn't want a water dispenser in my refrigerator door.) So one side of my tall cabinet pantry has an outlet built into the back of it. (I don't have a walk in pantry; if I did, I'd definitely have outlets in there, too.)

My outdoor outlets work off a switch from inside the house. Wish I had done similar for landscape lighting.

Here is an explanation from Life Hacker:
http://lifehacker.com/5841843/install-an-outlet-in-a-drawer-for-convenient-gadget-charging-blow-drying-and-more

We didn't do ours ourselves, the electrician did it and I'm not sure if this is the method he used or not. Seems like it makes sense :)

It's essentially a version of a power bar. (But I wonder if it would pass muster on a new house electrical inspection.)

A heated toilet seat. Really? (Of course, I had a cottage for years with outdoor plumbing. Just bring a flashlight to be sure wildlife hasn't taken a warm spot in the little house in the woods.)

This post was edited by worthy on Sun, Jun 1, 14 at 18:38

Regarding outdoor lighting control, there are many ways to go. If you decide to use timers, make sure to get astronomic timers which will automatically adjust the on and/or off times depending on the day of the year.

Once I tallied everything up on the build I took some 10-3 and hung myself off the balcony. Some do-gooder cut me down before I could finish the job.

Given that I am the one who has to crawl under the house, if it is necessary, I had small fluorescent dome/work lights installed under the house. It is so much more comfortable going under there with good lighting.

The outlet behind the toilet is fantastic! I bought a washlet with heated seat from Costco for much less than the toto version. It's had worked great for the last few years we've had it. We have 4 toilets in our house and everyone fights over getting to the heated one first! If we ever build again, I'm putting an outlet behind more than one toilet. ;)

We also put switched outlets on our porch ceiling near the outside edge so we can install heaters or decorative string lights around the perimeter of the covered porch.

Outlet near pet water station if you have one of those pet drinking fountains.

If you have a treadmill, plan for power where you plan on placing it.

Quad outlets near each master nightstand are handy for all of the devices requiring charging.

Figure out if you will have uplights above your kitchen cabinets and how it will be configured. If you plan on using rope light and your cabinets vary in height, you'll need an outlet above each level change.

This thread has been done numerous times through the years, so I just listed the highlights that aren't always included.

I 2nd the idea for the light switch by the master bedroom bed for an outdoor light. Notice I said light or maybe 2 lights.

I idea is that if you are in bed, its dark, you hear something outside, you can easily turn on a light which will show you the cause of the noise or scare away an intruder.

We have a switch with two lights. One goes into the back yard by the deck (in case anyone is trying to get in that door) and the other goes to the side where our main door is located. These lights are only turned on by this switch. They are not our regular outdoor lights. Our building inspector thought it was a great idea. I don't know the actual cost but I know it must have been reasonable or DH would not have done it! They are just flood lights.