Walking through any home, it's easy for us to admire those obvious qualities which we can see at a glance, like the wall colour, the amazing floor tiles, those bathroom taps and the kitchen bench top! But as we pay a little more attention we notice the high ceilings, the taller doorways, the interesting mix of textures and the tactile finishes on the kitchen cabinetry. Depending on how long we spend to actually examine a property will give us information on the choices made to not only achieve its looks but also the way 'it feels', as the amount of work that goes into building a brand new home goes well beyond just its apparent good looks.
The Interior Designer's job is to help clients define their house with personalised details that satisfy their requests of functionality & durability as well as good looks. But when it comes to Display Homes, it's a different game, because instead of one family's needs, these properties have to respond to the wishes and taste of many individual families and couples. In fact, a display home will be inspected by hundreds, easily thousands of people, and scrutinised as a whole and in detail. Design solutions and 'looks' that work for some might not work for others, and as every family will walk through its doors with different expectations, creating a successful display home is quite a complex task. If you're considering building a new home and therefore visiting display homes yourself, or you've been asked to help design one, here are a few important details you must be aware of...
A successful display home must have:
wide appeal - to satisfy the differing taste and expectation of the varying range of visitors
durable trendy looks - to retain appeal through all the years it will be on display
quality/durable finishes - to effectively survive the continuous public's scrutiny and 'foot traffic'
wow effect - to stand out from other homes available on the market without being 'too out there'
welcoming qualities - to feel like Home to any that walks through those doors
practical solutions and the best technology & finishes available - to leave an impression
Making sure a display home will inspire the widest number possible of visitors is not an easy task, but luckily for me, it's a task that I love to undertake; however, even before being presented to the general public, I have the fun of presenting to 'The Builder' in the form of a well versed panel of people who understand too well the 'ins and outs' of creating a great home, and I have to explain the fittings and finishes I've selected and the 'look & vibe' I'm intending to create. Each builder I work with has different targets and expectations, but all are very keen to appeal to the buyers, of course, as well as wanting to assert their strength as builders by offering a great product. Indeed, a Display Home is a testimony to the Builder's skills and the homes' design possibilities.
If you're curious to see the results of my process, 5 brand new and exciting Eden Brae display homes have just opened in Marsden Park - Elara Estate, NSW and I'm very proud of the results. Starting with the Builders new home designs, I worked my way through their plans and chose important areas of the home to feature, to show the many possibilities that clients can achieve as well as providing each home with a unique personality, through the choice of staircase finishes, door profiles, window treatments, bathrooms tiles, tapware, of course laundry and kitchen layout, but also finishes like bricks & roofing, flooring & wall colours... and the list goes on.
Finally, each home has to 'flow', to make an impact from the first impressions which must catch the eye, but also be 'welcoming' leading visitors smoothly from one area to the next, and finally get them excited about the interesting possibilities of textures, patterns and colours. Ultimately a display home has to be able to inspire people, enabling them to create the lifestyle that works for the individual needs and hopefully make them say 'I'd love to live here!'.
These brand new houses are now complete and open to the public; I think they are truly beautiful and the feedback has been amazing. I strongly invite you to visit them, to not only admire what this builder has to offer, but like all display homes should do, to allow you to see fist hand the latest products, finishes and interiors' trends. I have no doubt they will offer inspiration for your new build or home renovation project - so please let me know what you think.
James Treble is an ambassador for Planet Ark and firmly believes in sensible purchasing, recycling and creative re-purposing. James has decades of accumulated experience in the Building Industry, Real Estate and Interior Design and regularly shares his knowledge and experience in adding value to homes through clever design & styling. Watch his free videos on YouTube, and follow him on Facebook and Instagram for more free information.
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