Making a show home a home

First and foremost, our priority is helping our clients sell their properties. Demonstrating the lifestyle a home can offer is always a key consideration for us, so potential buyers instantly feel it’s a warm, inviting space that they can see themselves not only living in, but actually making memories in.  It’s about creating a personal, purposeful home and it’s this approach and this attention to detail that takes a show home to another level.

For us, this is about injecting personality into our show homes that subconsciously allows visitors to envisage themselves enjoying the space.  We start the process by analysing the brief, creating a buyer profile and getting into the mindset of the potential owner so we can apply this insight to the scheme.  For example, for family homes we research the local schools and weave a nod to this into the design.  This could be a school satchel featuring the logo of a local outstanding school placed in the hallway or evidence of homework in the children’s bedroom.  Family noticeboards, photo galleries and areas featuring neat storage for toys are also indicators of busy family life that the home can play a major part in enhancing.

Additionally, whoever we are targeting, whether it’s downsizers or first-time buyers, we’ll consider their hobbies and past times and what the local area has to offer and endorse them through our designs.  A paddle board propped up in a large storage cupboard, cycling accessories placed in a utility room or walking boots in a shoe cupboard are all understated signals that the home would suit these lifestyles.

Ultimately, our goal is to create designs that provide a window into the potential buyer’s life, so they feel like they’ve had the opportunity to look around a property when the owners have popped out.  So, it’s about striking a balance between that glossy, clutter free show home look that let’s face it, everyone loves, and creating somewhere that feels like a convincing home.  Home-hunters always check-out the storage in a new home and there’s nothing more uninviting and sterile than empty wardrobes and empty fridges, so we always place a few select items in these spaces to bring them to life.  Pets are also a consideration, especially now there’s been such an increase in dog ownership. You’ll often see a scheme that seeds this thought, with a collar and lead hung up somewhere or a dog bowl discreetly placed on the floor.

Ultimately, there needs to be personality in every room so the home isn’t just beautiful, it’s believable too. Our lifestyle lead approach expresses buyer needs and aspirations, creating schemes that forge an emotional connection and a sense of belonging that can influence a buyers’ vision.