Steal These 4 Model Home Strategies to Style Your Dream Home

Model homes are part of your builder’s marketing strategy, but they also offer unique inspiration for your new home. Beyond displaying potential upgrades IRL, model homes showcase space planning, trending decor, and carefully curated details that strike an emotional chord, tailored to you - the buyer.   Here are four strategies that model home designers use, to help you re-create the look in your new construction home.    

1. Create Memory Points   

A memory point is a focal point with emotional impact, intended to linger with you after the model home tour. 

“Memory points drive a family to make a decision,” says Lisa Briand, president, Ultimate Builder Services, LLC. She says memory points are fundamental to model home design. 

The trending memory point that has the most impact on buyers, according to Briand? Kids’ rooms. Children’s room design currently features zones for rest and play, classic furniture, smart storage, and bespoke decorative features, such as wall murals or interactive displays. 

Another great place to make a memory point is the foyer, to make a good impression on buyers as they enter. 

Get the model home look: 

• Briand says an easy DIY foyer memory point is a cool console with inviting photographs and florals. "[It] will make you want to come inside, and you know you will feel comfy and cozy here.” 

• Embrace a theme that ties in to the community, says Briand. For example, in a community with equestrian trails, horse-themed decor in the study is decoratively powerful. 

• Other common memory points include a fireplace with a sleek surround, amenity-focused spaces with tailored decor choices, or an impressive, multi-purpose kitchen island, styled for entertaining. 

2. Pick Warm, Welcoming Colors 

Typically, model home colors are neutral, because neutrals are versatile, have broad-based appeal, and help to amplify the sense of space, important in a model home.   

The neutral color palette is expanding in model homes, which will inspire homeowners.  “Neutrals are warmer than they used to be. We're moving away from the greys, into tans, creams, and brown,” says Briand. “We are still doing a pop of some kind of color, but they tend to be natural and organic, maybe a soft green or blue.” 

Get the model home look: 

• Style your walls, architectural details, and hard surfaces that occupy a lot of space (i.e. counters and flooring) in a neutral color, or a series of complementary neutral colors, and add bright colors through smaller accents. 

• If you are keen to experiment with more dramatic color, keep bold spaces out of main sightlines, in a jewel-box powder room, a dark and moody home office, or a primary-colored, playful child’s room. 

3. Right-Sized, Comfortable Furniture  

Furnishing a model home plays a role in decor, but also in subtly defining traffic flow in rooms, and between spaces. Furniture is just the right size and placed perfectly. 

A prospective buyer can understand how a sofa fits in a room or see what size bed works best in a bedroom, with the opportunity to measure in person, says Briand.  

Get the model home look: 

• Use the model home furniture for inspiration but be aware that model home designers often source furniture wholesale, so you might have a hard time finding exact pieces through retail. But you can use the model pieces as your guide. 

• Do your own space planning. Measure furniture and use AI or AR apps to determine layout before purchasing pieces. 

• Look for modular pieces to maximize space and flexibility, even better if there is built-in storage, so you can be clutter-free, just like in the model home. 

4. Large, Eye-Catching Artwork and Accents   

Artwork is chosen and displayed intentionally, says Briand. In recent years, gallery collections were the norm, but now bigger is better in model homes. 

“The trend is larger artwork. We try to show the buyer that having a big statement can look really cool,” she says, suggesting a wall in a dining room or great room is an effective place to hang large pieces.  

Accents are larger too, with gilded mirrors, oversize vases and tabletop decor, textured lamps and chunky textiles. 

Get the model home look: 

• With large artwork, scale matters. A large piece should fill at least half of the wall space, or more, depending on furniture placement against the wall. Colors should complement the room’s color scheme or create intentional contrast. 

• For accents, embrace texture. “We love textured accent pillows, something you can touch, especially styled on an owner's bed, or a sweater throw,” said Briand.

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