Atlanta interior design firm, The Interior Partners, was recently featured on Atlanta’s Best New Homes TV to share a little bit about its creative process and how it maximizes the look and feel of model homes in the Atlanta area. Many of the fully decorated model homes shown on Atlanta’s Best New Homes TV have been designed by The Interior Partners.
Partners Cindi MacPherson and Ashley Norred, along with their team, recently designed the model home at Patrick Malloy Communities’ Wescott development in Suwanee. The firm specializes in model home merchandising, but also offers residential services. MacPherson told ABNH TV hostess, Susie Proffitt, what it is like designing a model home as opposed to a person’s real home.
“Probably the biggest difference is very obvious: A personal home is a very personal project, so lots of emotions enter into it. A model home is not a personal process. It is a business venture and most importantly, we consider ourselves marketing partners with our builders. Our goal is to help them sell homes, so the first thing we want to do is look at the demographic, who are the people that are going to be buying this house. As soon as we have that nailed down, then we start the design process. We want to make sure that the moment that potential home buyer walks in the front door, they have an emotional experience that they fall in love with this house and think ‘I need to live here,’ or ‘I need my house to look like this.'”
She then detailed the firm’s design process. “The next thing we do is come up with a retailer that that particular demographic would probably shop at and with that, we all brainstorm together. We’ll come up with a color theme and concept.”
Then, the team presents to the builder. “We’ll show up at a presentation, we’ll have a PowerPoint showing the builder single piece of furniture that we’re going to put into this model. We will have a space plan with all the furniture on the space plan scaled perfectly. Then we prepare a story board, which would have samples of all the fabrics, the upholstery, the window treatments, the pillows, the bedding, paint colors, so that it’s tactile: they can touch, they can feel, they can actually see. At that point, they say, ‘Yes, we love it!’ and we move forward.”
From a signed contract to the actual installation, the process generally takes 10 to 12 weeks. Depending on the project, The Interior Partners can sometimes go as far into the design process as choosing exterior shingles, brick, doors, cabinets, flooring, tile, countertops, lighting fixtures, built-in bookcases, fireplaces and more.
From the superior quality of The Interior Partners’ work on several Atlanta-area model homes, viewers gather inspiration and visions for how they want their model homes or personal homes to look. In addition to designing model homes, The Interior Partners decorates sales centers and clubhouses. For inspiration, like their Facebook page or follow them on Instagram by searching the handle @TheInteriorPartners. Listen to Cindi MacPherson’s insights on designing model homes as seen on Atlanta’s Best New Homes TV!