For the past few weeks we’ve been completely immersed in the showhouse—eating, sleeping, and breathing every last detail. We knew it would be a lot of work, but we seriously underestimated how much time, effort, and shopping it would take to transform a roughly 3,500-square-foot blank slate into a home that felt lived-in, and to do it in about two weeks. So we’ve basically been living there or shuttling back and forth with cars full of items, unloading, placing things, and repeating the process.
Even though we had selected fixtures and finishes months ago, we didn’t anticipate how many surfaces would need styling. Since January we’d been collecting furniture, art, curtains, bedding, and general accessories. After unloading the main pieces, we expected the house to look close to finished, but most rooms still felt sparse—tabletops, vanities, counters, porches, beds, and desks all needed attention. That led to a brief freak-out, but our builder and the Homearama team reassured us it was normal: we just had to shop.
We ended up making nearly 20 completely full-car runs to local boutiques, thrift stores, and larger retailers, bringing back pillows, rugs, planters, tabletop items, bedding, books, and more. Multiple trips to HomeGoods, Target, and World Market filled carts with frames, dishware, towels, and decorative accents. Each time we reached the checkout, the cashiers would give us a look, and we’d apologize for the chaos.
We even shopped the grocery store to style the kitchen—yes, there were nine bags of powdered donuts involved—partly as props and partly as morale boosters for the crew still finishing small tasks like floor touch-ups, paint corrections, electrical tweaks, and carpentry work. Treating the team with donuts turned out to be a simple, appreciated way to keep everyone motivated.
As of yesterday the house felt about 85% finished, including the breakfast nook shelves, though there are still tweaks to make. A crew visited to shoot video and photos to promote the show, and the builder is hosting an event there today, which added pressure to get things polished even though the show doesn’t open to the public until May 1st. We’re also juggling a personal deadline—our baby is due in nine days—so there’s a lot going on.
We made an eleventh-hour decision to paint the back of the breakfast nook shelves the same gray used on the kitchen cabinets to create visual continuity. The color match we chose was Timber Wolf Gray by Ben Moore. Parker, who also installed the laundry room wallpaper, painted the shelves yesterday afternoon. Speaking of the laundry room, we added a chunky white floating shelf after a quick discussion with the builder and the event director; the carpenter installed and painted it within 24 hours. Those last-minute changes made a surprising difference.
The foyer now features a large white driftwood mirror we picked up recently. Our decorating process hasn’t been linear—sometimes pieces go up and then come down as we test the space. Trial and error is how we find what really works, and we scramble to turn as many “meh” moments into “heck yeah” ones as possible.
In the living room we placed a playful large pet portrait painted by our friend Lesli Devito. The homeowner may prefer a TV in that spot, but for the show we wanted a cheeky, personal touch. Most of the furniture and accessories in the house were borrowed, donated, or purchased specifically for the show. After the event, the homeowner can choose to buy select pieces, while many donated items will be given to Habitat ReStore or returned to vendors. Builder-funded pieces may be reused in future model homes.
One of the trickiest rooms to finish was the upstairs playroom/reading room. We planned large bookshelves with a built-in bench so the room could work as either a quiet reading nook or a kids’ play area. We decorated it to feel versatile—games and books coexist so a family can imagine the space in different ways. We’re still waiting on the upholstered bench cushion and a few final touches, but the room is shaping up.
Filling the shelves with books required an unexpected call to a local bookshop that had boxes of advance-copy paperbacks available for recycling—perfect for styling the shelves without adding expense. The room’s spun glass chandelier works beautifully against the Dragonfly-colored walls, though it’s a little tricky to photograph against the window.
Bedding and pillows filled a lot of car space. Beyond decorative pillows, we needed shams, duvets, quilts, sheets, and bed skirts for the four beds we made up. The master’s patterned bedding was generously donated by Pine Cone Hill, and it pairs nicely with another Lesli Devito piece loaned for the show.
We hope to finish the remaining details this week so we can capture polished after photos and enjoy a few semi-normal days before the baby arrives. Our daughter Clara has helped break in several rooms by drawing at desks, playing with games in the playroom, and assembling Legos, which has been fun and practical during this hectic stretch.
This week will be intense with showhouse tasks, but being close to completion is energizing. We plan to share full-room photo tours, sources, alternate angles, and explanations for design choices once each space is fully photographed. Please hold off on “where’s that from?” questions until we release those detailed posts—our goal is to list every source for you.
One last favorite: we hired a local artist to create a permanent-feeling chalk-pen mural on the butler’s pantry chalkboard wall, turning it into a coffee-and-wine station for our imagined family. The mural is durable but removable if the future homeowner prefers a clean surface. She’ll return to add final touches, and we can’t wait to photograph that small hallway between the kitchen and dining room when it’s complete.
We know not every design choice will be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s OK. These showhomes are meant to be distinctive and curious rather than universally neutral, which keeps the event interesting. The uniqueness often helps these homes sell quickly because buyers gravitate toward special features. While we push through this final intense week, we appreciate your patience and can’t wait to share the fully finished rooms and source lists soon. Also, on a personal note, my FitBit is loving all the steps, and I probably owe Sherry a foot rub for all the sprinting around the house.
Psst — For more showhouse photos and details, look for our full showhouse tour post that includes final room pictures, the floor plan, budget information, a video walk-through, and a shoppable list of furniture and accessories.