For the last few weeks we’ve been living and breathing this showhouse. We knew it would be a lot of work, but we seriously underestimated how many hours, errands, and shopping trips it would take to turn a 3,500-square-foot blank slate into a home that actually feels lived in — and to do it in two weeks. Mostly that meant being at the house all day, making runs back and forth with a car full of pillows, art, rugs, and accessories, unloading, arranging, and repeating.
We’d already picked fixtures and finishes months ago, and we had been collecting furniture, art, curtains, bedding, and general accessories since January. Still, when we moved the furniture in, the rooms looked surprisingly sparse. It turned out there are so many surfaces to fill — tabletops, vanities, counters, porches, beds, desks — that the house felt unfinished until every shelf and table had a few thoughtful pieces.
We made nearly 20 full-car runs to local boutiques, thrift stores, and big-box retailers, piling in pillows, rugs, planters, tabletop decor, books, and bedding. Multiple trips to HomeGoods, Target, and World Market ended with carts overflowing — frames, dishware, towels, decorative accents — and more than a few embarrassed apologies at the checkout as we unloaded another cart.
We even did a grocery run to style the kitchen — yes, that included nine bags of powdered donuts (note to self: don’t put them out too early or the crew will happily decimate them). The trades have been finishing touch-ups around the clock — fixing scratches, touching up paint, wrapping up electrical work and carpentry — so sugary treats turned out to be a welcome reward for the team.
By yesterday the house was about 85% complete, including the breakfast nook shelving. Sherry still has a list of small tweaks — posting a “not completely done” photo makes her twitchy — but the progress has been dramatic. We had a crew through Friday to shoot promotional photos and video, the builder is using the house for an event today, and public tours for the Homearama showhouses open on May 1st. On top of that, we have our own deadline: a baby arriving in nine days.
One last-minute tweak was painting the backs of the built-in shelves in the breakfast nook. Once the room started to come together, we realized the same gray used on the kitchen cabinets would pull the spaces together. We tested swatches and landed on Timber Wolf Gray by Benjamin Moore, which Parker — the same guy who hung wallpaper in the laundry room — painted yesterday afternoon.
We also made a quick addition to the laundry room: a chunky white floating shelf suggested during a walk-through with the builder and the event director. The carpenter came the next day, hung and painted the shelf, and it felt instantly more functional and finished. Those last-hour updates really add up.
The foyer now features a large white driftwood mirror we found at HomeGoods on Thursday. Our decorating process is rarely linear — sometimes we hang art and then swap it for something else a day or two later. Trial and error is part of staging: we test what feels right and then make quick edits until as many “meh” moments as possible become “heck yeah” moments.
In the living room we temporarily hung a large painting of our dog Burger, commissioned for the show by Lesli Devito. The future homeowner may prefer a TV in that spot — there’s a hookup behind the wall for that reason — but the pet portrait felt playful and helped balance the more serious furniture and finishes throughout the space.
Many of you have asked what happens to the furnishings and accessories after the show. Homeowners can choose to purchase select pieces, but most donated items will be given to Habitat ReStore or returned to vendors. Items bought with the builder’s decorating budget may be reused in future model homes. The goal is to leave the house furnished for the buyer while responsibly reallocating donated or borrowed pieces.
One of the more challenging rooms to pull together was the upstairs playroom/reading room. We envisioned big bookshelves flanking a window bench that could double as a quiet reading nook or a kids’ corner. We struck a balance by styling the space with games and books so a future family can imagine multiple uses. We’re still waiting on an upholstered bench cushion and a few finishing touches, but the room is coming together.
Because we didn’t anticipate needing so many books for those big shelves, we reached out to a local bookstore contact who generously provided boxes of advance paperback samples that would otherwise be recycled. That saved the day and helped the room feel instantly complete.
The playroom light is a spun-glass chandelier from Shades of Light that looks great against the Dragonfly-painted walls, even if it’s a little tricky to photograph against the window. We’re still refining our shooting angles as we go.
Bedding and linens filled a surprising number of car trunks: shams, duvets, quilts, sheets, bedskirts, and more were needed for the four made-up bedrooms. Pine Cone Hill generously donated the patterned bedding in the master, which pairs nicely with another Lesli Devito painting loaned for the shoot.
With most of the major pieces in place, we’re focused on finishing details this week and then capturing polished photos of each room. Our plan is to share full-room posts showing sources, angles, and explanations for why things were placed where they were. If you have “where’s that from?” questions, please hang tight — we’ll list every source in those detailed follow-up posts as rooms are finalized.
One of my favorite spots is the butler’s pantry, where we turned a narrow hallway into a coffee and wine station. A local artist is creating a chalk-pen mural on the wall with coffee and wine terms. It’s not dusty or finger-smudgeable, but can be removed with a magic eraser if the future homeowner prefers a clean wall. She’ll return to finish the mural, and we can’t wait to photograph the final result and how that small hallway links the kitchen and dining room.
These design choices — bold or specific — might not appeal to every buyer, and that’s intentional. Homearama showhouses encourage teams to make unique, distinct choices so the event stays varied and interesting. While showhomes aren’t designed to be the most universally neutral models, they often sell quickly because buyers appreciate the elevated and distinctive features.
Please bear with us as we push through this last intense week of showhouse work. We’re finishing up styling and preparing to shoot the final “after” photos. My Fitbit has been thanking me for all the steps, and Sherry’s feet have been feeling every one of them — which is my cue to go give her a foot rub before bedtime.
Psst — To see more showhouse photos and the final room shots, look for “Our Full Showhouse Tour,” which will include finished images of every room, the floor plan, budget information, a video walk-through, and a list of showhouse furniture and accessories.