As of 5:30 p.m. yesterday we reached our second major Homearama showhouse deadline. The builder hosted a preview party, so the house needed to be finished, cleaned, and ready to show to realtors, prospective buyers, and the generous local companies that donated furnishings and accessories. Even the weather cooperated at the last minute and gave us a great photo opportunity.
It felt strange and exciting to have the house filled with people, music, and food. Caterers demonstrated the kitchen and appliances, and after a full day of frantic last-minute work, Sherry and I finally had time to enjoy the spread. There were picture frames and window treatments being hung in the final minutes—definitely a down-to-the-wire moment.
Once things calmed down we started snapping “after” photos in a few rooms, knowing they’d likely never look cleaner than they did that night. We were impatient—by 11 p.m. we were sizing and uploading pictures to share with you right away (the party cookies may have helped keep us going).
Here are the rooms we had time to photograph before the crowd arrived: the study, the butler’s pantry, and the main bedroom. Below you’ll find plenty of photos and product/source notes to help you re-create the look.
The Study: A Feminine, Functional Home Office
You’ve seen this office in earlier stages, including the mood board, but here it is in its finished state.
The double doors tuck out of sight to reveal a light-filled workspace. The rug and chair were donated by West Elm. The table came from local purveyor Green Front Furniture, and the globe lantern is from our Shades of Light collection. U-Fab made the curtains in a fabric chosen to complement the palette, and the curtain rods are from Lowe’s. The walls are Benjamin Moore Simply White and the ceiling is Skydive.
We intentionally designed a more feminine office than the typical masculine-feeling showhouse study. Sherry enjoyed creating a space that feels welcoming and personal.
Styling was kept fairly light for the show—shelves are sampled with simple office necessities: binders, storage boxes, a few frames, and containers for paperclips and rubber bands. Most shelf items came from HomeGoods or Target, along with magazines and books we brought from home.
The metal tray and vases are from Target, and a fiddle-leaf fig from a local nursery adds scale and life. A whitewashed wood-and-metal shelving unit from West Elm provides open storage for a fictional work-at-home mom.
We picked up some motivational “wisdom cards” at a craft fair to scatter around the house—little details like that add personality and make staged spaces feel lived-in.
When the curtains and shelving were in place we had to scale down the larger prints we’d planned for this wall; Help Ink kindly sent smaller prints at the last minute so we could frame them and hang them before photos.
Practical note: we considered adding a floor outlet for the desk based on the furniture placement, but decided the electrician will install it later for the eventual owner so it can be placed to suit their needs.
The Butler’s Pantry: A Small Space with Big Personality
The butler’s pantry—essentially the short hallway between the kitchen and dining room—is compact and tricky to photograph, but it drew a lot of attention at the preview. We envisioned it as a spot for family notes, weekly meal plans, or a party drink station, and for the show we turned it into a bold coffee-and-wine nook.
To give it character, we called in Urban Farmhouse, a local restaurant known for hand-lettered chalkboard menus. Li created the chalkboard art by hand lettering the menu for us; it’s done in chalk marker so it’s smudge-free but erasable if future owners prefer a clean surface.
The chalkboard became a fun focal point and photo backdrop at the party—just the kind of unexpected touch that makes a small space memorable.
Main Bedroom: Layered Textures and a Calm Palette
The bedroom shares a similar palette with the office. Here we were inspired by a large painting donated for the show by Lesli Devito, which helped guide the colors and texture choices.
The king bed features a woven banana-leaf frame from Green Front Furniture, paired with wood nightstands from the same source and a Universal dresser. The curtains use the same fabric as the office curtains in an aqua tone, and the walls are Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray.
We mixed metal finishes throughout the house—some gold and brass fixtures alongside chrome and oil-rubbed-bronze pieces—to create a purposeful, layered look. Over the bed hangs a wood-ring chandelier donated by Shades of Light; pairing it with chrome fixtures in the nearby bathroom helps tie the materials together.
The 9×12 Fair Isle rug was donated by Dash & Albert, and bedside lamps were found at HomeGoods. Nightstands were kept simple—Sherry styled them with inexpensive jewelry, a mug, and a small plate from World Market to suggest how our fictional homeowner might wind down at night.
Bedding from Pine Cone Hill complements Lesli’s artwork. At the foot of the bed two woven benches (clearanced finds from Target) reinforce the textured, relaxed vibe and tie back to the woven headboard.
Across from the bed, gray nailhead chairs with blue pillows and gritty framed photography help balance the room’s softer elements. A gold planter and a side table from Target finish the vignette, and you can glimpse the atrium and a driftwood fixture donated by Shades of Light in the background.
We picked up a set of yellow-hued urban photographs from Modern Artifacts at the last minute to echo the yellow tones in Lesli’s painting and add visual contrast.
The party began before we could photograph the main bathroom en-suite, which is one of our favorite rooms—so we’ll share that in a future update. This post already covers a lot, and we plan to return this week with more after-photos and source details, plus a post about lessons learned while pulling a showhouse together in a short timeframe.
Psst — Wanna see more showhouse info & photos? Click here for Our Full Showhouse Tour, which includes final pictures of every room, the floor plan, budget info, a video walk-through, and shoppable showhouse furniture and accessories.