The Homearama showhouse project is charging toward its deadline — the show opens May 1 — and with a baby due a few weeks before that we’re hustling to finish. There’s so much to update you on that this post might feel a little scattered, but here’s where things stand and what we’ve been up to lately.
First, thank you for weighing in on the front door color. We were blown away by 38,000 votes. Rust surged into the lead early and finished as the winner with about 36% of the vote, while red landed in second at roughly 21%. We’re holding final judgment until the porch columns are sealed, since the wood will darken slightly and could influence how the door color reads against the porch.
One of the biggest surprises was a recurring write-in preference: white. Sherry originally wanted to include white as an option, but I convinced her it would show dirt too easily and talked her out of it. The write-in comments made us ask people who actually have white doors whether they liked them, and many responded that with a covered porch or overhang a white door works beautifully and they were happy with it.
If the sealed beams, porch tile, and other layered elements feel too heavy once they’re in, white could be the unexpected choice that ties everything together. It would visually expand the entry, pairing nicely with the white sidelights and giving the whole entryway a broader, grander feel. We’ll discuss options with the builder, architect, and realtor once the wood is sealed and we grab some paint test pots for the door — and we’ll report back with the final decision.
On the porch front, the columns are now installed, which was a little thrilling to see. They still need to be sealed, which will deepen the color of the wood, so we’re eager to see the finished tone once that’s done.
Beyond the entryway we’re wrestling with a recurring design question: play it safe to appeal to the broadest audience, or take risks to create something memorable for a show? Because the house will eventually be listed, we don’t want to alienate potential buyers. At the same time, Homearama’s purpose is to showcase distinctive ideas among the seven homes, so we’ve tried to strike a balance — leaning toward a few bold, showstopping choices in each room while keeping other elements more neutral.
Most of our big decisions are getting checked off. All interior paint colors are chosen and we’re narrowing furniture selections room by room. Outfitting an entire house at once is a massive undertaking — lists are long — but drywall throughout the house has made it much easier to visualize scale and layout.
Decor budgets for each designer on the show are tight — under $500 per room once builder-supplied items like tile, plumbing, and built-in lighting are covered — so big-ticket items can quickly exhaust a budget. Fortunately, Homearama arranged for the seven showhouses to borrow furniture from a large local supplier, Green Front Furniture, which allowed us to secure key pieces without blowing our allotment. We made a road trip to their multi-building warehouse and came away with a lot of usable options.
Even with that support, there’s still a lot to source. Other design teams are borrowing from their own inventories or calling in favors; we’re tapping local artists and shops we know from years of blogging. The more items we can secure as donations or discounts, the more money remains available to donate to Richmond’s Habitat for Humanity — a cause we’re supporting by donating our design fee and contributing furnishings and decor after the show to their ReStore.
Not everything in the house will be new. We’ve been hunting secondhand stores for vintage pieces to refresh — like a full-size wooden headboard we scored for $9.98 that we’ll paint for the girls’ room. That find will sit against an accent wall slated for a cheerful stencil donated by Royal Design Studio, and the built-in desk the carpenter has started is already taking shape from some sketchy plans drawn right on the wall.
Because there’s no specific client, we’re designing rooms as if for a future version of our family: a slightly older Clara in a studious bedroom with separate zones for homework and art, and an eight-year-old “Barnacle” in a room with a built-in bed and storage system. It’s rewarding for the builder to show off custom built-ins, and for us it’s fun to design them without having to build them ourselves.
Finally, a peek into the living room: the space opens to the kitchen, where the island will be painted navy with gold pendants over it. We plan to repeat that navy on the fireplace column to make the white mantle and light stone surround pop. An artist friend is also working on a large colorful portrait of Burger to hang above the fireplace — a little personal touch we couldn’t resist.
We’ll share a room-by-room overview once spaces are further along — right now we have about 20 mood boards roughly 40% complete. With our baby arriving in less than eight weeks, the pace has kicked into high gear and we’re excited to keep you posted as the showhouse comes together.