Stylecraft Builders is proud to unveil our newest model home in the Porter’s Meadow community, located in Bryan. This model was decorated by our very own in-house designer, Melinda Dwyer. We are immensely blessed to have her on our team in order to access her knowledge of design. We recently interviewed Melinda on her design process, where she offered tips on how to design your home like a model home.

Here’s what we learned:

The color palette for this particular model is navy and blush, with gold accents. When Melinda is picking a color palette, she always starts with current trends. Pantone generates a color trend report that can be used ignite your vision. When picking a color palette, draw inspiration from magazines, stores, social media, blogs, and even clothing stores (clothing tends to trend before décor), figure out what your vision is, then find items that align with your concept. Melinda says that she knows she made a good color choice when she can find an abundant amount of decor items in those colors. If there are several items in stores in the colors you selected, you know they are trending. If you come up with a color palette idea, then have trouble finding things in stores in those colors, you might want to choose a different theme. Not only will it potentially be a frustrating experience trying to find items for your home, but it’s also a good indication that your colors aren’t currently in style.

As helpful and important as a trendy color may be, it is equally as important to anchor it with a classic color. In the Porter’s Meadow model, the blush color is on trend right now, but by pairing it with a classic navy, Melinda is adding longevity to the décor. It can be really fun to decorate with a trending color but be smart with how you use it. For example, in the living room we have a cream couch with navy and blush throw pillows, blush vases, and navy chairs. If we ever want to change things up, we can easily swap out the throw pillows and vases. It would be much more difficult to swap out a blush color couch. Use your trendy colors on items you don’t mind replacing in a couple years, versus something you plan to keep for the lifetime of your home.

When picking exact shades of color, Melinda has found it is best to find a few key décor items you like, then use those items to determine the other things in the room. If you find a bedspread you love, you can match paint and wall art to the bedspread, versus finding a paint color you love and trying to match a bedspread to it. There are thousands of paint shades, but there probably aren’t thousands of bedspreads you love.

When filling shelves with decorative items, Melinda says you can never have too many books! She recommends going to the clearance aisle of a used book store and buying all the hardbacks you can get your hands on. You can either display books with their spine facing outwards if you want to mix and match colors and textures, display some books facing backwards with the pages facing outwards, and alter between stacks and upright placements. This creates a cleaner look and it allows you to take advantage of books with colors or titles you don’t necessarily want displayed. Other things you can put on shelves are pictures, baskets, vases, candles, floral arrangements or greenery, and even board games! Just browse your local clearance aisles and find things you like. Sentimental items like a jar of sand from beach vacations, family heirlooms, or trinkets from different trips can also make wonderful space fillers. Find items with different heights, elevations, textures, and colors and place the items in patterns where textures, heights, and materials are varied. Decorating shelves can be a process over several days or weeks as you decide what you like. Create a display and feel it out for a few days. If you don’t love it, you can always swap out a few items here and there until it feels right.

When it comes to wall décor, art is a very personal choice. It doesn’t have to be complicated or have any rhyme or reason to why you like it, just find what speaks to you and use it in your home. If you find a piece of art you love, you could pull colors from it to decorate with. However, it doesn’t have to match anything in the room. If you are wanting to hang framed pictures in your home, consider printing in black and white to maintain consistency and longevity. A wall collage with pictures in black and white blends in beautifully with any color palette. Framed pictures tend to look nicer with a large white matte around them. Melinda recommends adding at least one mirror to every room in order to visually make the room appear larger.

When hanging curtains, Melinda recommends hanging them higher than the windows to make the room feel larger by drawing the eye up. Since we’re already known for our volume ceilings, Melinda used 96-inch curtains in the dining and living room of the Porter’s Meadow model. She hung the curtains high enough that the luxurious fabric would just barely brush the floor.  You can also have curtains bunched on the floor, but this works best with a flowy linen fabric. If you can’t get the length just right, Melinda suggests using ring clips to add a bit of length, like she did here in the dining room.

Lastly, we always recommend visiting one of our many Stylecraft model homes to pull more inspiration for your own Stylecraft home. To see the new Porter’s Meadow model, visit here. If you have a favorite model home, drop a comment below or let us know on Facebook! Or if you’ve been inspired by Melinda, send us photos of your home décor to info@stylecraftbuilders.com.