Builders and Designers Woo Clients with Innovative Ideas

Winter Park, FL, May 26, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Builders may be cutting back on square footage to make homes more affordable, but designers are making sure that what they lose in size, they make up for in innovation.

Defining Purpose for the Stop and Drop

An interesting floor plan design is the so-called “Stop and Drop.” In the past, this was just the messy spot by the garage where backpacks, baseball gloves and shoes were dropped onto the floor. Contemporary designers have transformed this so-called “stop-and-drop” into a main feature of floor plan design – and it helps sell homes.

Shelving, built-in storage, and lots of hooks give the space a defined purpose, and in the hands of the right designer, this small nook can take on a high-end look. Beasley & Henley Interior design recently won the award for “Stop-and-Drop as Best Feature” for one of their Mattamy Homes model in Central Florida. Located in Azalea Cove and priced from the mid-$100,000s, the model features the best of a small floor plan, including an indispensable stop-and-drop for organizing a busy family.

Turning Up The Kitchen

Kitchens are a pivotal selling point for homes at all price ranges, so giving an upgraded look to the kitchen is key. Today’s kitchen trends include glass panels, modern door profiles and dark finishes. A Beasley & Henley’s model in Jacksonville, FL won a Gold award for its kitchen feature. Notable was the designers combination of painted and stained cabinets, usually only seen in higher-end homes and glass cabinet doors insets instead of solid wood doors. This custom and fresh look was the turning point from a typical kitchen to a “wow” kitchen.

The Shared Space for Media And Gaming

Another hot commodity is the "family gaming room”often seen in loft homes. Beasley & Henley won the top Gold Award for another model, The Laurel at Greenleaf Village in Jacksonville, FL, where the designers created a fun and comfortable gaming room with dedicated space for electronics, storage for different sizes of controllers, specialty TV equipment, and a very large-screen TV for gaming and movies. Through their gaming room, the designers were able to address the modern family’s media needs while offering a space where they could spend time together.

Ideas For The “Flex Room”

The “flex space” is a recent idea seen incorporated into family home plans. The flex space is a room without a pre-determined purpose. Giving homeowners the freedom to do what they want with it is a great idea, but it can also be confusing. In a recent model, Beasley & Henley turned a small flex space at the front of a house into a “Chat Space,” a room with just a few comfy chairs and vibrant artwork where neighbors or friends can have a short chat instead of standing by the front door. Flex spaces can also serve as home offices or as rooms dedicated to schoolwork, hobbies, exercise, or any number of family needs.

There are a number of good builders vying for the business of entry- and mid-level homebuyers. It takes a good designer, with innovative ideas, to set these homes apart from the rest.