Village of Minerva Park, Erie Model :: Smart Series
As I mentioned in my first M/I Homes blog post, I got the unique opportunity to tour a model home while it was still empty, before the design team came in to do their thing and complete the home. The design process is the last step when it comes to preparing a model home for the public. It seems like the decorating of a model home would be the easiest step, with the least amount of thought put into it, but there is an intricate amount of detail that goes into the design steps that turn a house into a home.
Along with touring an empty model home, then being able to see it after the design process was complete, I also got to speak with Kate Brennan, Mary Cook’s right hand woman. {M/I Homes hooking me up!} Chicago native, Mary Cook is the epitome of interior design. Over the past 25+ years, Mary Cook Associates has grown to national prominence, implementing and managing hundreds of design projects across the United States, including M/I Homes.
The company has applied its talents to multiple industries. Cook is well known for designing spaces that have an emotional impact. She has a unique ability to understand the demographic influences in specific markets and create exceptional interiors for specific lifestyles.
While speaking with Kate, she mentioned several times that design and inspiration is something you live because you love it. You might find inspiration in the grocery store when you throw two different colored meats together or from being in someone else’s home. Kate also mentioned a lot of the younger women she works with use Instagram as a tool to feed their design insight’s. There is no right or wrong way to be inspired by the world around you when it comes to design.
Patterned paint instead of wallpaper.
So much easier to put-up and cover-up than wallpaper is.
Buy Land àTarget Consumer àProduct Design àCost/Price Point àArchitecture àDesign/Merchandise
How Mary Cook and her team decorate a house starts long before the land is even under construction. When M/I Homes develops neighborhoods and builds homes, they spend a lot of time getting to know the demographic and exactly who the target consumer is. With that distinct information pinpointed, M/I Homes is able to design and construct a home for the way people want to live today.
Every time I stepped into a new room I gasped with delight, the second time I toured the Minerva Park home. I was genuinely shocked how much the furniture and details added to the finished product of the house. It really created spaces that you can walk through and see and feel yourself living in.
Empty versus Decorated.
The design team goes as far as incorporating local products, artists and makers into the model homes’ decorations; really representing the surrounding community.
Designing with a very specific customer in mind.
This second floor den/great room empty versus furnished, truly shows what the design process adds to the model home process.
Kate also mentioned that the most sought after design trends are still the hand picked, personal aesthetic, restoration hardware, casual but cool curated looks.
In other words, don’t we all flip through the Restoration Hardware catalog and wish we were living right among it’s pages?!?
The use of the paint colors throughout the Minerva Park model home had my design wheels turning when it comes to my own home.
The cool blue tones instantly put me at ease. I wanted to curl up on the bed with a good book and soak in the naturally sunlit room.
Tomorrow, I am going to take you through a bigger and equally stunning M/I Home. The Village at Central College is another development in Westerville. Something about the color palette and girly details made me fall head-over-heels in love with the interior design of the model home.
Check back tomorrow, you don’t want to miss this masterpiece!
Walk-in closets and second floor laundry rooms.
In other words, what every woman’s dreams are made of. Can you guess who the target buyer is that M/I Homes has identified and built the home around?
Who runs the world? Girls.
Connect with M/I Homes
City: Westerville, Ohio
County: Franklin
School District: Westerville
Price Range: $209,900 – $246,900
Square Feet: 1,440 – 2,499
Home Type: Single Family
Get em‘ while they’re hot!
{Blog Post 3 of 4}
I was compensated by M/I Homes in exchange for blog posts & social media support. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I would totally buy one of these houses!
