As a kid, I lived in a neighborhood that started to experience tons of growth around it. I absolutely loved going on bike rides with my dad and stopping to walk through homes that were in construction – from seeing the framing and imagining what the layout could be to the homes that were getting the final touches, I loved every bit of the endless possibilities. I loved it so much that I knew architecture was the path for me.
Now, open houses bring me back to my childhood, touring those houses. I love seeing how creatively space is used. All the finishes that are trendy or timeless, and how they are intertwined with each other. Being in the space does it far more justice than any pictures could.
The Home Show Expo is essentially a tour of extravagant homes, open house style. I attended my first expo the year I graduated from college and have made it a point to go each year since. Every house has its own unique style and architectural features, and the beautiful staging sets the scene for each room perfectly. Touring the Home Show provides a glimpse into popular trends for the upcoming year, which is extremely beneficial to see as an architectural designer. This year there were six homes from five different builders (Jerry’s Homes, Ground Breaker Homes, Sage Homes, Teal Creek Homes, and Zenith Design+Build), and they all executed very uniquely gorgeous homes.
House #1 was a true two-story home inspired by the Beaverdale Brick style, built by Jerry’s Homes. I had the pleasure of helping in the initial phases of plan design and the end product turned out great! Popular features in this house were the appliance package in the kitchen (hello, hugeee fridge and double dishwashers), a very bright office with built-ins, and the great layout of the upper floor. My favorite features of the house were the wet bar in the basement and the outdoor entertaining area! It was definitely designed with family in mind!
House #2 is a ranch home built by Ground Breaker Homes. This house had many unique features. Even though it appeared to have a two-car garage, it had a tandem design, so there is space for four cars and tons of extra storage on the sides! The front entry had a wood burning fireplace with seating area and access to a pocket wet bar, finished in fun colors and trendy hardware. One of my favorite features of this home was the gorgeous contrasting kitchen – great wood tones used in the cabinetry and vintage pantry doors, with a mixture of black, white, and gold throughout the rest. Another favorite of mine was the wainscot accent wall in the master bedroom in a beautiful green color.
House #3 was also a ranch style home, built by Sage Homes. This home did a wonderful job of mixing light and bright features with cozy natural materials. Though the great room didn’t seem overly large, it felt very cozy with the warm stone fireplace surround and architectural features on either side of the fireplace - arch topped, recessed built-ins. This kitchen did a phenomenal job of mixing different tones as well as utilizing loads of storage space while capitalizing on the aesthetics. The master bathroom layout and selections were some of my favorites in the Home Show. It featured the white oak cabinets in a unique slab door, and included separate his and hers vanities, a modern soaker tub, a large walk-in shower, a water closet, and a separate makeup vanity with linen cabinet. This bathroom was #goals, in my opinion! This home also featured some of the loudest wallpaper I've seen in person!
House #4 was a story and a half style built by Ground Breaker Homes. The layout of the house made great use of the corner lot and helped create some very distinctive spaces within the home. Since the garage was detached from the house, the design included a “hallway” like connection to the main body of the home that included a great mud room layout, a wet bar space with access the rear patio, and a very large laundry room with tons of storage and even built-in desks/workspace. My favorite features of the home were main living space layout and the covered patio in the rear.
House #5 was a ranch house built by Teal Creek Homes and won many of this year’s awards, including the People’s Choice award. I loved pretty much everything about this home. The exterior was a mixture of craftsman and prairie style and utilized a unique and beautiful color palette. The exterior color and style were brought inside, through many architectural details and features, such as the kitchen selections, the fireplace built-ins, and the yellow vanity cabinet. Every detail was carefully considered in this home and went together flawlessly. Ceiling heights of 10’ throughout and areas with 12’ and wood-beam encrusted vaults were key pieces of this home’s appeal. Also, the back of this house overlooked three different ponds and utilized large windows to capitalize on the view. In my opinion, the only downside to this home was a lack of front yard, but provided tons of extra parking instead.
House #6 was another story and a half style home built by Zenith Design+Build. This home featured the best staging of the entire show, and after talking with a builder representative, I learned that the homeowner loved it all so much, they purchased it all! The main living space in this home was very well thought-out and was stunning. The minute details in this home such as the exposed edge pantry shelving and the adjustable peg board in the laundry room really brought everything together. The two-story great room featuring over-sized picture windows with a floor to ceiling plaster fireplace and gorgeous stairs was honestly one of best designs I’ve seen in this year. The upstairs loft overlooking the great room was also stunning as well as the double sliding door to the covered deck. I could definitely picture a family living very comfortably in this modern yet cozy home.
Homes #5 and #6 were my two favorite homes - the layouts, selections and staging were all fantastic and I found myself in awe of all the details considered and the total ensemble as a whole. If you missed out on a chance to see these beauties in person, the Des Moines Home Show website (www.dmhomeshow.com) has video tours of each of them so you can get a better idea of all the spectacular features.
*All photos were either taken by myself or came from the builder's social media - check out their pages for more photos of these gorgeous homes.*