Posted by Dan O'Malley in Home Design

Finding new construction design inspiration should be the most exciting part of your home buying experience. However, knowing where to start is often the biggest hurdle for homebuyers to overcome before the real fun begins.

We don’t want you to feel overwhelmed during this step, so we put together an easy-to-follow guide that shows you exactly where to find inspiration before your design selections appointment.

Bright kitchen with white cabinets and countertops and a long island with 4 stools

Building a New Home Design Ideas: Get Inspired First

Nail Down Your Design Style

Since the goal is to make your new home a reflection of you, you’ll want to determine what decorating styles speak most to your tastes.

Start by taking several quizzes to get a feel for your interior design style and your exterior home style.

Living room with a tray ceiling, dark brown shiplap wall, and off-white furniture

Use Interior Design Inspiration Websites

For both the design features as well as the personalized décor in each room, peruse social media accounts, websites, and blogs that showcase the look you’re going for in your home.

Check out some of the best websites for interior design inspiration:

  • Houzz: browse hundreds photos for home design ideas
  • Cococozy: a simple and aesthetic blog with beautiful interior images for inspiration
  • Pinterest: save and organize all your favorite exterior and interior home design ideas (Pro Tip: find some inspiration from our M/I Homes Pinterest boards!)
  • Design Sponge: easily filter your search by category, home size, and more to narrow down the home design ideas that fit your style best
  • Design Studio Interior Inspiration Galleries: view photos to see how each area of your home can come together with our available M/I Homes design selections (Pro Tip: Change your location to view the Design Studio in your area)

M/I Homes Sarasota Design Studio featuring a kitchen with an island and white cabinets and backsplash; and flooring and tile samples on display

Build an Interior Design Inspiration Board

Use this Design Studio guide as a new home selections checklist to get a feel for the areas of your home you’ll be making selections in.

Next, create a Pinterest board labeled “Design Selections.”

Organize your board with a folder for each of the following areas of your new home, and add pins to each to build your own personal vision board:

  • Exterior
  • Kitchen
  • Flooring
  • Bathroom
  • Carpet
  • Decorative Finishes
  • Lighting
  • Paint

Tour a Model Home

Many of our model homes have design selections to look at and touch, including countertops, siding, tile, and hardware samples.

If you’re a tactile person, this is a fantastic way to get a feel for what goes together well before you head into your design selections appointment. Plus, you can ask a New Home Consultant some questions while you’re there.

Front exterior of a model home at dusk

Come With a List of Your Desired Selections and Ideas

It’s important to make the most of your entire design selections appointment at a Design Studio or model home.

Whether you have it on your phone or printed out, come ready with a list in hand of all your design selection ideas and plans—this could even be the well-organized Pinterest board you created!

Having these ideas ready to discuss throughout your selections appointment will help make the decision process easier, and you’ll be able to check off everything you and your Design Studio Consultant set out to accomplish during that time.

Couple talking about their home with an M/I Homes employee in a design studio

Now it’s time to design your beautiful new home! After you’ve created your list, here’s how to prepare for a successful design selections appointment.



Author

Dan O'Malley
Dan O'Malley

Author

Dan O’Malley is the Vice President of Product Development for M/I Homes.With over 30 years of expertise in residential architecture and design, Dan has been overseeing the product needs of the company's 16 divisions located throughout the Midwest, Southeast, Nashville and Texas for the past 12 years. Before joining M/I Homes, he was a partner in the Chicago office of BSB Design, a national residential architectural firm, for 14 years. Dan is an expert in all aspects of single-family and multifamily design and has received several awards for his successful projects. He is also a popular speaker at various industry events, including the International Builder’s Show, Midwest Builder’s Show, and Multi-Housing World.

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