I recently asked Charlie about the importance of a fully furnished model home. Simms Development communities have always featured decorated models. In fact, merchandised models have been an industry standard for decades. Still, they can be expensive and time consuming to create. So why bother?

His response: “Home buyers have to be able to visualize their lives in this space. They cannot purchase without taking that step.”

We can quote square footages. We can draw furniture on scale models. But in the end, floor plans aren’t enough, photos and site maps in the sales center aren’t enough. Even video tours—and Simms.dev.com has excellent videos on each community’s home page—don’t fully convey how this individual homeowner can turn this exact space into a home of their own.

The emotional process of connecting our lives with a place involves all our senses. We want to see furniture placement certainly. But we also need to feel carpet or wood flooring beneath our feet, to hear the sound of a well hung door closing securely. The silence of a solidly constructed building, the smooth gleam of ceramic tile beneath our fingers, even the whiff of coffee all work to evoke the magic of a real home.

Charlie, Steph and Jennifer choose custom finishes for the new model

All that magic doesn’t happen by accident.

Jennifer Phillips of Interior Renaissance is the creative professional behind the new model at Patterson Place in the RiverScape district of downtown Dayton. Last week Charlie brought Jennifer in to meet with Sales Representative Stephanie Dietz. Their mission? Custom selections for a brand new model at Patterson Place. Picking colors is fun, and Jennifer certainly knows her stuff. But there’s a lot more to merchandising a model home than making sure the throw pillows match the carpet.

Located at 218 Keelboat Court in Building 3, this new model will showcase brand new custom selections being made available to new homebuyers in the community for the first time. New products, new colors, and more available upgrades await visitors to Patterson Place.

Some of the custom finishes Jennifer chose include Rural Living hand scraped wood flooring, stainless steel Whirlpool appliances, and solid granite countertops. The 738 square foot townhome will also feature exposed brick interior accent walls and open trusses in the great room. One of the best features of this model home? The bedroom has five windows, flooding it with natural light.

The clock is ticking, as Charlie intends to unveil the new model at Urban Nights on May 9^th. Despite the tight production schedule, the team feels confident that everything will be in place on the big night. I can’t wait to see what Jennifer and Steph have in store for my five senses.