Fireplace Design to Heat up (the sales of) your Model Home
Ever since fire was discovered, we’ve been gathering around a fireplace in one format or another. Be it inside or out, the fireplace is an ideal spot to congregate with others to eat, chat, and find comfort. Additionally, an indoor fireplace can add a luxurious touch, help accentuate good architecture, and/or create a cozy atmosphere. While the outdoor fireplace, or firepit, can add additional living space to your home. Be in inside or out, the right fireplace design can help “seal the deal” with a prospective homebuyer. However, only with the right fireplace space design. Because as with all interior designs, keeping the buyer profile in mind is key to a model home’s success. The following are some of the ways our designers have created fireplace designs to meet specific prospect buyers’ fireplace “needs” and heat up the sales of model homes.
Background
An essential element of any design is balance. The design of a fireplace and it’s background is no exception. A symmetrical design can bring your eye directly to the mantle, making it the focal point of the room. It can add a background of strength and importance.
Not long ago, most builders offered a fireplace with a traditional decorative wood mantel and surround. This was often finished off with a granite or marble next to the box opening. Today, like the rest of design, the fireplace has been simplified. Cleaner lines and less decoration are now in fashion. We take the entire fireplace wall into consideration with the height, width, or volume of the space balanced.
Further, materials such as large format tiles, a multitude of textures, wood trim, metal, and even Drywall have become a wonderful playground for creative fireplace wall design. When designing today’s fire place you have a wonderful opportunity to set yourself apart and sell the entire environment in which the fireplace resides.
The brick embraces and includes the windows, the wall, the room, and the fireplace in this Urbana, MD model home.
Options
Wood detailing can be a wonderful fireplace design option. We have used shiplap either above the fireplace or across the entire wall. By doing so it helps to create a comfortable, light, and airy feel supporting a farmhouse, cottage, or craftsman design. Wood can also be applied with 2x2s or other varieties of simplicity to form and/or create a panel above the fireplace.
Perhaps your prospective buyers are looking for something a little more contemporary in their fireplace design. To achieve that look, you can frame a fireplace in bold, pattered tiles or use a single large piece of art over the mantel for extra drama. Creating a gallery wall above the mantel is also a strong way to create depth and a high-art feel. Or, using mirrors to create a dramatic look and truly illuminate the entire area is another design trick. Metals are another good design option. With industrial designs and some modern looks, a metal or metal look tile might be the perfect fit for your buyer.
Additionally, for builders whose prospective buyers are more contemporary than traditional, we suggest using a linear fireplace or if possible, a floating fireplace. By doing so we help to create a sense of new, dramatic, modern 21st Century living.
Fortunately, with gas and electric options, including a fireplace in any room of a house is no longer an issue. The main point is to keep it simple and relevant to your buyers’ budgets (and yours).
Modern, linear fireplace in urban multifamily clubhouse in Denver, CO.
Outdoors
The outdoor space has become the last room of the house. Including an outdoor fireplace beyond the interior of the model home inspires dreams of family and friends gathered around enjoying the warmth and the glow. A fire pit is a wonderful addition to any overall outdoor living space design.
It’s also important to consider that a fire pit is not for everyone. For instance, if the property is perpetually windy there are other options that can allow you to still have a fire feature on your property such as a gas-powered fire bowl or table.
Fantastic outdoor fireplace for 55+ community in Delaware.
Again, the options are almost endless. It will depend on your designer’s imagination, your prospective buyers’ wants, and your budget.
Whether it is designed to create a cozy feel or a touch of luxury, or additional living space outside, a well curated fireplace design can add just the right touch to help your model home sell. For more on creating designs that help model home sales, contact us today.
