Meritage Homes brings privacy to design centers

• Homebuyers typically make two four-hour appointments with an interior designer

Sometimes, the status quo needs a little shake.

That's the thinking behind the new approach to Meritage Homes' design centers, where customers who've just purchased a new home from the homebuilder can select such things as new cabinetry, flooring or plumbing fixtures.

While the builder has for years displayed mock-ups of kitchens and bathrooms in a showroom-style setting – the industry standard, if you will – there was a thought a few years ago that a more intimate and personal approach might be more comfortable for clients, said Sara Bromley, national vice president for the Phoenix-based design center of Interior Specialists Inc., a partner with Meritage Homes.

So, now, instead of walking around with other buyers making the same kinds of choices for their homes, Meritage Homes' metro Phoenix buyers are treated to the luxury of their own private selection room at the East Valley design studio.

Each of the six rooms is well-stocked with carpet, cabinetry and countertop samples as well as a 60-inch-screen television where additional home finishes may be viewed. Bromley said the spacious rooms allow buyers room to stretch out and relax, stash their purses without having to worry about keeping track of them and spread out design samples so they can really get a good idea of patterns and placement. There's even plenty of space to set up a play area for a client's kids, who often accompany their parents to such meetings.

"The response to the private rooms has been really positive," Bromley said. "Buyers really like this more private experience, and they're not always having to pick up their belongings and move them from one place to another."

Homebuyers typically make two four-hour appointments with an interior designer, and nowadays, they often know in advance which finishes they'd like, thanks to Meritage Homes' online inventory that means buyers can browse products and compare items prior to their consultation. All the ordering and installation is, of course, done by the design center and, as is typical in the industry, buyers are urged to keep any last-minute changes to a minimum.

"Changes cost money and slow things down," Bromley said, because even though construction may not have begun on your house at the time you decide to nix the carpet and put in cork flooring, there very well may be permits already pulled, orders sent to vendors and paperwork uploaded into the builder's computer system. It can be a challenge, and a costly one at that, to interrupt that flow and make a change in design.

"There's a lot of behind-the-scenes work before you even start building the home," she noted.

At the end of the day, the goal of this more personal approach to design services is to make the client happy, and Bromley said that this way ensures that nearly always happens.

"And it's quite likely that a customer will ask their design consultant to come see the house when it's completely done," she added.