Model homes can be an optical illusion

Reporting from Washington â€”  With the advent of the Internet, new-home marketing has changed drastically over the last few years. Yet one thing remains constant: the model home.

Builders aren’t putting up as many of them as they did when the market was flourishing. Nowadays, one model might suffice when three or even four were necessary a decade ago to showcase a builder’s wares. After all, sample homes are expensive to carry, let alone outfit, and construction money is tough to come by these days.

Still, more often than not, models are decorated to the hilt. As highly furnished specimens of the builder’s best work, they are designed to let a potential owner’s imagination run wild. Typically decked out with every conceivable option and upgrade, they seem to beckon: “This is how you could live!�

To many buyers, however, they are an optical illusion — giving the impression that the place offers far more space than is actually there. And with the trend toward smaller houses, it’s easy for unwary buyers to be fooled into thinking they are getting more for their money than they really are.

After peaking at 2,520 square feet in 2007, the average size of the typical new house has fallen to 2,377 feet, according to the latest figures from the Commerce Department. And a National Assn. of Home Builders survey indicates that the slide will continue. By 2015, respondents predicted the average size would drop to 2,152 square feet.

Areas of the home likely to shrink as a total share of overall space — or possibly even disappear altogether — are the entry foyer, living room and dining room, according to Rose Quint, who heads the NAHB’s research section.

Consequently, the assignment for interior designers is not only to make model homes appealing; it’s also to make them seem larger.

One design “trick� is to use scaled-down furniture rather than full-size couches and tables. Another is to opt for glass tops and chairs with thin, spindly legs (as opposed to more bulky recliners) so the untrained eye sees right through them.

And all too often, would-be buyers let their hearts rule rather than their heads, and they wind up with a place in which their own furniture just doesn’t work. Worse, it may not even fit. So unless you were planning to redecorate anyway, that could be a costly miscue.

That’s why savvy purchasers buy from the inside out. After all, the same house is often offered in a choice of facades. But no matter which front you choose, the floor plan usually remains the same.

To make sure that the houses you are considering work for you and your family, carry a pad and pencil or camera on your tour. That way, when you come across a model that you find appealing, you can sketch the rooms and furniture as it appears in them or just snap a shot.

Above all, hang on to the builder’s brochure. It will be your greatest resource when you get home. Even if you took pictures, the floor plan in the brochure will be your only visual representation of each room’s dimensions and how they relate to one another.

Once you’re past the excitement of finding a house you like above the others, take a good, hard look at the plan. First, count the rooms, note their size and mentally place your furniture where you think you would like it.

Count the closets too, making sure that each bedroom has a decent-sized one, the foyer has a place for coats, and the linen closet is near the bathrooms.

Now look at the juxtaposition of all the rooms to one another and figure out the traffic patterns. Make sure that you don’t have to go through the living room every time you head to the kitchen, for example, or that you don’t have to traipse through the family room to get to the stairs.

Next, look closely at every room, paying particular attention to window placement and the electrical outlets. These are so important that it’s worth another trip to the model just to know exactly where they are.

If there aren’t enough outlets, or if they’re not in the right place, you could end up with extension cords all over the place. And good window placement makes for good furniture placement, so you’ll need enough solid interior wall space for the dresser and headboard in each bedroom. Otherwise, you may have to sleep with the bed up against or under a window.

If you’ve gotten this far, chances are you’re smitten with a particular floor plan. So your next step should be to make a scaled drawing of each room on graph paper, making sure that you note electrical outlets, light switches, heating and air conditioning vents, windows and whether doors open to the right or left.

Now measure the width, depth and height of your furniture, make scale drawings of each piece and cut them out. Then put each item in its appropriate room, and move the items around until you have a satisfactory arrangement.

When you are planning your space, make sure every room has a visual focal point — a window with a particularly stunning view, perhaps, a grouping of furniture or a piece of artwork. As you arrange your furniture, place the larger pieces first. And pay particular attention to where you place the television set.

Even if you expect to buy a houseful of new furnishings, it is a good idea to go through this exercise to avoid getting stuck with pieces that don’t fit. And you don’t have to be a Rembrandt to do it.

Several companies offer home-design kits with to-scale vinyl or magnetic symbols for virtually every building component and furnishing item. Generally, there are enough pieces to lay out a 6,000-square-foot, five-bedroom house. And some come with design manuals with advice on how to arrange your furniture.

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