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What makes a model home, a model home? Ever walk through one and fall in love with a flower arrangement or window treatment and wonder, who is the man/women behind the magic? There are several things that go into a finished model home, but a main one is the level of professional design and furniture layout in the home! We need some help visualizing what a home can look like with our belongings in it and it’s an interior designers job to make that happen. Napolitano Homes has been using the same designer now for over 28 years to help bring our model homes in all of our communities to the next level.

Kathy Browning, owner of Design Consultants has been making homes come to life for 30 years. She has decorated over 80 models for us over the years and helped bring our homes to life for many buyers.  From the time we contact Kathy to let her know we have a new model for her to work on, to when the last pillow is fluffed it can be a 6 month process. After Napolitano lets her know we need her expertise then the fun part begins… “Most of the furniture I get through Las Vegas or High Point Furniture Market.” Kathy explained “Then for fill in pieces later I go local,  Pier 1 and those kind of places.”

Design ideas come from lots of places, Kathy gleans from her involvement with many national building and design organizations, home furnishing markets, trade publications and more. Some include the NAHB Design Trends Round Table & NAHB International Builders Show Design panel, these are organizations where she can learn the latest colors and trends.  As well as what will next year hold for the design market. All models will eventually have to be refreshed but the goal is to choose designs that will be “in” for awhile. “Webinars are really becoming the thing.” Kathy says, allowing people to learn from anywhere. Nature was also something Kathy mentioned as an inspiration, for paint colors and layout ideas. “I see a sunset and whip out my iPhone to snap a picture and remember the colors and how they worked together.”

Napolitano Homes is very excited because we have asked Kathy to take some time out of her busy designer schedule to do a series of design seminars at our Sajo Farm Community in Virginia Beach! The first one will be this March 24th at 6pm at the Napolitano Homes Manor Homes model. You too can learn from an expert how it’s done and what goes into the design and layout of a model home! As well as pick up a few tips and tricks for your own home to wet your design appetite.

We had a wonderful turn out last Thursday, January 27th at our Realtor Appreciation Luncheon at the Greenbrier Country Club! Thank you to all of our agents who sold a Napolitano Home in 2010 that participated. Napolitano Homes values our co-broke community and attributes a large amount of our success to relationships with realtors. Relationships, that help us bring our mutual buyers the best new home buying experience.  This was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to network, learn a little bit and enjoy lunch!

We hope for the agents that attended it was a chance to get to know us better as a trusted new home builder and understand our building and homebuyer process better! Napolitano Homes stands by it’s mission statement to provide every customer with the absolute best new home buying experience, and part of that experience many times involves a co-broke agent. John Napolitano had a chance to talk a little bit about how we make an effort to educate our home buyers and their agents on what they can expect while their home is being built.

Of course along with the networking and delicious salad there was the most important part of the luncheon! We wanted to make sure every agent walked away feeling appreciated and received a big THANK YOU from everyone at Napolitano Homes! Greg Souris our Sales Manager had a chance to talk about all our beautiful new homes in the Napolitano communities throughout Hampton Roads and hand out individual gifts to the agents with Vince Napolitano.

This was a great event and we are looking forward to hopefully making this a tradition every year for the agents, to have the opportunity to show our appreciation and to say thank you for their continued business. As well as to remind us all that the builder and realtor communities are all working together for the same goal ( besides a sale ), the satisfaction and happiness of our mutual homebuyers.  What a great start to the year!