Touring The Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods Design Studio

One of our homeowners’ favorite stops along the path of building their Ideal home is the Ideal Design Studio! Located in Oklahoma City, the Ideal Design Studio is where our homebuyers go to make the selections that will turn their floor plan into their own personalized unique home. 

Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods has the LARGEST design studio of its kind in Oklahoma and no two homes we build are alike. Some new home builders in Oklahoma offer "packages" of selections and options, but we find that providing a wide range of options allows you to personalize your home to meet your exact wants and needs. Our neighborhoods stand apart from other new home communities because every home, like every homeowner, is different and unique.

Melody Richardson, manager of the Ideal Design Studio, leads a team of designers who walk customers through each step of the design process of their custom home. With a degree in interior design from Oklahoma State University, she brings experience from commercial architecture and home design.

“My favorite part of the process is getting to know our homeowners. As we help them personalize their home by combining options from our curated selections, my team and I get to learn the why behind their choices,” Melody said.

Every homeowner comes into the studio with a different hope and dream for their home. For homeowners with young children or pets, Melody finds they want to talk flooring first. Other homeowners may plan to move elderly parents into their homes, so they want to consider accessibility features.

“When you get to know people and understand what they’re trying to achieve, you can better help them get there. My team and I get to suggest ideas they might not have considered that can make their home more functional and enjoyable,” Melody said.

Every Home is Unique

Customers visit the Ideal Design Studio after they’ve worked with a new home consultant to select their floor plan and homesite. With those important decisions set, the fun can begin! 

Our customers have two design appointments at the Ideal Design Studio. The first is four hours where all the design decisions are made - flooring, colors, budgets, and more. The next appointment, soon thereafter, is where those decisions are finalized.

“We like to give people a few days to sleep on it,” Melody explained.

The Ideal Design Studio is set up in sections. Customers begin their first meeting in the Exterior section to select brick, mortar, siding, stain color, roof, and any other exterior finishes.

In this first stop, customers review their floor plan as a whole. It’s where they’ll make any decisions about room conversion options that their floor plan might offer – say, a dining room that can be converted into a study. To find out what options are available for each floor plan, find your plan here.

From there, it’s on to other sections of the Design Studio including paint colors, flooring, light fixtures, bathroom fixtures, kitchen finishes, and electrical outlets inside or outside the home.

The Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods Difference 

The Ideal Design Studio is a reflection of the values that make Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods stand out from other home builders. 

We provide options

The biggest difference you’ll see at the Ideal Design Studio compared to other homebuilders is the sheer number of options and the expert help along the way. Other builders in Oklahoma rely on customers choosing an entire package of selections and colors which means their homes all look very similar.

For example, when it comes to solid-surface flooring, where some home builders offer only wood-look tile as a solid surface wood option, Ideal Homes has a large selection of laminate, engineered hardwood, and wood-look tile. We intentionally don't overpack these selections into our base prices so that our customers can pick and choose what they want to add to their new home to make it unique and personalized.

The same goes for light fixtures, cabinet finishes, and countertops – the variety is unmatched. According to Melody, it’s when people start mixing and matching from these options that homes become uniquely stamped with a customer’s personality, preferences, and needs.

At the same time, the options are carefully curated. Rather than forcing our customers to pick from three nearly identical shades of red brick, Melody and her team have selected a specific wide variety of colors that differ in look and personality. 

We prioritize quality

The selections available at the Ideal Design Studio are only the highest quality that last.

Kitchen and bathroom fixtures illustrate this commitment. Customers sometimes bring in examples of other products they’ve seen online or at a home improvement store, but we only carry a high-end line that our Customer Care team knows will perform for many years to come.

Unlike some bathroom and kitchen fixtures available at retail stores, which often contain plastic components, ours are 100% metal. 

You aren’t forced to upgrade to get quality

One of Melody’s favorite kitchen vignettes at the Ideal Design Studio shows a kitchen that features 100% included options with custom stained maple cabinetry and quartz countertops.

4 Pro Tips

If you’re headed to the Ideal Design Studio soon, Melody offered a few pro tips to make your experience smooth and productive.

1. Drive around Ideal neighborhoods: This is especially handy when you’re thinking about your exterior finishes. You can even make note of specific addresses you like, and the team can pull up the details of that home's brick and paint colors.
   
   
2. Strategize upgrades: Flooring is the area where people most often decide to focus their budget power. Unlike some builders that overpack a lot of high-cost options into the price of the home, with Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods you can pick and choose your upgrades knowing that even the included options are vetted for quality.
   
   Want to add personalization with minimal expense? Melody suggests playing around with different lighting fixture combinations.
   
   
3. Design trends: 
   
   Gray: Warmer neutrals are coming back to replace millennial gray. Bright, airy spaces are still important, but the tones are warming up.
   
   Layout: Open-concept floor plans remain in demand.
   
   Flex Spaces/Studies: Flexible rooms – like a space that can function as a guest bedroom, a study, and a workout area – are important to buyers and our floor plans offer a lot of options.
   
   
4. Make use of the Ideal Design Studio team: Each designer is an expert in interior design and here to help as much or as little as you wish. Some customers arrive with a strong vision, while others prefer more guidance. Either way, the Design Studio team will adapt to your needs.

Ready to personalize your Ideal Home in Oklahoma City, Norman, Edmond, the OKC metro, Stillwater? We’re here to help you select the best floor plan …and turn it into YOUR home.

At Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods, we’re here to be a part of your home ownership journey.