IRVINE, CA-The homebuyer's part in choosing design elements hascome a long way from the 1970s, when the toughest decision waswhether to go with avocado green or harvest gold kitchenappliances. Today's consumers (influenced heavily by beautifullydesigned images on HGTV, interior-design websitesand smartphone apps, as GlobeSt.com recently reported) expect and are demandingmore in home design: more choices, more customization, more pricepoints and more convenience—and builders are beginning to delivervia updated, sophisticated design centers in locations that areconvenient to the consumer.

“Buyers are starting to understand that one of the bigvalue-adds between a resale and a new home is they can pick certainfeatures and options they might not normally be able to do,”Rick Fletcher, VP sales and marketing forMBK Homes here, tells GlobeSt.com. “Builders getthat. There are a lot of different things they look at, and thatselection of finish is right up there.”

Fletcher adds that builders and their designer partners canaddress buyers' needs in many ways: the traditional design center,a centrally located facility where buyers within a 20- to 30-mileradius can come and look at all the finishes; and onsite designcenters, which are located at the community where the consumer isbuying. “If I'm selling homes in Gardena, buyers have to only walkabout 10 steps to the onsite design center to make their designselections. That buyer never has to leave the community to have agreat design experience.”