Syracuse, NY Parade of Homes Decorating Tips

Having a comfortable and pleasant home is important to most people. Here in Syracuse, NY there is an event held every year called Parade of Homes. It is where builders and decorators showcase their work. This year, eight show houses were built especially for The Parade of Homes. The builders show their best designs and the houses are decorated, landscaped and all are for sale.

Having noticed this event in the newspaper, I decided to investigate this parade of homes. A perusal of the literature put out by the organizers revealed that this is sponsored by the Home Builders and Remodelers of Central New York. I'm not planning on building or remodeling so I was not convinced I wanted to go. I read further down. I found that a different decorator embellished each home. Anyone interested in decorating tips is encouraged to tour the homes and take note of decorating ideas to use in their own homes. Now this was a little more interesting. I could use some decorating tips. My house is inhabited by two dogs and my teenage son, they don't worry about decorating but I was thinking that removing the mountain bike from the living room would punch up the style.

We decided to go on a Sunday and get there right when it opened at 1:00 pm. It was raining when we left. Not your gentle refreshing rain, this was the kind that made water pool in the road and spray like a waterfall as you drove through it. There were plenty of signs pointing the way and people in rain slickers were parking cars. The lot was mud as far as the eye could see. 'The woman in a car behind us announced to the attendant that she needed a parking spot with no mud. Nice try, but it would have taken a magician to poof up a dry spot. The entrance was through a tent. First we paid our $10 and were told to grab some booties out of the box. Evidently the look on my face prompted the nice woman staffer to explain that to save the floors and rugs of the new homes no shoes were allowed, only booties. They had chairs set up at the entrances so you could transition to the booties relatively smoothly.

The houses had been built on both sides of the street and were landscaped beautifully; one even had speakers disguised as rocks along the front walk. I liked it but why the front? The back is where I would put these. As promised the homes were full of decorating ideas. 'They were luxurious as well. We saw balconies off master bedroom suites, closets as big as my kitchen (I'm not kidding) countertops were expensive looking stone, one had a TV screen integrated into the bathroom mirror, it was... very Spaceship Enterprise like. One bathroom had a fireplace for those cozy baths in the large spa tub.

Here are some of my favorite decorating tips and building trends gleaned from the Syracuse Parade of homes.

Walls
The rooms designed for children were adorable. One had round bubbles of either chalkboard paint or chalkboard like decals on the wall. The tykes could take chalk and make their own art to decorate their space.
A playroom had Ariel from Disney's the little mermaid painted on the wall.
A basement home theater had movie theater style velvet ropes painted on the wall.
A half bath had a lovely flower basket on the wall that you would see first when you walked into the room.

Color
Earth tones predominated, with browns, beiges and rich reds and oranges giving the homes a warm and peaceful atmosphere.

Rugs
There were some amazing rugs featured in these homes. All homes had wood flooring. One stand out was a round rug with irregular borders almost reminiscent in shape of a bearskin rug. Placed under a table and chairs in the kitchen it was an original and informal touch.

Other decorating ideas and home features worth mentioning were the skateboard light in a room designed for a little boy. They had fashioned a ceiling light fixture with a clear acrylic skateboard wired to it in a chandelier like fashion. There were several double sided fireplaces; the nice clean type that doesn't burn wood.
There were also some ceilings painted in bold colors like brown. The effect was nice in these large homes but I'm not sure how this would look in a smaller home, as it probably would make it seem smaller.
There was a framed painting that had been painted on a burlap type material. Nice use of texture.
My favorite home was the Greengate by Harrington Homes. This one had nice details throughout. There was a stunning entry way, panels in the dining room that were unusually textured: they almost looked like concrete, and solar power provides 50-75% of the electrical needs of the home. Green products were used throughout.
One home was equipped with screen doors that slide into the wall instead of opening outward or inward. What a nice switch from a conventional door that almost sweeps your guests from the front step when you open the door.

Overall the 15th annual Syracuse NY Parade of Homes was worth the rain. We came away with some decorating ideas that would translate well to our own homes. I would suggest starting early like we did. We spent a couple of hours and the last house we toured was extremely crowded. I will be sure to attend next year and I will bring a small notebook to take notes and make sketches.

Sources:

First hand experience

Home Builders and Remodelers of CNY