Showhomes is a staging company -- they take empty homes for sale and put furniture in them to make each look like a place that you could actually live.
And they're moving to Denver.
In an empty house, buyers "see the flaws in the home, the dust in corners, the holes in the wall, it just doesn't have the same pop," said Matt Kelton, Showhomes chief operating officer.
"We're trying to make it look larger than it may be, we want it to appeal to a lot of different buyers," he said.
Showhomes is already in 18 states across the country and has over 50 franchise locations, but the company is moving into Denver because of our economy. Median home prices have been rising since 2008, plus income levels and job growth are increasing, Kelton points out.
And as a company that also works to relocate people, Denver also looks desirable.
"In a market like Denver you have quite a bit of growth in people moving to the area. Lot of doctors, lawyers, white collar executives, so that's another aspect we look at," Kelton said.
So what do we like in our homes?
"Whenever you have areas that are near mountains, you see more of that rustic look. A farmhouse look seems to be popular too," Kelton said. "You've got an area that's a little different than the southeast and some of the areas that we have in northern California."
But mostly, when it comes down to it, Denver is not that different from the rest of the country. Television, particularly HGTV, has created a common design taste for most of the country, Kelton thinks.
That means lots of gray walls, Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware furniture.
"Denver, you all don't have a dramatically different look than a lot of our markets," Kelton said. "Santa Fe, New Mexico is going to be really different from the rest of the country."
