The importance of product in a showroom is almost as important as the design of the space itself. So say Kitchen & Bath Design News' readers who recently participated in an online poll on the KitchenBathDesign.com Web site. When asked what they would be most likely to do for their firms in the next 12 months, fully half of the 340 respondents answered that they would be adding new product lines.

But product will only get a client to circulate around the showroom. What actually gets someone to sign on your business for a project is a curious combination of sales savvy, wow factors and a bit of mystery. Here, and on the next three pages, KBDN looks at four showrooms and the myriad approaches to designing, displaying and selling within them.

Neighborhood Design

The old realtor's adage "location, location, location" holds true for the situation of a showroom, according to Rosemary Merrill, AKBD.

Merrill, along with Susan Brunn and Susan Jacobs, owns and operates Minneapolis-based Casa Verde Design.

"Our location was very thoughtfully chosen," she says. "By being located in a charming neighborhood shopping area, rather than a design center, we feel very much a part of the area, and benefit from local pedestrian activity."

Visitors to the showroom are exposed immediately to the core of the showroom's design aesthetic: open space.

"The open work space creates a very collaborative environment for the designers, which we feel creates the best end result for the client," Merrill continues, noting this allows visitors to move freely through the various vignettes.

Open for just under two years, Casa Verde is more than just a place to get ideas. Customers who like exactly what they see have the opportunity to incorporate those same items.

"We deliberately wanted to make sure that all of the showroom ‘props' seen by clients are available to them," she says.

The aim of the showroom, says Merrill, is to make the customer feel comfortable.

"Our showroom feels like a home. It greets you with a refined elegance and simplicity, yet it is warm and inviting," she concludes.

Client-Centered Chic

Designer Bev Adams, CMKBD, bristles at the notion that a showroom could possibly satisfy the desires of every client walking through the door.

Adams, principal and lead designer of Denver, CO-based Interior Intuitions says, "Showroom design should not simply be about vendor-blending. Good design is about behavior-blending.