DEMO: Nabr’s Design Studio

In this post, we’ll explore the beta version of our Design Studio, where you can tell us your home preferences and “favorite” features and designers you’re interested in.

If you’ve read our post about how Nabr is simplifying how you buy a home, you should have a good understanding of the six steps involved in buying a Nabr home. In this post, I am going to dive into step two — exploring designs — with a demo of the beta version of our Design Studio, so you can see what the experience actually feels like in practice.

Enter the Design Studio

After creating a profile with Nabr, you’ll be invited to join the Design Studio — a first-of-its-kind online e-commerce experience. Remember: if you are lost at any point in the process, you can always email us or schedule an appointment with our sales team.

The Design Studio is made up of two sections: the first is where you tell us your home preferences and the second is where you browse available homes. You can toggle back-and-forth between them, until you’ve found a home you’d like to reserve.

Tell us your home preferences

After selecting bedroom count, you will “favorite” preferences like designer, optional features, and other add-ons. Remember: none of the design choices you make at this stage are final! We ask for preferences upfront simply so that we can start building a 3D model of your Nabr home. Before you sign your final contract, you’ll be able to interact with the 3D model in the Design Studio — including adding and subtracting features — and you’ll have an opportunity to consult with a Nabr Design Advisor live.

• Bedroom count This one is simple — choose 1, 2, or 3 bedrooms. Your choice here will not limit you from seeing all homes available to you at a later step — this just helps us rank and prioritize the type of home you’re looking for.
• Browse Designers Next, it’s time to favorite a designer. The default designer is Nabr, a.k.a. our very own Sharmila Chaudhuri, who has twenty years of experience designing interiors. Sharmila has purposely designed a natural, warm, and neutral canvas that you can customize to your lifestyle. Alternatively, you can opt in to a design partner package pre-curated by a top-notch global designer from Bjarke Ingels Group or Katty Sheibeck (more details and designers coming soon). You’ll be able to talk through your options with a Design Advisor down the road.
• Browse Optional Features You can now start favoriting additional features from our menu. You’ll pick from categories like “Outdoor Living,” which includes a built-in BBQ and planters for your terrace. All features are custom-designed by Nabr, or sourced directly from one of Nabr’s partner suppliers. That means we can guarantee that all features are consistent with Nabr’s brand standard of quality and sustainability. And because we are buying at high-volume straight from the source, we can offer better pricing than you’d get from buying the same features on your own.
• Add-Ons. Select options that are not part of your home’s physical design, such as a parking or storage space.

See available homes

Once you’ve completed inputting your home preferences, the Design Studio will then show you all available homes that are a match.

From here you can view where your home sits in the building. Soon, you’ll be able to take a 3D tour of the actual home, with all your preferences applied (we’ll be rolling out this feature in the next few months — you’ll get an email when your home is ready). You selected the Nabr designer? Your tour will show it. You want to see the view from your terrace? Click in and go outside. These aren’t generic model homes, but accurate visualizations of customized homes.

Reserve or Join the Priority Waitlist

Don’t see the perfect match? Pay a fully refundable $1,000 fee to join the Priority Waitlist for access to future home releases. Your place in line carries over to future buildings, too (we expect SoFA Two and SoFA Three to be open for reservations as soon as winter 2023). If you change your mind, you can always request your money back.

If you do find a home you like, click Reserve. This kicks off a 30-minute timer, during which we will keep your home off the market so others can’t reserve it, kind of like when you buy a plane ticket. Remember, all you are doing now is reserving a specific unit, but you won’t have to confirm any of your design choices until you consult with our Design Advisor at the point of contract.

The next step in your reservation process will be to enter our Payment Portal, where you can use your credit card to put down a fully refundable reservation fee to take the home off the market.

Check out our next post for a step-by-step guide to our Payment Portal.