UTAH VALLEY PARADE OF HOMES: 2026, Post 1

HOMES THAT ARE 4,000 SF – 6,999 SF

Utah Valley Parade of Homes 2026

The Utah Valley Parade of Homes is a great way to find out just what we should be looking for in a home. It allows us to get a feel for sizes of homes and spaces in the rooms. Because the rooms are decorated with furniture, we can see how a couch, table, bed, etc. fits in the room, and how the furniture can be positioned and arranged. And rearranged.

We can get an idea of what we like and don’t like. And we can get a feel for what it would be like to move around in the home. Do we like the kitchen and want to cook in that space? Are the closets big enough? Is there enough storage space? Do we want bigger windows or wider hallways? It allows us a glimpse of what it would be like to live in that home.

A home is probably going to be our most expensive purchase in life. So, getting it right, or close to right, at the time of purchasing, or while drawing up floor plans for a new build, will save money and protect that investment.

So, take a look at these homes from the Utah Valley Parade of Homes 2026, and let’s start planning our next home. And let’s make it a home that we truly love to come home to.

4,000 – 6,000+ SF Homes

REGAL HOMES

The Bianca

4,028 sf

I love built-in bunk beds! Dutch and I did a lot of bunk beds with our kids. We even bought lumber and had them make their own! Which was a fun family project. They were able to choose their own wood and position the pieces they liked where they wanted them. The project kind of ruined my kitchen table, since the table became the center for polyurethane. But it was worth it. Bunk beds are great!

I like how they have lights for the top and bottom bunks. This is a great idea. Outlets would be great too, for phones, alarm clocks, etc. We bought battery-operated reading lights and flashlights for our kids. And the batteries never lasted long. So, they usually just kept the main lights on. The younger kids got used to sleeping with the lights on, while the older kids read. It worked, but I really like this idea of lights on the wall better!

This is a great storage room! I think it would have been much more useful if they had put shelves on all the walls. I realize they are probably going to put things against that empty wall: a safe, a cabinet, luggage, etc. Shelves could be built around all of that. I don’t think anyone has ever said that they have too much storage space.

I was standing in the entryway, just to the right of the front door, when I took this picture. I think floor plans should be designed so that bathrooms are not seen from the front door. Add in a small hallway so the door is on a different wall, hang the door so it blocks the view into the bathroom. Keep this in mind as you look at homes to buy or work out floor plans for your new build. I have seen so many homes with powder rooms that can be seen from the front door. Notice this before you buy, or plan this out before you build!

TOLL BROTHERS

Kamas Farmhouse

4,244 SF

This home has a laundry room on each level. This is such a great idea!

This is a very busy wall and ceiling for the master bedroom. There is a lot going on here, with shapes, colors, textures, and styles. It’s hard to decorate around busy walls like this. I prefer to keep the permanent surfaces simple and quiet, so there are more choices for decorating. Especially in bedrooms, which should be calm rooms for sleeping.

REGAL HOMES

The Kensington

4,395 SF

This home brings up a lot of questions that a home buyer or a home designer needs to address. This home has a lot going on in it. It has 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, and 1 half bathroom. It’s a 3 story home: main, second, and basement. It’s less than 4,500 square feet.

So, the questions are:

Do you want to put in as much as you possibly can and have the rooms feel a little too small?

Or,

Do you want to leave out a few things and have the rooms feel comfortable?

I think I would prefer to have fewer rooms and have the feel of the home be more relaxing.

This is a very narrow entryway.

This is a very small master closet. I’m standing right up against the wall, taking the picture. They did manage to get a stack washer and dryer in here.

The bedrooms were all small, which is fine. Most people do not do their living in the bedrooms. They tend to be used just for sleeping and dressing.

Another question this home brings up is:

Do you want decorative wallpaper?

Wallpaper with prints and designs tends to make the walls look busy. And in a smaller home, with smaller rooms, wallpaper is something that will need to be planned out carefully.

This laundry room has very busy wallpaper. And, with the paintings up on the wall, your eyes just don’t know where to go.

Keep in mind that you don’t even have laundry baskets in here yet, with clothing spilling out the top. This room is just going to get busier!

If you want a relaxing home environment, then this wallpaper is not for you! And, it’s not going to do you any favors if you have people trying to share mirror space while remaining calm. This is high-energy wallpaper!

And this narrow mud room, that seems to be doubling as a butler pantry, is not being helped with this busy wall.

Think about these things and how you want your home to feel.

IVORY HOMES

Sorrento Traditional

5, 049 SF

Glass cupboard doors for the master closet. A cost-conscious way to give your home an upgrade.

Jack and Jill bathrooms are a great use of space! Make sure you have lots of mirrors and counter space and electrical outlets in there.

SYMPHONY HOMES

Marquee Modern

5,698 SF

This home has some really good and practical upgrades.

This stair runner is on top of the wooden stairs. This makes it so much easier to replace the carpet when the time comes. If you have stairs with a cutout for the carpet, then you are locked into that width forever.

Our home had an inset carpet in the front entry stairway. And it was a problem. We took out the carpet when we moved in, planning to immediately replace it. But, the inset width was a custom size. No getting a carpet runner from Amazon! I knew this would be an ongoing problem, so I wanted to address the situation right away and not let it drag on.

And it was a process. We had to take off and replace the tread and the bullnose. Which meant getting the tread and bullnose custom cut for each step. The stairway has 2 turns, and some of the steps are triangle/wedge shapes. Now, it looks great and is no longer an issue. I like it so much that I haven’t put a carpet runner on it. Yet. I have options, which feels good.

So, I strongly recommend that you do not build stairs that have an inset carpet runner.

I love this bench with the shoe organizer underneath it. And the windows are great!

A utility sink in the garage is not a new idea. I just want to point out that a sink like this in the garage makes more sense than a utility sink in the laundry room. We used to benefit from a sink in the laundry room when we were doing more things like dyeing lace, scrubbing out stains, or washing delicates by hand.

Nowadays, we can get fabrics and lace in about any color we want, detergents and stain removers are so good that rarely do we have to scrub out a stain, and there are so many new types of materials available that go through the washer and dryer just fine. And we don’t even have to iron them!

So, it makes more sense to have a sink in the garage. Especially if someone is a mess, and you absolutely do not want them traipsing through the house, on their way to the sink in the laundry room!

And here again is another question to consider:

Do you want as much house as you can get, but you still want a swimming pool?

I would definitely take a swimming pool like this! It’s not big, but on a hot summer day, it’s great!

This extra garage is around the back of the house. This is a great upgrade that could be used for so many things: lawn care equipment, deck furniture during the winter, camping equipment. There are a lot of useful possibilities.

LUXE BUILDERS

The Claire

5,772 SF

This home is a favorite. It’s a comfortable size, with a practical floor plan, and a beautiful interior design style and color scheme.

A charming kitchen.

The Butler Pantry: beautiful arched entry and cottagecore tiles.

The Master Bathroom: The ivory wall tiles and creamy paint color allow the beautiful checkerboard flooring to be the focal point. And I love the golden accents with this color combination.

Finally, a bathtub that makes sense! Stand alone tubs don’t look comfortable, and there’s nowhere to set a bar of soap or shampoo and conditioner! This bathtub is just right!

Something that is trending right now is window grids on the outside of the window panes. Like this window. While this is fun and different, keep in mind that this is not the most cost-conscious thing to do.

Window cleaning companies generally charge by the window pane. If the grids were on the inside of each of these windows, there would be 2 window panes. But, with the grids on the outside, there are 8 panes per window, for each side. And the smaller the pane, the more tedious and time consuming the cleaning. And if the grids are specialty woods (and they usually are), then specific cleaners have to be used.

So, you might not get a window cleaning company to cut you a very good deal.

A charming, cottagecore mudroom.

TREVI HOMES

Monteluce

5,940 SF

This home has some beautiful design features.

I love the front doors and the rock work.

Gorgeous design features on the stairway.

BEACON HOMES

Timberline Retreat

6,525 SF

This is a beautiful home with a family-friendly floor plan. It’s another one of my favorites.

Beautiful wood front doors. These sconces have flickering flame light bulbs in them. They look like flickering gas lights. I’m going to try some of these light bulbs in our front porch sconces. I think they are really fun!

And what’s on the other side of the front doors. I love this whimsical chandelier.

This laundry room looks like it could easily fit another washer and dryer set. Or, with careful planning of the window layout, it could fit 2 stacked sets. Then the counter space would remain the same. This already beautiful laundry room could turn into something very practical, as well.

A fun and functional backyard. I love the fire bowls!

Visiting the homes in the Utah Valley Parade of Homes has been a lot of fun. Whether we are buying, building, remodeling, or refreshing, I hope that taking care of our homes fills us with joy. And I hope the pictures and the information and the suggestions help you come up with ways to make your own home more practical, functional, cozy, and beautiful. Just as our homes should be!

Crafting wishes,

Marilee