Print edition: 
Smaller houses with more luxurious bathrooms, front doors opening onto family rooms flowing out from kitchens, embroidery on the drapes — these are some of the trends that can be seen on the Fall Parade of Homes that opens next weekend.
"There's a lot more attention to detail" in the houses this fall, said Wess Galyon, president of the Wichita Area Builders Association. The association sponsors the Parade of Homes twice a year — in the spring and in the fall.
The fall parade will have 117 houses constructed by 44 area builders in Wichita, Sedgwick County and Andover, Derby, Goddard, Haysville, Maize, Newton, Park City, Rose Hill and Valley Center.
The houses will be open from noon to 6 p.m. weekends beginning Oct. 8 and ending Oct. 23. Free Parade of Homes magazines with descriptions of each house and addresses will be available starting next week on racks at area grocery stores.
"There is a pretty good array of prices," Galyon said. "There are more entries in the more moderate $300,000 and below. There is virtually every price point. The lowest is $100,000, which we can still do, and at all price points up to $2 million. There are very few of those, because that's not a big market.
"They are great values in this market."
Shirley Noah, partner/owner of Design Gallery, works with many local builders and said, "We think houses are getting smaller."
Some people are cutting out the formal living room and dining room in the midprice range of houses, she said, so that the front door opens into a family/great room flowing out from the kitchen.
At the same time, "bathrooms are getting more luxurious. Showers are tiled and more elegant, more spa-like."
Here are some of the other trends Noah notes:
* Embroidery is being seen on window coverings. "It's kind of refreshing to have something a little different." Window treatments also are more colorful and bold and often patterned.
Oft-used colors include paprika, browns and sea-glass blue.
* Back decks are getting a little larger to make more room for outdoor living.
* Carpet is tight, low, level-loop, like a Berber but in nylon and more sophisticated, often with a pattern such as a square or a diamond.
* Woods are a darker brown. In wood floors the trend is for a wider plank that gives a more rustic look. There are combinations of stains and paint used in kitchens, such as painted and glazed islands and stained cabinets.
* The finish of choice on hardware and fixtures is bronze.
* Shutters and grass shades are elbowing out the 2-inch wood blinds on windows that have "been popular forever."
* A new color combination is gray, yellow and beige. "It's kind of a conservative look." The beige, often in a paisley, softens the cool gray.
* The upholstery on sofas and chairs is becoming less of a soft chenille and more like a linen or a woven fabric.
* The last couple of years have seen combinations of brick and stone on the outside of houses, "a little more rustic, a little more casual."
Some trends that continue:
* Floor plans are open.
* Granite is still hot as the material of countertops.
* Glass tiles are used a lot in kitchen and bathroom backsplashes, often in a mosaic.
* Lime green or celadon and pomegranate or spice are popular colors.
