Design Center

Turn upgrades into
wider margin.

Cross-class upgrades, per-room pricing from real takeoff quantities, 64+ designer packages, and a step-by-step Product Configurator for complex selections like cabinets and countertops. Every selection tracked, priced, and connected to your budget.

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StyleSmith AI™ mascot — a bearded craftsman in a leather apron holding material rolls, with a paint brush and color swatch palette
New · Pro+ & Enterprise

StyleSmith AI™ designs the whole house.

Name a home. Name a look. StyleSmith AI™ composes the whole house from real live data— your actual product catalog right here in the Design Center, at your own retail pricing, steered by the inspiration photography your design team curates and by your buyer's own style profile.

Every pick is a product you already sell, chosen inside your style guidelines and held to one palette and one finish family. Say “cap it at Upgrade II” and the whole look stays there. Then it writes the set into the home's real selections — on your say-so.

Because it composes against that buyer— their style profile, their spec level, their ceiling — two families on the same street don't end up with the same kitchen. And when you do want fixed bundles, StyleSmith AI™ drafts those too: bespoke per buyer and a package factory, from the same catalog.

  • Real products from your own catalog — not stock imagery
  • 10 style themes, every option scored nightly
  • Flooring continuity room to room
  • Holds your spec band — the included floor and your ceiling
  • Buyer style quiz feeds the composition (early access)
  • Drafts full Design Packages for review
Meet StyleSmith AI™
Structural Options

Options that change the home should be part of the home.

Finished basements, luxury baths, flex rooms, and gourmet kitchens are more than price-book charges. Cornerstone models their rooms, finish selections, quantities, budget impact, and vendor work from the buyer's choice through construction.

Options become selectable rooms

An option can act as its own Design Center location or own multiple rooms and zones. A Finished Basement can contain a Main Area and Basement Steps, each with independent carpet, LVP, or tile selections, per-class quantities, spec levels, and retail pricing.

Replace a base room—reversibly

A Luxury Owner's Bath can replace the Standard Owner's Bath on one home. The base room drops out of that home's budget, purchase orders, selection counts, and selections PDF while the option is committed. Remove the option and everything returns; the floorplan template was never deleted or duplicated.

Net carve-outs without double billing

When a Flex Room is framed inside a Finished Basement, Cornerstone nets its footprint from the parent room class-by-class at pricing time. Carpet, pad, tile, hardwood, and alternates all follow the same room relationship while buyers still select finishes for both spaces independently.

Carry the money through construction

Committed structural selections recompute the live budget, roll up by cost code, and feed auto-generated purchase orders and delivery tickets when construction tasks fire. Under-air and under-roof deltas stay attached to the option.

Guard every choice with compatibility rules

Set Requires, Conflicts, or Includes relationships with a simple rule picker and optional note. Prerequisites are enforced, mutually exclusive options are blocked, and bundled options come along automatically—before an impossible combination can reach a contract, budget, or purchase order.

See how room-aware structural options work

Everything included

Cross-Class Upgrades
Buyers can switch from carpet to hardwood, recessed lights to pendants, or any option to any other within the same category. One click, real-time price delta shown instantly.
Per-Room Selections with Sqft
'Pick your Kitchen flooring (180 sqft)' — upgrade pricing shown per room based on actual takeoff quantities. No manual area calculations.
Options Grouped by Type
Carpet, Hardwood, LVP, and Tile shown as collapsible groups — not a flat dropdown. Buyers see the full picture before choosing.
Real-Time Upgrade Pricing
Shows exact cost delta from base: '+$684 upgrade' or '-$200 credit'. Price flows from takeoff quantities automatically.
Designer Collections
64+ curated packages across 7 categories. Pick a package and all category options auto-lock to that collection. Remove the package to unlock individual picks.
Product Configurator
Step-by-step guided configuration for complex selections like cabinets and countertops. Buyers pick door style → wood species → finish with smart compatibility rules ensuring only valid combinations. Pricing uses base price + attribute modifiers from vendor bids — no manual spreadsheet matrix needed.
Spec-Level Tier Gating
Control which product options — and which product attributes (Collection, Size, Pattern, Grout Color) — are available at each upgrade level. Herringbone pattern only at Upgrade I+? Done. Standard buyers see the curated list, Premium buyers unlock more.
Community-Based Upgrade Pricing
Every community has its own included spec level baked into the home price. Buyers only see options at or above that level — no accidental downgrades — and every upgrade shows the exact delta from what's already included. Builder sets the level per community once. The math handles itself.
INCLUDED Badges + Live Deltas
Options at the community's included level show an INCLUDED badge. Everything above shows '+$X' calculated as selected option price minus community included option price — automatically, per community, no manual pricing tables.
Driven by Takeoffs
Quantities flow directly from takeoff data — zero double-entry. Change a room size in the takeoff and the design center pricing updates automatically.
Room-by-Room Selections
Organize all buyer selections by room — kitchen, baths, flooring, fixtures, paint.
Spec Level Management
Community Standard, Premium, Luxury — unlimited levels with included/upgrade pricing.
Options Engine
Structural and design options with real-time pricing, tied to budget automatically.
Buyer Selection Portal
Buyers make selections online, builder approves — no email chains.
Selections PDF Export
Generate a clean, branded selection sheet PDF for every home — grouped By Category or By Room.
Pricing-Free Trade Copy
Hand trades a clean spec sheet to tape up in the home — every finish and photo, zero pricing. The Trade Copy strips every dollar (no price columns, subtotals, or totals) and stamps ‘TRADE COPY — NO PRICING’ in the header. Protect your margins: trades see the finishes, never the prices.
Auto-Saved to Home Docs
The Trade Copy auto-saves into the home’s Documents every time selections are locked or approved — replacing the old one so duplicates never pile up. No manual exporting; it’s always there, always current. A manual ‘Save Trade Copy to Home Docs’ button is there too.
Upgrade Tracking
Track every upgrade from selection to install with status updates.
Change Order Integration
Design changes flow directly into purchasing and budget.
Community-Level Pricing
Set base included items per community, overrides per floorplan. Different communities can start at different spec levels — Standard in one, Upgrade I in another — with zero extra configuration.
Approval Workflow
Builder approves all selections before they're locked.
Revision History
Full audit trail of every selection change with timestamps.
Integration with Purchasing
Every selection ties to a line item — no manual entry.
Mobile-Friendly
Buyers can make selections from any device.
Margin Lock-In
Lock options pricing before presenting to buyer — protect your margin.
Exclusion Groups
“Pick One” rules for flooring, countertops, and other either/or categories. Buyer picks hardwood? Carpet auto-locks. No conflicting selections, no manual cleanup.
100% Selection Confetti
Celebration animation when all design selections are complete. Small touch, big buyer moment — turns a mundane checklist into a milestone.
Design Center Settings
Full admin control over selection rules, deadlines, and the buyer experience. Configure which categories require selections, set cutoff dates, and control the buyer portal flow.
Options Attributes

5 options. 7,000+ variations.

Stop creating thousands of individual SKUs. Options Attributes let you define attribute groups once and manage every possible combination through simple multiplication — not manual data entry.

Real-world example: Cardell Cabinets
5
Cabinet Series
×
23
Door Styles
×
8
Wood Species
×
38
Finishes
×
2
Overlays
×
3
Door Treatments
=
7,000+
Variations

All managed through just 5 options and 5 attribute groups — not 7,000 individual line items.

Cornerstone PM Design Options showing 5 cabinet series organized by spec level from Standard to Premium
Spec-Level Tiers

Organize by spec level, not spreadsheet rows

Five cabinet series — Standard through Premium — each with color-coded tier badges. Buyers see their included option and every upgrade path at a glance. Builders control which series each tier unlocks.

Create options from scope items or your parts catalog in one click. Import/export for bulk management.

Attribute Groups

Define once, multiply everywhere

Five attribute groups — Door Style (23), Wood Species (8), Finish (38), Overlay (2), Door Treatment (3) — each marked Required so buyers can't skip a step. Every group expands to show values, images, and status.

Add, reorder, or deactivate values without touching the options themselves. The math updates automatically.

Options Attributes tab showing 5 attribute groups: Door Style, Wood Species, Finish, Overlay, Door Treatment
Buyer-facing Cardell Cabinets configurator showing Door Style, Wood Species, Finish, Overlay, and Door Treatment selections with thumbnails and live per-attribute pricing totaling +$2,058
Buyer Experience

What your buyer actually sees

Every attribute group rendered as a visual swatch grid with photos, descriptions, and a live price delta per choice. The buyer picks Door Style, Wood Species, Finish, Overlay, and Door Treatment — the running total updates instantly at the bottom.

No spreadsheets emailed back and forth. No “let me get back to you on pricing.” The buyer configures the upgrade, sees the exact dollar impact, and saves the selection — all in one flow.

Compatibility Rules

Invalid combos never reach production

Set per-value restrictions: “Bressler door style is compatible with these wood species and these finishes.” Unchecked values are blocked at selection time. No restrictions? Leave the group open.

No more field orders because someone picked Thermofoil with a stain finish. Compatibility rules catch it before the PO is cut.

Compatibility rules editor showing per-value restrictions for Wood Species, Finish, Overlay, and Door Treatment
Auto-generated vendor bid template in Excel titled 'Attribute Pricing Modifiers - Cabinets - Kitchen' with Door Style, Wood Species, and Finish sections, plus a yellow Price (+/-) column for the vendor to fill in per attribute value
Vendor Bid Templates

Send vendors an Excel template. Get real cost data back.

Cornerstone auto-generates an Excel bid template for every attribute group — one tab per scope (Cabinets - Kitchen, Cabinets - Pantry, Cabinets - Laundry, etc.) with every door style, wood species, and finish pre-populated. Your vendor just fills the yellow Price (+/-) column.

Upload their completed sheet and every modifier imports back as a real cost — per attribute value, per scope item. The buyer-facing configurator on the previous screen pulls from this exact data. No price matrix in your head. No double-entry.

Multiple vendors bidding the same scope? Compare side-by-side and award the winning quote per community — pricing flows straight into your design center and budget.

Tiered Appliance Packages

Standard, Upgrade I, II, Premium — in one screen

Microwave, dishwasher, range, refrigerator — every appliance category rendered as a four-tier card grid. Buyers see the included model, every upgrade path, and the exact incremental cost without clicking through screens.

Model numbers, photos, and pricing flow from your parts catalog and vendor bids — not a static brochure. Swap an entire appliance line across a community in minutes, not days.

Buyer-facing Appliance selection screen with four categories (Microwave, Dishwasher, Range, Refrigerator) and four tiers per category (Upgrade I Standard, Upgrade II, Upgrade III, Premium) showing Samsung model numbers, photos, and incremental pricing
Per-Value Pricing Modifiers
Retail and cost deltas per attribute choice — no separate price matrix
Cross-Attribute Validation
Compatibility rules prevent impossible combinations at selection time
Spec-Level Tier Gating
Control which options unlock at Standard, Upgrade, Premium, etc.
Tiered Appliance Packages
Microwave, dishwasher, range, refrigerator — four-tier card grid per category
Visual Image Catalog
Thumbnails for every door style, finish, species, and appliance — not just text
Vendor Bid Templates
Auto-generated Excel sheets with attribute rows pre-populated — vendors just enter pricing
Combinatorial Math
Multiply, don't duplicate — 5 groups create 7,000+ valid variations
Live Price Roll-Up
Buyer sees the running total update on every selection — no quote-back delay
Community-Based Pricing

One spec engine. Every community priced correctly.

Standard included in Community A. Upgrade I included in Community B. Same options, same floorplans, same design center — and every buyer sees the right upgrade math for their community. Automatically.

1

Set the included spec level per community

Community A includes Standard. Community B includes Upgrade I. Community C includes Premium. Set it once on the community — that's the option tier baked into the home price for every buyer there.

2

Buyers can't downgrade below their tier

A buyer in an Upgrade I community will never see Standard options. The design center filters them out automatically. No accidental downgrades, no awkward sales conversations, no margin leak.

3

Upgrade math runs itself

Upgrade cost = selected option price − community included option price. Options at the community's included level show an INCLUDED badge. Everything above shows +$X. Calculated per community, per buyer, in real time.

Worked example: Kitchen Backsplash Tile
Community A · Standard included
Buyer picks Upgrade I tile ($1,400):
+$600
$1,400 selected − $800 Standard included
Community B · Upgrade I included
Buyer picks the same Upgrade I tile ($1,400):
INCLUDED
Tier matches community base — no upgrade charge
Community B · Upgrade I included
Buyer picks Premium tile ($2,200):
+$800
$2,200 selected − $1,400 Upgrade I included

Same option library. Three different upgrade prices. Zero manual configuration per community.

Attribute Tier-Gating

Pattern, Size, and Grout Color are tier-gated too

Product attributes — Collection, Size, Pattern, Grout Color — are cosmetic spec selectors, not pricing drivers. But their availability can be tier-gated. Herringbone pattern only at Upgrade I+? 12x24 size only at Premium+? Done.

Buyers in lower-tier communities don't see the gated choices at all. No “why can't I pick that?” phone calls.

Why this matters

Most design centers can't do this without a clone

Competitor tools force builders to clone the entire option library per community to get different included levels. That's where pricing drifts, options go stale, and margin disappears.

Cornerstone keeps one option library. Each community points at its included spec level, the math handles the rest.

Included in
Builder Plan
$299/mo
Buildertrend Design$499+/mo
Cornerstone PM™Free during beta
Get Early Access →

Beta limited to 100 builders —· No credit card required

Why builders choose Cornerstone for design

Most design center tools are bolt-ons that don't talk to your budget or purchasing system. Cornerstone's Design Center was built as a first-class module — every selection automatically updates the budget and purchasing line items.

Lock your options pricing before the buyer presentation and protect your margin every single time. No spreadsheets, no manual reconciliation, no surprises at closing.

Design Center Software FAQ

Common questions about design center and options engine software for home builders.

Can a structural option have its own rooms and Design Center selections?

Yes. A structural option can act as a selectable room itself or own multiple rooms and zones. A Finished Basement, for example, can contain a Main Area and Basement Steps, each with independent flooring choices, takeoff quantities, spec levels, and retail pricing in the Design Center.

How does Cornerstone prevent duplicate costs when a structural option replaces or carves space from another room?

For a replacement, the base room is excluded from that home's budget, selections, and purchase orders while the option is committed; removing the option restores it because nothing was deleted. For a room carved inside another space, Cornerstone nets the carved room's footprint from the parent room class-by-class at pricing time, preventing duplicate flooring and pad quantities while both rooms remain independently selectable.

What is design center software for home builders?

Design center software lets homebuyers select finishes, fixtures, and upgrades for their new home while builders track allowances, upgrade pricing, and margin per home. Cornerstone PM™'s Design Center is built as a first-class module integrated with sales, purchasing, and the construction budget — every selection updates pricing and PO line items automatically. The built-in Product Configurator handles complex multi-attribute selections like cabinets and countertops with step-by-step guided flows.

What is an options engine?

An options engine is the rules system that prices structural and design options per floorplan and per community. Cornerstone PM™'s options engine handles dependencies, incompatibilities, allowance overages, and per-community pricing — with real-time price rollup as the buyer makes selections. Foreman AI's Design Center domain (8 skills) can configure options, track allowances, and generate selection packages on request.

How do design center allowances work?

When a buyer locks structural options on a sale, Cornerstone PM™ auto-generates a per-room allowance schedule based on community spec levels (Standard, Premium, Luxury, etc.). The buyer's selections debit the allowance, overages flow to a change order, and savings can be applied as buyer credits — all tracked in real time.

How does upgrade pricing work across different communities?

Each community has a base spec level (Standard, Upgrade I, Upgrade II, Premium, etc.) baked into the home price. Buyers only see options at or above their community's included level — they can't downgrade. Upgrade cost is calculated automatically as selected option price minus community-included option price. Options at the community's included level show an INCLUDED badge; everything above shows a real-time +$X delta. Builder sets the included level per community once, and the math flows automatically — no per-community pricing tables to maintain, no cloned option libraries.

Can different communities start at different spec levels?

Yes. Community A can include Standard, Community B can include Upgrade I, Community C can include Premium — all sharing the same option library and the same floorplans. Cornerstone PM™ keeps one source of truth for options and pricing; each community simply points at its included spec level and the design center automatically filters available options and recalculates upgrade deltas per buyer. Most competitor design centers force builders to clone the entire option library per community to do this — that's where pricing drifts and margin leaks.

What about product attributes like Pattern, Size, or Grout Color?

Product attributes (Collection, Size, Pattern, Grout Color, Door Style, Wood Species, Finish, etc.) are cosmetic spec selectors, not pricing drivers — but their availability can be tier-gated. Want Herringbone pattern only at Upgrade I and above? 12x24 tile only at Premium? Configure it once and buyers in lower-tier communities won't see those choices at all. No “why can't I pick that?” sales calls.

Does the design center connect to purchasing?

Yes. The moment a design selection is locked, Cornerstone PM™ updates the purchasing line items and the construction budget. There's no separate spec sheet to reconcile and no risk of ordering the wrong fixture — design, purchasing, and the budget share one data source.

What are Options Attributes?

Options Attributes let you define attribute groups (like Door Style, Wood Species, Finish) for a product category and then manage them independently instead of creating individual options for every combination. Five cabinet series with 23 door styles × 8 wood species × 38 finishes × 2 overlays × 3 door treatments = over 7,000 possible variations — all managed through just 5 options and 5 attribute groups. Compatibility rules prevent invalid combinations, and pricing modifiers are set per attribute value.

How is this different from a generic configurator?

Generic configurators (Hubspot CRM add-ons, standalone selection apps) collect buyer preferences but don't update your budget or purchasing system. Cornerstone PM™'s Design Center is wired to live builder data — selections immediately become PO line items, change orders, and budget updates with no double entry. Plus, the built-in Product Configurator lets buyers walk through complex selections (cabinets, countertops) step by step with smart compatibility rules, so only valid combinations are shown.

Can buyers see their selections in their portal?

Yes. The homeowner portal shows every selection, allowance status, and upgrade pricing in real time. Buyers can review, approve, and digitally sign-off on their selections before construction begins.

Can I give subcontractors a selection sheet without showing pricing?

Yes — that's exactly what the Trade Copy is for. Alongside the buyer/office Selection Sheet (which includes pricing), Cornerstone PM™ generates a separate Trade Copy with every dollar figure stripped out — no price columns, no subtotals, no totals — stamped ‘TRADE COPY — NO PRICING’ in the header. Hand it to your trades to tape up in the home so they see exactly what finishes go where, with photos, while your pricing and margins stay private. Both versions can be grouped By Category or By Room.

Do I have to export a trade copy every time selections change?

No. The Trade Copy auto-saves into the home's Documents every time selections are locked or approved, and it replaces the previous one so duplicates never pile up — it's just always there in the home's documents, current. There's also a manual ‘Save Trade Copy to Home Docs’ button to push an updated copy on demand.

Can AI make the design selections for a home?

Yes — that's StyleSmith AI™, Cornerstone PM™'s in-app interior design agent. Your design or sales staff name a home and a style theme, and StyleSmith AI™ composes a complete selection set for that specific house — flooring, tile, cabinets, countertops, plumbing, lighting, and hardware — holding the whole home to one palette family, one metal finish family, and continuous flooring room to room. Every proposed line carries live retail pricing from your own catalog. On command it writes the set into the home's real Design Center selections through the same guarded path a person uses: it never overwrites approved or locked selections, never touches structural options, and never auto-approves anything. StyleSmith AI™ is included with Pro+ and Enterprise.

Will an AI-composed design ever pick something outside the buyer's spec level?

No. The home's included spec level is a hard floor, so StyleSmith AI™ can't propose a downgrade below what the buyer already paid for. You can also hand it a ceiling — for example, stay at or below Upgrade II — and it holds that band strictly. If a slot has no candidate inside the allowed band, it reports an honest gap rather than quietly substituting from a higher tier, so an AI-composed look can never create a surprise upgrade overage.

Can buyers tell us their style before the design appointment?

Yes. The homeowner portal includes a style quiz: 12 photo this-or-that rounds plus three sliders (warm to cool, light to dark, classic to modern). The pairs are blind — no style labels are shown — so buyers answer with what they actually like. The result is a personal style profile that biases StyleSmith AI™'s composition toward that buyer's taste, so your designer starts the appointment with a house already leaning the right direction instead of a blank slate. The quiz is part of the StyleSmith AI™ early-access rollout and is enabled per account rather than switched on for every Pro+ and Enterprise org by default.

What does design center software cost?

Cornerstone PM™'s Design Center is included in the Builder plan at $299/mo with up to 30 users (60 on Pro+). Foreman AI's 8-skill Design Center domain is included on the Pro plan at $499/mo. There are no per-seat fees and no implementation cost.

Is this a NEWSTAR / BuildPro design center alternative?

Yes. Cornerstone PM™ offers the same core options engine and design center capabilities as NEWSTAR and BuildPro — structured options, allowances, spec levels, change orders — without the 6-figure implementation cost. Built specifically for small-to-mid home builders.

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