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Become Your Home’s Historian – Atom Stevens

23 min readDella’s continued conversation with Atom Stevens, Denver area mid-century Realtor, photographer, designer, and advocate, about how to become your own home’s historian.

This week, Atom Stevens, Denver area mid-century Realtor, photographer, designer, and advocate, tells Mid Mod Remodel how to become your own home’s historian. 

Becoming the expert in your own home can mean a lot of different things. It might be rattling off the square footage of your roof to a potential contract or on a call without thinking. It might be having handy access to documents about the repair and maintenance of your furnace or water heater. Or it might just mean knowing some interesting history of who built your home and why they made some of their choices. 

All of this information – from dimensions on a floorplan sketch to archival advertising of your home’s builder – falls into the category of Home Improvement Planning I call “discovery”.

And while it might not seem like your most pressing concern, when you’re trying to pick out backsplash tile, or nail down contractor beds, it has a purpose. The more you know about your home, the more you are empowered to make confident and correct for you choices.

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Cliff May Homes – Interview with Atom Stevens

25 min readDella chats with Denver area mid-century Realtor, photographer, designer, and advocate Atom Stevens about becoming the hometown expert on Cliff May homes in Denver and across the country.

When Atom Stevens bought his house in Harvey Park, he had no idea it would lead him on a journey to becoming a Cliff May historian and an advocate for mid-century preservation. But the more he learned about his home in the Harvey Park Neighborhood, the more he realized he was on to something AMAZING.

Cliff May was a home builder and designer who became nationally known as a home designer and builder for the rich and famous. He also wanted to bring his ideas to the masses, and began by co-creating a modular, pre-fabricated, low-cost home-building system with architect Chris Choate.

  • The Cliff May Homes were built by Burns Construction, under license, and are the only pre-fabricated houses in Harvey Park. Panelized house parts were pre-assembled off site, flat-packed, and brought in by truck to be tilted-up onto foundations that had already been poured. Panels would have already had siding installed, so the houses were designed to be constructed very quickly. Cliff May and architect Chris Choate are the designers of this home-building system, the houses of which have been re-discovered in various cities throughout the western U.S. in recent years. Although a great majority of them are in California, Harvey Park is home to the largest and best-preserved single tract outside of California. Cliff May prefabs can also be found in Las Vegas, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, Tacoma, Eugene, and even Flint, Michigan. Recognizing the historical significance of these houses, Cliff May residents are in the early stages of assembling an application to protect the Cliff May Homes as a historic district.
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Micro-masterplan Your Way to Your Perfect Kitchen

12 min readMy master plan process was created as a path to managing a full house remodel, but you can still use the five D’s develop to micro-masterplan any space.

A masterplan might sound like something you use for a BIG home improvement project. That’s true. But it is also something you can use at ANY Scale. Today let’s talk about how to micro-masterplan any thing in your home!

My master plan process was created as a path to managing a full house (or at least very significant) remodel. You begin by dreaming about your ideal home and the life you envision in it and move through each step until you have a full vision for your home.

The five steps follow in order and you are able to plan until you feel ready to tackle your renovation.

Sounds just like real life, right? Nope.

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Taking baths from squished to spacious

Here’s what we were dealing with: a mid-mod cutie that was doing double (and at times triple!) duty for a busy family. Adjusting the layout to function for family time, school and work – all happening at home – was the top priority.

This 1960 house came with a some awkward space allocations, but enough square footage to meet all the needs of a young family. The house had great curb appeal and outdoor areas. Inside, homeschool space, work space, and hang out space were must haves. Plus they really needed a better bedroom and bathroom configuration to take the pressure off during high demand times of day.

Our goal was to provide options to rework the bathrooms for better busy times like teeth brushing and bath time. The existing bedrooms were functional, but lacking in storage. We proposed several ways to borrow space from nearby rooms to improve bathroom function and provide options for expanded spaces, as well as add ample and accessible storage in multiple areas.

Our Spacious (Feeling) Solutions

Our three schemes allow the family more and less private options. plus space trade-offs. We proposed several ways to reconfigure storage and the hallway to make a both better owners’ bath and super second bathroom. Built-ins allow for additional storage within a smaller space saving footprint.  

SCHEME 1 – Better, if not Bigger

SCHEME 2 – Separation by Claiming Space

SCHEME 3 – Trading Privacy for Space 

Want more creative ideas for spacious feeling bathrooms?

Filling in a funky kitchen

3 min readWe filled in this kitchen for maximum cooking area, super storage, GREAT flow between spaces and room for multiple cooks.  

Here’s what we were dealing with: a funky 1990’s kitchen remodel that didn’t function well or feel right for the home. 

This 1955 home situated in a historic area is just one of many beautiful examples of mid century design on the block. The owners were hoping to turn back time a bit while adding features to make modern living easier. They hoped to transform the kitchen into an organized space where everything has a distinct place, while adding warmth and personal touches. 

Our goal was to highlight the original design features of the home – beautiful beams and a great layout – while re-allocating the main space to create a functional entry and cohesive, welcoming living spaces. We wanted to design a multi-cook and kid kitchen connected to the social spaces.

Our Funky Kitchen Solutions

This kitchen needs to do a lot.  It’s a cooking space (for multiple cooks), a social hub and an “everything” family  space. Our schemes tweak or modify an existing plan and improve the layout to give it a shine in both practicality and style! We focused on allowing for maximum cooking area, more storage, GREAT flow between spaces and a better way for two or more to gather around the island.  

SCHEME 1 – Fuller Within the Footprint

SCHEME 2 – A Bridge to Nearby Spaces

SCHEME 3 – Filled with Function

Can’t get enough of kitchens?

The Lazy Genius Kitchen

13 min readI’ve talked about Kendra Adachi’s Lazy Genius philosophy before and this week we’re joining her in the kitchen. You can start lazy genuising your kitchen as you plan your update!

In her fantastic new book, The Lazy Genius Kitchen, Kendra Adachi lays out a system for creating a kitchen that has and does everything you need. The lazy genius kitchen isn’t really a book about remodeling. Nor is it explicitly a cookbook or an organizing book or a lifestyle guide. It’s some of all of those things. And, perhaps, it’s better than any of them could be on their own.

Adachi’s advice is to think about the way you want to live in your home.  And if you know me at all, you know this is absolutely where I believe every project in architecture should begin. So, let’s talk about how you can be a lazy genius about your kitchen update. And create the kitchen that’s perfect for YOU. 

the Lazy Genius Kitchen by Kendra Adachi on a yellow background
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Thinking inside a box(ed in kitchen)

2 min readA clever layout shift may be all you need to take a shoebox kitchen from cramped to comfy.

Here’s what we were dealing with: A tight kitchen with very little space for expansion, a desperate lack of storage and out-of-date appliances.

This splendid architect designed 1964 home was nestled in a neighborhood of similar unique builds. The original single-cook kitchen tucked into a corner between stairs and exterior walls. Beautiful original paneling created warm social spaces in the adjacent dining and living area which opened onto a lovely in-ground pool.

Our goal was to pack in as much functional storage as possible while opening up the space to accommodate two cooks a little more comfortably. With little space for expansion, we worked within the existing footprint and discreetly snagged some space from the adjoining utility closet.

Our Solutions

Our three schemes show creative options that stay (mostly) inside the box. Condensed full-height built-ins give huge flexibility for storing kitchen wares or hiding appliances. Cleverly designed built-in furniture in front of a window can be a way to increase storage while maintaining natural light. A mini-island adds bonus storage plus a shareable work surface.

SCHEME 1 – Mini-Island/Maximum Storage

SCHEME 2 – Generous Galley

SCHEME 3 – User-Friendly U-Shape

Looking to break out of your kitchen planning box?

Mid Mod Kitchen Update Essentials

16 min readThere are five Mid Mod Kitchen Update Essentials. These design elements are key to creating a fabulous and functional kitchen regardless of style, but are extra important when updating a mid century kitchen.

The five Mid Mod Kitchen Update Essentials are key to creating a fabulous and functional kitchen regardless of style, but are extra important when updating a mid century kitchen. 

The kitchen is the heart of nearly all mid-century updates.

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New Year, New Remodel Philosophy

13 min readNext year … try going easier on yourself so that you can actually make some remodel progress. Counter intuitive, I know. But it just might work!

Find a new, kinder and easier remodel philosophy in 2023. One that understands perfectionism is a perfect way to prevent yourself from making remodel progress. Real talk folks…it’s more important to begin than to do it perfectly.

Today’s episode is an end-of-year pep talk about setting yourself up for success with reasonable and realistic expectations for yourself around remodel planning.

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Best of Our 25 Days of Design

This week we’re revisiting the best of our 25 days of design in hopes of sparking your sense of wonder about your home, boosting your remodel confidence and providing concrete advice on making your 2023 remodeling dreams come true.  

‘Tis the season! Around the holidays, everyone likes to add a little charm to their home. Shortening daylight makes us think about how to maximize the comfort and joy inside. Bringing out seasonal decorations makes us take a fresh look at the space where we spend our days and share holiday traditions. As well it should – we need a recurring chance to reevaluate how well our homes suit our lives!

This season of revelry and reflection is a great opportunity to dream a little bigger than holiday decor. While you’re thinking about how to make your house merry and bright for the season, let’s also think about how to improve it in the medium and long-term!

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