Blog - Page 27 of 35 - MidMod Midwest

How to Buy a Mid-Century Home: An Architect’s Guide

12 min readToday, let’s do a deep dive into the best ways to find and buy a mid-century home!

Whether you’re looking to buy a mid-century home that is 100% move in ready, or a dire fixer-upper on a fire sale budget, I can help. Here are a few great universal MCM house hunting tips.

I’m a designer who specializes in helping homeowners update and improve their MCM houses. So, I have a particular interest in people looking for a fixer-upper. This post will focus on how you can find buy a mid-century house full of potential just waiting for you to make it your own.

What even IS Mid-Century Style?

3 min readTake the Mid-Century Style Quiz to find how this BROAD design concept applies to you and to your MCM home!

Mid-century modern style is a very broad design category. The term “modern” has been applied to styles of furniture furniture, clothing, art, and architecture for more than 100 years now. “Mid-Century style literally just means style from “the middle of the century.” That’s not particularly helpful to those of us trying to nail down the style for our own purposes!

The Design Boost you NEED to love your Mid-Century Ranch Remodel

4 min readCan we talk about the secret to a great remodel? Spoiler: its planning.

If you’re thinking about a Mid-Century Ranch Remodel, hang on a minute. I want to talk to you about the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM design boost you need to get a mid-century ranch remodel you’ll love.

A little design goes such a long way. Every homeowner needs a boost of design thinking at the start of a project to set them on the right track.

Case Study: How to Fix a Bad Ranch Floor plan

7 min readThis 1958 ranch had good bones, a great location, and … a terrible layout that turned its back on the amazing yard. Today, how to fix a bad ranch floor plan!

In most cases, the basic layout of ranch is a pretty good fit for a modern family. However, sometimes you find a mid-century ranch that just isn’t working at all. When that happens, you need some out-of-the-box thinking to transform a bad ranch floor plan into one that fits your life.

[NEW VIDEO] Why I LOVE Mid-Century Ranch Houses

2 min readI’m taking the gospel of why we should all love Mid-Century Ranch Houses to as many different media as possible! Today: VIDEO!

It should come as no surprise to any regular of Mid Mod Midwest that I LOVE Mid-Century Ranch houses. Sometimes if feels all I can talk about! But there’s a good reason for that: Ranches ARE GREAT!!!

Check out this three minute video to learn why! Or just scroll down for a text summary if you are in more of a reading than a watching mood!

Your Must Have Mid-Century Ranch Resource List

8 min readHere are my top 24 mid-century ranch resources for anyone considering updating an MCM home … or just wanting to know more about the period!

Here’s the list you need to get started with this Mid-Century thing OR to dig much deeper. Learn the history, get some great DIY and design tips, and set yourself up for continuing inspiration. These are two dozen of my favorite Mid-Century ranch resources and I use them on a regular basis.

What Every Ranch Owner Needs to Know about the History of the Midwestern Ranch

6 min readThe Midwestern Ranch arrived in the middle from both East and West Coast influences. Plus there was a local influence (pssst – it was Frank Lloyd Wright).

The Midwestern Ranch has many influences. If you’ve been following me for any amount of time, you know how much I love a ranch. Today I’m digging into what I see as the major inspirations of my local variety.

The Midwestern Ranch arrived here from both the East and West Coasts, where the two movements met and melded.

3 Scales for your Mid-century Living Room Update

10 min readAs the proud owner of a mid-century ranch you’re probably looking for ways to enhance the mid-mod character of your home. Today let’s tune up your Mid-Century Living Room.

No matter how big your mid-century living room make-over dreams are, ALWAYS create a master plan for your whole home before you get started. You’ll be so glad you did. Prioritizing what really matters to you will allow you to budget your money and time for the best possible home you can create, and one that perfectly fits your lifestyle.

Today let’s look at how you can tune up a Mid-Century Living Room at three levels. The mid-century living room isn’t just a show-piece, its the heart of the home.

Your Sustainable Mid-century Remodel: Why and How

13 min readHave you ever considered remodeling your mid-century ranch is an act of radical sustainability?

Think about it! There are 15 million of these modestly-sized, well-built houses across America located in walkable neighborhoods close to local businesses and schools. Taking on a sustainable mid-century remodel means helping people occupy them, love them and preserve them. In doing so, you prevent their demolition to build something larger or just building new homes on greenfield land elsewhere, and this is a significant environmental win.

Yes, mid-century modern style is cool and fun, but more than that – coming up with design tools to help 15 percent of US housing stock stay relevant is IMPORTANT WORK.

Why you need some updates to get a modern mid-century kitchen RIGHT

7 min readThe definition of a true mid-century era kitchen is not the laminate counter tops and pastel appliances. You can recognize a classic ranch kitchen by its layout and by the driving philosophy behind it.

The “retro” look of an original kitchen can charm you or turn you off but the important updates needed for a MODERN mid-century kitchen are much more than cosmetic. Let’s talk about how kitchens (and the people who use them) have changed in the past 60 odd years!