Podcast Archives - Page 14 of 20

How to make your remodel more expensive (or cheaper)

Are you hoping to make your remodel more expensive? I bet you aren’t.

But so.many.people make the same remodel planning mistakes that are pretty much guaranteed to make your remodel more expensive than it needs to be! Plus they won’t add any value to the remodeling process, the life you’ll lead in the house when it’s done, or how much you like the look of your finished project.

Now, I can’t tell exactly what your remodel plans will cost or how to plan the idealized, cheapest best project.

Many of the choices you can make that will add or reduce your costs depend on more than one factor in your life.

How to measure your house

20 min readMid-century homes aren’t just livable, cute and in style right now. They were actually built in a way that is easier to document, measure and understand. Which means measuring for any remodeling project is (almost) a breeze for a remote design team like Mid Mod Midwest or a homeowner like you!

Before you can come up with an amazing plan to update your mid-century home, you need to know where are you starting from. Today you are going to learn how to measure what you’ve got, so you can start the process of transforming your home to fit your life.

Old school measuring techniques like graph paper and measuring tapes may be the perfect fit for you and your project! If you’re more tech savvy, you can use a tablet to document your house…or a home scanning app might be just the ticket for you.

As you probably know by now, the masterplan method begins with three key elements pre design phase. You need to dream about what you want your life to be in your new home. You need to discover what’s up with the house you’ve got right now. And then you need to distill your personal mid-century style.

So, what’s the best way to measure your house?

A basement owners suite – the upside of upside down living

23 min readHave you ever wondered if your bedroom is in the right spot? Could the best place for your bedroom be in the…basement?

Could you be overlooking the perfect spot for your dream owners’ suite?

If your mcm home has a basement you might be!

Private spaces on the lower level (usually a walkout or half-level) are much more common in areas with great views where you want to see those vistas while you’re awake and share them with friends and family in the public spaces.

But adding a dreamy bedroom with an amazing en suite in the basement (or on a lower level) offers some real advantages…even if your only views are of the other adorable mid-century homes in your neighborhood.

Let’s explore the possibilities of a basement owners’ suite through one of my favorite recent master plan projects!

MCM Beds and Baths: Chats with Della and Sarah

Do you ever wish you could just sit down and chat with an experienced friend about how to make the right choices for your mcm beds and baths?

Well, that’s what Sarah Yearout, a realtor with Mid-Century Homes in Boise, and I do every week over on Instagram.

I love trading stories and tips from my perspective as a mid-century architect with her and getting her tales from the realtor trenches. Our two areas of experience overlap and stand apart from each other in such fun ways! We each have unique insight into what people who love mid-century homes are looking for and are finding in the world right now.

And we’re just bubbling over with good advice to share! Sarah and I have weekly chats on Instagram about mid-century home updates and answer common (and less common) questions about how to make the most of your mid-century home.

Today, you get to listen in on our best recent and not so recent chats about mid-century bedrooms and bathrooms. We touch on house history, quick fixes and fun finishes, so settle in with a sharp pencil or flex your fingers for some good notes app typing because we are about to give a lot of very good advice.

Mid-Century Bath Design Basics

21 min readMake the most of your bathroom remodel with these essential mid-century bath design concepts. Get just the mcm style you’re going for, whether you are upgrading, backdating or starting from scratch.

Most mid-century bathrooms are pretty modest by modern standards. They tend to be small and there often are too few of them in the house. Upgrading or restoring the mid-century charm in a bathroom while making it work better is one of the most consistent requests from both design clients and Ready to Remodel students.

So, how can you give yourself a serious bathroom upgrade while remaining true to the mcm feel of you home? The right choices for you are going to depend on your family and your taste and the home you’re working with.

Easy Owners’ Suite Space Steals

16 min readDon’t have an owners’ suite in your modest mid-century home? Want one? Let’s talk about how to make that happen.

Did you know that there’s a right and wrong way to add an owners’ suite onto your house? Well, if you care about costs, there is! Today, we’re going to talk about how you can effectively steal space for an owners’ suite in and around your mid-century house – whether you’re just expanding your closet space a little or adding a whole new wing.

Bedroom Storage Secrets

19 min readLooking for clever bedroom storage solutions designed to fit into to your (modest) mid-century bedroom? These bedroom storage secrets will help you create a mid mod inspired space that meets your modern storage needs.

Bedroom storage in mid-century homes leaves a lot to be desired!

So how can you and your mid century bedroom have at all? Is it even possible to make a space with ample bedroom storage, peaceful sleeping area, de facto, laundry folding station, and maybe a little work from home spot too?

The perfect first project is a small bath remodel

16 min readIf you are stuck in neutral on your remodel, the best way kickstart the work is to find a perfect first project. Piece of cake, right? Right!

My DM’s are full of tales of remodeling overwhelm and woe from mid-century homeowners who just don’t know where to begin. Overwhelm is not just for folks mid-remodel! We get to experience the doubts, the decision paralysis, the budget blues all along the remodeling journey. Including before construction actually starts. The best way I know to kickstart the work is to find a perfect first project.

I hear you out there yelling, “Della! I don’t know which project is the perfect first project!!! If I knew, I’d start already.”

I have good news for you. I know exactly which project is your perfect first project. In fact, it’s the perfect first project for almost any remodeler.

Pivot With a Master Plan

17 min readA master plan will help you pivot when surprises and setbacks threaten to throw your remodel off track.

Every remodeling project gets stuck at some point. Life is chock-full of surprises, setback and unexpected twists – work or family obligations change, supply chain snags mean choosing different materials, shifts in the economy make scope or schedule changes a must.

But setbacks will seem less bad (because, #realtalk, they always feel sort of bad) when you are prepared to pivot.

The Owners’ Suite: A Brief History and Foolproof Advice

19 min readAn owners’ suite has become a must have in modern homes, but less than a generation ago almost half of homes were still without indoor plumbing. So how did our bathroom expectations change so drastically in such a short time? And more importantly, how the heck do you fit an owners’ suite into a modest mid-century ranch?

Does the primary bed/bed configuration – the owners’ suite – in your mid-century home leave a lot to be desired? Maybe you a have a glorified powder bath tucked in next to your bedroom through a pocket door. Perhaps your ranch has one bath for you, the family, and any dinner guests who use the main floor!

If you wish for a little more from your bed and bath configuration … You’re not alone!!