How Do I Get the Best Value in a Remodel?

14 min readMake sure you get the best value in your remodel and JUSTIFY your time, energy and expense by considering how you can tweak the layout of your home to fit your life!

Here’s how you can get the best value in a remodel … you can super charge any remodel using adjustments to your home’s layout.  By the way … this episode and topic are the PERFECT preamble to this weekend’s Mid-Century Design Clinic. Listen up here and then go save your seat for the Workshop!

Look, beautiful finishes can make your life so shiny and pretty. 

  • You can wake up in the morning and smile because of the color of your bedroom wall. 
  • Touching the surfaces of your kitchen cabinets can bring you genuine joy multiple times a day.
  • The perfect paver stones under your feet on the patio can be warm, smooth, and classy.

 But just changing the surfaces of things doesn’t have a power to change your life the way adjusting your layout can-do. 

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What if I Need to do Maintenance Before I Remodel Plan?

Today’s question is actually one I don’t get asked often enough. Here it goes: How can I get started now on my fun mid-century home update plans when I have this feeling I should do maintenance before I remodel?

Don’t forget to sign up for the summer Mid-Century Design Clinic by July 31st to get the early bird pricing!! Plan a deck or patio update perfect for you and your home!

I don’t get asked because  way too many people assume it’s the wrong question to ask!  Is this you?  Do you think you have to take care of some maintenance and repair work first.  You should replace the furnace, get a new roof on, repair that rotted deck – before you  can do the fun things … before you can start making your house into your home?

I understand the logic of this.  And if you are someone who likes to work before they play, eat a good dinner before desert or just generally earn their fun … I get it.  It sounds adulting and responsible home-owning 101.  

But it this case, it’s the absolutely wrong idea. 

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How do I Keep My Remodel Mid-Century? 

14 min readWhen you need to make a major update to your mid mod era home, use these four Mid Mod Cornerstone design concepts to keep your remodel mid-century!

Last week was all about starting small. This week we’re talking about how you can plan dramatic changes for your home without erasing its mid-century character. This episode is for people asking, how do I keep my BIG remodel Mid-Century while I tweak … or transform? My friends, I’ve got the answer for you.

Today, I’m introducing a new framework I’ve been working on for a while: the four cornerstones of mid-century design.

These are design principles common in the mid-century era and found in virtually every home built in that era – even the most modest ranch.  

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I Want to Update My Mid-Century Home. Where do I Start?

13 min readIf you are brand new to owning a Mid-Century Home and wondering “Where do I start?” Start small. Here are the first steps to get you on the right path!

What comes first when you’re brand new to your mid-century home and wondering “Where do I start?”

It doesn’t matter if you are a brand new homeowner, someone who’s been in their house a few years and feeling ready to make some changes or you don’t even HAVE a home yet but want to start making your life look a little more MCM!

Now, you’re ready to start planning what you would like to do to make your house into your home so … where do you even begin?

How can you start the remodel process without getting in completely over your head?

Today, let’s talk about how to stick your toe into the kidney-shaped pool of mid-century home updates.

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Set Remodeling Goals, the Right Way!

12 min readUse remodeling goals to keep yourself on target as you plan the perfect mid-century home update!

Keeping a home update on track from start to finish is no easy task.  It’s so personal, expensive, long term and generally overwhelming that you’re sure feel stressed about it from time to time.  But you can push back on those feelings if you are anchored by strong remodeling goals.


Let’s talk about how to set your mid-century remodel on the right course, right from the start with a simple remodeling goals planning exercise.  

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Skip Remodel Overwhelm … Like this!

11 min readWant to know the fastest way to remodel overwhelm … trying to do it all at once!

Baby steps, my friend.  Take your remodel one step at a time. Just skip right past the classic remodel overwhelm – that moment when it all becomes too much.  Planning a whole remodel at once – deciding on every detail  – is crazy difficult.  But if you focus your planning on one step at a time, you can cut the crazy in half.  

Avoid Remodeling Overwhelm with a plan: get Help at this weekend's mid-century master plan master class!

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Make a Plan so you can Remodel Right Now

11 min readYes. You can remodel right now. Meet yourself where you are and plan a home update that fits your life today!

Don’t sit around waiting to be ready to plan the perfect remodel for your home … remodel right now now.  Meet yourself where you are and plan a home update that fits your life today!

There’s a right scale for your remodel.  Let’s figure it out together!

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Remodel Planning Spreadsheets for your MCM Home Update

16 min readOnce you’ve got your style guide set, start planning ahead for the look of your remodel with these essential remodel planning spreadsheets.

Once you’ve got your style plan in place, you’re ready to graduate to tracking the items you want for your home in a set of remodel planning spreadsheets. These are going to make everything easier, and may even save you money!

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The perfect Mid-Century Kitchen Update … for YOU

15 min readThere’s no right answer to how to update a Mid-century kitchen – there’s only the right answer for you. But here are some helpful MCM update strategies to keep in mind!

I can’t tell you the right way to update your MCM kitchen;  the right choices you make in a mid-century kitchen update are going to be based on your life, your home, your needs. So … are you ready to make those calls for yourself?  

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How to Choose Mid-Century Tile for an MCM Update

12 min readUltimately, any choice you make for your home is the right one. Let’s talk about how to choose Mid-Century Tile for your home up date … with confidence!

Here’s the bottom line, my friend: No one else can tell you what’s right for your home. It’s yours and it’s your families. So what I really want you to know here is that you can make right choices yourself. You can choose mid-century tile that’s perfect for YOU! Good so far?

Alright, let’s talk about how to make that happen.

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