Podcast Archives - Page 19 of 20

Love yourself? Love your home!

3 min readOur homes – where we spend the majority of our hours – profoundly shape our lives. That should inform the way we plan a remodel!

If planning a remodel seems like a superficial thing to be discussing right now, I want to tell you that I believe it is ANYTHING BUT. The space we live in defines our experience of life. Why not help that space be its best so that it can help us in turn. If you love yourself, you should love your home too.

It will love you back!

Basement Transformation for any Budget

2 min readYou don’t need a huge budget for a great basement transformation … all you really need is design skills. So let’s get into how you can create a great finished basement for your MCM home!

Need more space (desperately) but don’t want to plan an addition? What if I told you you’re sitting on top of doubling-your-square-footage right now. No, I’m not a Wizard. I’m just talking about your basement! Pretty much every midwestern house has got one and in a one story ranch they are the same shape as the house up above. Is a basement transformation in your future?

I’ll ask you this … are you making the best use of your basement right now?

Help your Home Multitask by adding Nooks and Alcoves

4 min readRight now, our houses have to do double and triple duty. Help your home multitask by adding in alcoves, nooks, and creating space around your activities!

So … it looks like we may be social distancing for a lot longer than we initially signed up for while we wait for our public health apparatus to catch up with the virus. That means, its time to make sure we have some good systems in place. Here’s how you can make your home multitask for you to fill the functions of office, school, play area, and its regular daily uses, as well!

Plan the Right Remodel for (and with) Your Kids

2 min readDesigning a good home for your family is all about planning for transitions. Learn the secrets of organizing a great remodel for (and with) your kids!

Today, we talk about how to plan for a remodel that can grow with your family. One of the things we can still do while we all #stayhome to flatten the curve is dream about and plan for the future. So let’s get into the details of planning a great remodel for (and with) your kids!

By the way, if you’re here for more practical advice on how to engage your at-home kids in design thinking, check out last week’s episode! That (plus some advice on how to re-arrange your existing spaces to make more room for everyone right now) was geared to the current Covid moment. This week we’re looking a little further ahead to how you may want to adjust your home for the future.

Creative Kid Spaces and Activities for the Stay Home Era

One of the many weird side effects of our collective corona virus precautions is that almost every kid in the country is home from school right now. Families are having to come up with new routines, creative kid spaces, and fresh inspiration to keep everyone active, happy and stimulated (and hang on to parental sanity if possible).

Spaces to be Together & Apart while you Work from Home

2 min readLet’s get into the WHY of our homes’ need for places to gather and places to spread out while we work from home and do everything else here too.

This season is all about how we improve our homes … and our daily lived experiences while we work from home and shelter in place. In a lot of ways the things we can do for our houses, for our daily routines, and for our general mental states are the same good ideas that apply ANY time but are perhaps easier to ignore when we live a more outward turned life.

Remodeling Dreams and DIY while you #stayhome

Whether you are sheltering in place, safer at home, or just staying home, you might be starting (continuing) to feel little stir crazy. I have too. Here are some prompts to help you imagine improvements to your MCM house and some ideas for manageable DIY while you #stayhome!

Tale of Two Remodelers: Who will you be?

2 min readStarting your remodel with clarity about what you really want is the key to success. Learn from the stories of two very different remodelers!

In all my years of helping home remodelers, I’ve seen two factors that really determine whether someone will feel happy with a remodel during and after it’s done. You need a can-do, positive attitude, and you need real clarity about what you want to get out of your remodel.

Use Pinterest (the right way) to plan your MCM remodel

3 min readFour simple thing you need to know in order to use Pinterest to plan the best possible MCM remodel.

Wait. You do use Pinterest to strategize your remodel plans, right?

Pinterest can be your best friend, or your most stressful frenemy when you are planning a remodel. Here are some quick and easy tips for how (and when) to use Pinterest to plan your mid-century home update the right way!

Declutter: Step 0 of any Good Remodeling Plan

2 min readI’m not kidding. Before you start any remodel plan, get rid of excess stuff. Your re-design should be about making space you LOVE, not making room for your things!

Someone once said that a really good declutter of your life is as good as a remodel (and so much easier and cheaper).

Now as an architect, I don’t know that I totally agree with that.

A remodel can improve your layout, add natural light, add in stunning new surfaces and generally custom fit your home to your life. A solid decluttering job can’t do any of those things.