Adrian Kinney is one of my favorite fellow MCM obsessives! Our most recent conversation covers what you need to know about assembling the right team to help you find and update your mid-century home. And we continue with a more in depth discussion about finding a mid-century home that will work for your remodel plan and budget.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Choosing the Right Team Matters:
We discussed how critical it is to work with a realtor and designer who genuinely understand and appreciate mid-century modern design. You want to make updates to your home that stay true to its original character, even if you hope to modernize and renovate rather than focus on true restoration.
Right now, almost anything on the internet gets labeled “mid-century modern”…even if it is decidedly not. It’s important to work with a team that can differentiate between design choices that are truly mid mod or that will work well in the context of an MCM home. A realtor who understands the period can help steer you to houses (even houses that may have already been remuddled!) that will work well for you and your vibe.
So how do you know the right people?
Trust and Experience are Key:
Adrian and I talked a lot about the importance of finding professionals you can trust and who have real experience with mid-century homes. It’s also important to find someone you vibe with, who gets your vision, and who knows how to bring it to life without compromising the integrity of the home. You’re going to spend a lot of weekend afternoons with this person and it will make the process so much better if you enjoy the time spent together.
Understanding the Unique Qualities of MCM Homes:
Mid-century homes are special for a reason—think low slung roofs that hug the landscape and spaces that seamlessly connect with the outdoors. Adrian made a great point about how important it is to recognize these unique features and to distinguish truly authentic MCM homes from those that are just labeled as trendy.
Navigating the Real Estate Market:
We also touched on how challenging the current real estate market can be, especially for first-time buyers. Adrian’s experience is invaluable here—he really knows how to help people navigate these challenges to find a home that’s the right fit. The right realtor can help you see beyond a greiged-out flip to what the home could become. Or recognize the value in some truly spectacular vintage wallpaper that you’d love to preserve, even if deferred maintenance is clouding what great about a home.
In Today’s Episode You’ll Hear:
- Why the right team right from the start matters so much when planning a mid mod remodel.
- How to find the pros that will be your best allies.
- When a flip or a time capsule might work well for you…even if it’s not what you think you want.
Listen Now On
Resources to build your MCM team
- Learn more about Adrian and browse some mid mod unicorn homes at https://www.midmodcolorado.com/about
- Grab my must have Mid-Century Resource List.
- Get ready to remodel with my free Masterclass, “How to Plan an MCM Remodel to Fit Your Life(…and Budget)” available on demand!
- Get the essential elements of my master plan process in my new mini-course, Master Plan in a Month.
- Want us to master plan for you? Find out all the details with my mini-class, Three Secrets of a Regret-Proof Mid Mod Remodel.
And you can always…
- Join us in the Facebook Community for Mid Mod Remodel
- Find me on Instagram:@midmodmidwest
- Find the podcast on Instagram: @midmodremodelpodcast
Read the Full Episode Transcript
Della Hansmann
So if you want to make great choices for your mid-century home, seek out and work with people who like your mid-century home. I’ve said this before, but it pairs repeating. There’s just so much bad advice out there for us, people who live in and love houses built during the mid-century years.
Della Hansmann
HGTV wants us to slather them over in trendy farmhouse choices friends and well needing family keep advising that we remove old fashioned details for reasons like resale value. Salespeople tell you to replace systems that are doing just fine, thanks, because they want to sell you something new, and contractors who mean well, but don’t speak the language of mid-century can make assumptions and take common actions that lead to stripping out the character of your home when they’re doing basic repairs.
Della Hansmann
So all of that might sound scary, but there is a solution, and that’s to keep looking a little longer for advice, for input, for service, until you find the people who share your joy in mid-century. Details. Today, I’m talking with Adrian Kinney of mid mod Colorado, about, among other things, how to find those people, plus how to make smart choices for your mid-century home, once you get started on improvements, he and I really couldn’t love mid-century houses anymore if we tried all day.
Della Hansmann
So you are in for a truly “we love your mid-century house” chat coming right up.
Della Hansmann
Hey there. Welcome back to mid mod remodel. This is the show about updating MCM homes, helping you match a mid-century home to your modern life. I’m your host, Della Hansmann, architect and mid-century ranch enthusiast. You’re listening to Episode 1807.
Della Hansmann
Now, as always, you’ll find my show notes with the links to the references we’re making and a transcript of this chat on my website at mid mod midwest.com/ 1807 you can also just search around on your podcast platform for some of my previous chats with Adrian.
Della Hansmann
We talked earlier this season. That was episode 1802 and also a few years ago, we had a really fun conversation about why mid-century homes live so well, why they’re so easy to care for, flow so nicely encourage social chats, but also personal space, why they’re easy to add on to you get the idea that was episode 1004 and it was from November of 2022.
Della Hansmann
If you get to the end of the episode after having loved everything we said, and don’t remember those numbers, remember, just head back to our show notes page at mid mod midwest.com/ 1807. Okay, here we go.
Della Hansmann
How can you find the right team for a mid-century home update or a mid-century home search. So let’s talk about how to find people. We’re going to talk today about how to find the right realtor, how to find the right designer, but how to find the right people to help you make your house into a home. How to find the house you’re going to make into a home. We might start by talking about on the flip side, when you’re talking to someone, Adrian, how do you know at first, that this is probably going to be a good relationship? What do you see on the homebuyer side?
Adrian Kinney
Yes, absolutely. And it it’s even on the flip of that is, you go into this conversation thinking like, Oh, this is gonna be a great match. And sometimes it’s not. I think it’s actually a good way to approach a lot of these things is, you know, a nice, casual interview.
Adrian Kinney
And you know, you’re just interviewing one another, and doesn’t have to be permanent. It might not be a fit, but you also might be the best team ever created, and you can get everything done. You just, you never know exactly right. And you know, we chat on that sometimes it’s an absolutely great fit, and sometimes there’s, you know, another agent or designer that’s even a better fit for them. And that’s okay, and that’s okay both on the buy side and the agent side and on the designer side.
Adrian Kinney
So, yeah, when I get folks in, I luckily from the spot I’m sitting here in the niche kind of zone that I’m in. I don’t have a price point or location that I specialize in. Weirdly enough, I specialize from first time buyers to investors to multi-million dollar purchases to I’ve had Colorado Springs, which is an hour away from Denver, and I have stuff, you know, a door down for me that I’ve listed.
Adrian Kinney
So from my side, it’s a lot of, hey, just conveying that I have a lot of unique feature or unique aspects that I can help folks in a wide area, as well as wide price points. And I think it’s a lot of just understanding. And I’m an info dumper. Unfortunately, my initial talks with most of my buyers are, they’re a good hour of me just kind of throwing up a lot of information at them. You know, if they’re first timers, they get quite a bit if they’re new to it. I just kind of explain my process, but I think a lot of it is just that, you know, how are we connecting?
Adrian Kinney
Are we getting along really, really well? Are, you know, it’s a good back and forth. I think understanding the different roles we have. Where my job is to make sure they are going to get what they want. I can help lead them there, but they also understand that, you know, I’m the professional, and I have a way to do things and guide them to what they’re looking for. We both understand we’ve got a lot to bring at the table, you know, being hired for a certain reason.
Adrian Kinney
So that’s a lot of what I look for is just an initial check. And then there’s some reality too, that, unfortunately, are there. Market, I think most major metros aren’t super favorable for first timers, that it’s just it’s tough. Price points are high, interest rates are high. And again, some of our other talks we had a while ago here, we talked about, like, what can you carve out of the search, and what can you keep in the search?
Adrian Kinney
And I think that’s a good reality check that I talk with them about, hey, what are you what do you want? What’s your price point, what’s your location? And having the knowledge bank that I do of where most of these mid mod houses are that they’re looking for, I can let them know. Like, yep, that’s absolutely realistic. There’s going to be a ton that come on in there, or I saw one like you wanted over the last five years.
Adrian Kinney
We might need to tweak the search a little bit. So that’s been, you know, that’s been a lot, and I’m sure that’s on your side too. Of hey, I know you want all these things, but you know, here’s the cost, and maybe we’ll have to massage some in and out and or DIY some things if you want to keep the budget at XYZ.
Della Hansmann
Yeah. And we try, we try not to be too limited as to what we suggest overall in terms of budget. We definitely have to think about when people are coming to us with a lot of aspirations and a relatively small dollar amount. We’ll talk about what could happen in any of the areas, but at the end of the day, most of that budget is going to go to one spot, or to one or two key spots, and then we’re going to have to make more minimal changes in the rest of it.
Della Hansmann
I tend, I don’t think I’ve had to turn anyone away because of budget, because we do feel like, you know, there’s always something that we can think about. Yes, what’s the most modest modification we can make? Sometimes there are really clever solutions that design can make to save dollars. But do you feel like there is, um, other than someone not liking MCM, which anyone ever call you, not into MCM? Is that even a thing?
Adrian Kinney
Yeah, it’s, I’ve been in it long enough, so I’m in my 13th, 14th year of it now. And so I get, I get referrals now from clients that, you know, they might have a friend, sibling, that they’re like, Wow. Adrian was such an amazing agent. I know you’re not looking for mid mod, but like, you can totally rock your world and find what you’re looking for. So I do. I probably 60/40. So a decent chunk, actually, what I do is not mid mod, because I’m interesting, very, very good at what I do in the real estate world that they feel comfortable still using me for that realm.
Adrian Kinney
You know, I know how houses function. I know how the different majors, you know, HVAC, sewer, plumbing lecture. So, I know how that works, regardless of style of house. I just obviously have the love and passion and the deepest experience in the mid mod world, but I do, I do get a lot of folks on it. Luckily, they’re also really cool people. Even if I don’t, I don’t love the house personally that they’re buying it’s like, gosh, I’m just excited you all are making this your house, and I get to come along this journey with you.
Adrian Kinney
So yes, I weird enough to get it. Very few don’t not get it in the sense of, like, my god, what kind of houses are you selling? Because they’re so bizarre. It’s just not for them. And a lot of times it’s the price per square foot. Unfortunately, gets really high on mid mods that they appreciate the design, or know of it, but they need, you know, they have a large family potentially, and they just can’t fit into 1200 square feet.
Adrian Kinney
So sometimes there’s just limitations of the characteristics and the price per square foot, that’s just like, well, shoot, this might not be a fit for that style, but I can help you look for other styles instead.
Della Hansmann
Got it. Got it. Yeah. And at this point, I really when someone calls and asks if we can do a house that’s not mid mod, our answer is we’re sorry, no, but, but it does. I think, the act of working with someone on their home, to find a home, to personalize a home, it’s so it’s a trust issue.
Della Hansmann
We were really diving into someone’s family, into their structure, into how they need their privacy and their togetherness, and, you know, learning things that we hold in confidence about their lives. And I think it’s really important to feel like we trust each other, we like each other.
Della Hansmann
So I always look at that first meeting, you know, as a chance to really, it’s a it’s an informational exchange. It’s also a GET TO KNOW you experience. That’s absolutely if you were to tell someone, maybe in another market, what to look for in a realtor. Idea, let’s talk about what to look for in a mid-century realtor. What would you look for?
Adrian Kinney
Yeah, no, that’s a great question, because there’s a ton of agents out there regardless, and then there are a good amount of folks that specialize in and this goes back to we’re not all a fit for everyone. We all want to be, but that’s the great part. Is like, hey, there’s a couple specialists, probably in every metro area, and even small niches that you can reach out to and interview and see who you vibe with.
Adrian Kinney
I think that you know the main thing, and this is a two way street, is that general vibe of like, Do you two get along? Because you’re going to spending a lot of time together, looking at houses, late night text messages, planning, you know, four or five to see in a single day, having full weekends together, writing contracts, knowing some of your financial situation that you know you want to make sure that you’re, you’re comfortable exchanging that information and kind of having an open line of communication.
Adrian Kinney
And that’s, that’s my biggest one, is like, Hey, do we vibe? Like, do we pass the vibe check? You know? Do we work? Well, yeah, I think the next thing a buyer should definitely look for is their experience. You know, when 2020 and 21 came around and the market was just. I mean, a ton of agents got into the field at that time to just get a bad take advantage of the market, because it was crazy, and a lot of them did really, really well with the markets changing and most of the metros, even with ours, we have competitive situations, but not all of them are.
Adrian Kinney
And I think having somebody that has some good experience, like myself well over a decade, that can help navigate, hey, do we need to be competitive? Can we negotiate down? Because it’s been on for six weeks? How do we go about this house? I think someone with a good amount of experience is a key to it right now, because it is such a weird market, and that goes on both the buy and the sell side.
Adrian Kinney
Yeah, you want someone that that understands the market right now, because pricing is a huge thing on the buy on the listing side and the buy side, it’s really, how are you formulating those contracts? Is it competitive? Are you winning? Or can you drive down the price to get the best deal for your buyer, in each case, making sure you win the house for it.
Adrian Kinney
So I think the knowledge broker side that we talk about in our field of do they have the experience? Do they do they know what they’re doing? What’s their track record? Like? How many homes have they sold. Those are all great questions to ask an agent that, you know, I was also new once, and I was given chances. So I do appreciate, you know, when folks give new agents a chance, but it is always nice that, if you’ve got a choice, see who you vibe with, maybe you vibe with the newer agent a little bit better.
Adrian Kinney
And that’s great. Just know that, you know, the experience might not be there, and there’s some tradeoffs, but ask the question, you know, ask what their volume is, you know, ask they specialize in certain areas, and know how to work through all parts of the contract. Like I said, experience, I think, is a big part of it right now, that they have the experience. And I think the tangential to that, see if they have the passion for MCM, it comes out whether they want it to or not. I’ve had that, like we chatted, I do represent clients that don’t buy mid mods.
Adrian Kinney
And sometimes we’ll see, like, a tangential mid mod house, and they’re like, my god, you love these houses. And it’s like, yeah, I really do like. This is where I like. Really, this is where I light up. This is everything. So I think in the conversation that you know, if it truly is a mid mod house, you’re looking for, you vibe, well, they have the experience. See if it’s authentic.
Adrian Kinney
You can, you know, ask some questions about, you know, their favorite mid mod, you know, enclave, or their own personal house. See if they light up. If they do, they’re a winner, that they’re authentic. If they Yeah, make sure they live in one, you know, and love one that’s, you know, not just playing the part, but yeah, like, for me, they’ll in our conversation in terms of the two hours, because I’m like, oh, mid mod, you brought it up. Let’s talk about it. So I think that passion point it showcases in their business as well.
Della Hansmann
Yeah, I think that’s a great 123, and I agree. I think when you’re looking, if you’re looking for a designer, that’s not me. I think that trust, that vibe is absolutely essential, and it probably comes, I think it does come above experience. It is essential someone who’s very experienced that you don’t trust won’t be able to bring their experience to bear on your situation, because you won’t tell them what you need. Yes, then you need someone who knows the ins and outs of the business that you’re dealing in.
Adrian Kinney
The project, the management. Otherwise you’re not gonna be able to guide them through how it works, or give them the wrong budget on your side.
Della Hansmann
Right, yeah. And Realty right now, there’s no messing around in this economy. Houses are rare enough, they’re expensive enough you definitely want someone who’s going to help you make the absolute most of your deal. So and then, of course, we’re talking about MCM houses. So if someone authentically doesn’t love MCM, they might not be the right person to work with.
Adrian Kinney
Yes, No. And I agree. There’s a lot of, you know, as you’ve seen, like, you know, Crate and Barrel even, you know, have a lot of MCM similar type products that, you know, any designer, like, here’s an Eames chair that you can put into any design. And you know, sometimes that those MCM folks, that’s what they want.
Adrian Kinney
It’s just kind of the MCM lite. But if you love the true mid mod, I think you’ve hit on, like, make sure they’ve got the passion. Because it is, we are a little weird people, but it’s, it’s something you want to hit like, we, I don’t want to say culty, but we’re culty edge of, like, you know, once you drink the community, yeah, there you go.
Adrian Kinney
That’s a much nicer word of it, that it, it is, and people, once you get in it, it’s like, Oh, I see it. It’s very much a passion project on my side. I know it is on your side, and I’m sure I’m sure there’s a whole bunch of other folks that do it and will be right fits for everybody, absolutely.
Della Hansmann
Well, great. I hope that’s given people some insight into how to feel like you’re making the right decisions and pay attention to your feelings, your instincts. Yes. Number one item is, is, does? Does it feel like a good vibe? Yes.
Adrian Kinney
Because, like you said, you got to trust going to go on a journey with them, whether it’s buying or doing the renovation.
Della Hansmann
Let’s talk about what makes a mid-century house and what makes a mid-century house great. So Adrian, what are some of your favorite features of a great mid-century home? What makes a home mid-century other than the date.
Adrian Kinney
Yeah, right, no. And that’s a great thing. And I know a lot of folks that are looking, especially on my side, they’re allowed my expertise to look at this, because you’ve probably seen it too. Mid-century’s become such a buzzword that everything is mid-century modern, which is actually not true.
Della Hansmann
It’s a Google keyword that has lost all its meaning.
Adrian Kinney
Yeah. 100% it has. And it, you know, I’ll see a whole bunch of houses listed that they’ll put that in the search. And, you know, if I put that keyword as a search for a buyer, they’ll get all these houses that are, like, the heck is this definitely not a mid-century modern house?
Della Hansmann
Yeah.
Adrian Kinney
So it, it’s been nice to be able to obviously recognize it. And I don’t think AI is coming from my job, because there are so many like, nuanced hallmarks that I’m like, Nope, that’s is a mid mod or that is not. And, you know, here’s how to spot it.
Adrian Kinney
My favorites are the low slung roofs. You know, they were supposed to be houses that kind of disappeared into the landscape and became part of it. Sometimes, yeah, you’ll see a bi level and tri level. But the entire thing doesn’t take up the buildable bulk plane.
Della Hansmann
Chunky. Piecemeal in that case.
Adrian Kinney
Yeah, right, where, you know, sometimes it’s because there’s a rolling hill behind it, and they do like the tri level part on the back portion that disappears into it. Our house has a low slung roof, where the one side of it has a two car car port. And I just love that long, low roof line that just kind of disappears into the ground that, you know, not very tall, but it’s, you know, inside as vaulted ceilings, but it’s just that, that’s my favorite, you know, a long slung roof.
Adrian Kinney
That’s, that’s where my favorite part is. Probably second will be the floor to ceiling windows. That’s another hallmark of a mid-century modern that you’ve got floor to ceiling windows. Forever ago we chatted on kind of how these houses look, and sometimes you can add those windows in, which is another thing too, that you know may just be a classical ranch you couldn’t find that exact mid mod in your price range.
Adrian Kinney
Sometimes you can add those in that you can kind of bring in modernist Hallmark into the house, where you bring that indoor, outdoor connection in. So that’s the point of, like, if it’s not there, that’s okay, it’s not the end of the world. But that’s a hallmark I love, is the original ones that have kind of those floor to ceiling windows, which pairs with the clustery upper windows that those just bring in the natural light but allow a lot of privacy. Still, a lot of them.
Della Hansmann
That front yard view that gives you the sky, that gives you the light, maybe a breeze in Denver. Are those upper windows that are operable, or are they usually?
Adrian Kinney
They’re stationary, and oftentimes single pane, because, you know, it’s cold here, so we might as well have a single pane window. So they our Cliff may they were still single pane when we lived in one. And we always laugh whenever we made pasta, they would get a nice layer of ice on them, because the moisture would just lock in there. And the woes of living in a 1950s and 60s house, and it just is what just is what it is.
Della Hansmann
You know, this is a complete digression, but I just launched a podcast about window replacement and maybe keeping your originals. You’re in the Midwest, we typically have storm windows, so a lot of people will complain about leather and original windows being leaky or too thin or single pane, and that’s because they’re not using the originally intended storm windows properly.
Della Hansmann
They maybe were lost by a previous owner, or you just don’t know that you were supposed to put them on or that sort of thing. But in Denver, I remember being there and being kind of surprised by how the houses seem to be built for a warmer climate than you had. Did you always have single pane? Did those upper windows ever had storms?
Adrian Kinney
Most of the uppers didn’t, and we’d found some correspondence old associated mind that there was a the Burns who built the cliff maze. And Denver metro had to write to Cliff and say, Hey, we need to get storm windows here, because it’s one cold and two some of the buyers are wondering, like, how do we deal with all of these windows and it’s negative five degrees outside, so that was, again, it was the small oversight.
Adrian Kinney
And they did end up doing, you know, it was at the time of budget breaking type thing, to install those for it. They didn’t do them for the upper windows. And most of the house outside of the cliff maze. Similarly, a lot will have storms for kind of the smaller slit windows in the bedroom on the five or six foot classic size. But most of the upper clusters or transoms are non-operable and do not have storms for the most part, unless somebody custom made them later on.
Adrian Kinney
Yeah, it was just that we get warm enough here that it’s like afterthought, but we get cold enough here that it’s like, it probably should have that. So one of those of, like, yeah, I don’t know, we get a lot of sunshine, but we get cold in the wintertime. So it’s
Della Hansmann
That might be a factor of the sort of the idea originated in California, and kind of came across less, much less of an issue to have thermally decisive windows, divisive windows in California environment than in Denver. But yeah, I do think, you know, the single pane windows, maybe those upper fixed, clear stories are an example, but, uh, counter example.
Della Hansmann
But I do think when people are worried about original windows, look for your original storms or replace them. And yes, maybe you’re fine. Yes, that’s a huge get a little barrier in there. Yeah, and it’s, you know, basically you’re making a double pane window, yep, by putting exactly you can take it off again when you don’t need it, yeah, big quantities of glass is a huge feature of a mid-century modern home. Mostly a good feature. I got us off topic. But what else would you
Adrian Kinney
Oh, that’s great. No, that’s absolutely it. Um. Yeah, and these are kind of evolved over the time they were, you know, they were ahead of their time at the time with, kind of the open living areas that connect really well. The kitchens, you know, typically were still really partitioned off, you know, for entertaining purposes. But a lot of the living room, dining rooms and family rooms were connected.
Adrian Kinney
You know, fireplace, those are, you know, they weren’t separate. We’re coming off of the Sears craft homes, the two story brick houses where every room we had, you know, the parlor, the library, they were all very small, compartmentalized rooms, even with the kitchen being compartmentalized in the mid mod houses.
Adrian Kinney
The open living areas between the living dining and family rooms, that was just such a great Hallmark that, obviously, people have run with today and made full open living areas where, you know, the kitchen’s connected to everything. That’s another homework that I love, of the era that you know ahead of its time, essentially,
Della Hansmann
which you can modify more easily in a post and beam house where the kitchen walls aren’t structured. Yep,
Adrian Kinney
that’s again, where I love we did it with our house. We opened everything up. It makes it great for entertaining. Sure, the kitchen’s, you know, part of the house now, but as people know, when you entertain people to just hang out around your kitchen, their kitchen island, no matter how amazing of a family living outside space, the kitchen island.
Adrian Kinney
We, as you saw in our house, we have a 1516, foot island for this exact purpose, because we oversized it. We know for entertaining they’re going to just gather around this island. So why not just lean into it? Because we could have done everything possible, which we have all this great outdoor space. No, they’re gonna gather around this and it’s where they’re gonna sit and stand. So that’s that. There’s almost
Della Hansmann
a way this is, I don’t know this is weird, but I almost think, like a big, super chunky, super deep Island almost functions like a wall. I mean, obviously it doesn’t stop us now, absolutely, but yeah, it treats it defines the space of the kitchen. Yes, yet, still, you are entertainers. You are social people. So when people are over, they’re going to be in the kitchen, you might as well make it the center.
Adrian Kinney
That back to like, you can close it off as much as you want, and they’re just going to cram their way in there. It’s just, it’s how parties work. You can try your dang just to do it, but it’s just, it’s, it is what it is that you can’t really get around it. So no, we did that exact and we kind of made it big. And big and chunky to help divide these spaces here. But it’s still, when folks are here, I’ve got two sitting chairs, and then everyone kind of line up here and chit chat is not stuff’s going on in that, in the actual kitchen.
Della Hansmann
And yeah, that was what I experienced when I visited your house. It is,
Adrian Kinney
right? We chatted around this island. Yes, exactly, right. No, it’s, a, it’s a good one. That’s another hallmark have that, you know, open living area that we’ve, you know, we put on steroids. In this case, we’ve made it much, much bigger. But yes, we the open that it was originally, even if you had the closed off kitchen and whatnot. I just love the way that it flows. You know, again, people have leaned into it more, but it’s pretty phenomenal,
Della Hansmann
yeah, well, and it’s there’s so much to love in a mid-century house. And we could obviously make this way longer feature. But I think looking for those things to love in the house you have, in the houses you’re looking for, and if they’re not there, finding the ways you can put them back is just the ongoing mission of everybody that loves mid-century.
Adrian Kinney
Yes, and I think those may know the low sun would have opened floor plan and Windows. Those are the kind of the biggest ones to take away from there. I guess you could add in the wood elements too. There’s a lot of wood walls, wood paneling, if you can add that in, helps bring that warmth back to not make it feel as modern cold, but more of the, you know, warm mid-century.
Adrian Kinney
Those, I think, are the initial package that, again, most of them can be fixed and added in if you really can’t find that one that has it. But I think it really makes it. You know that the perfect house to have those kind of things to jumpstart your mid-century search
Della Hansmann
everything but the roofline? Yeah? So maybe, if you’re looking, if you’re looking for the house, you can make into your mid-century dream house. Maybe the one deal breaker you have to have there is the
Adrian Kinney
roofline, yeah, and the rest of it you can make happen. And you know, if it’s the roof line, then you’re going to have a smaller pool. But I get it, because that’s, I mean, that’s part of ours is, I just love how low song it is, especially with the two car garage, just keeps going on and on that. That’s, I’m a sucker for that. But just kind of that, that The Incredibles kind of house where just, you know, just disappear, yeah,
Della Hansmann
doesn’t even, it doesn’t need to be a flat roof. It just needs a low slope and a long line and that again, there are still things we can do. I play with roof lines all the time in our packages, and we can extend them. We can think about adding cardboard spaces that bring the roof out longer. But when you find the right roofline, you find a house. You can make a home, yes,
Adrian Kinney
exactly. But you can manipulate inside of galore when you don’t have to touch sectional structure on how it looks like. That’s the winner. And I get people waiting out for those you know, for that perfect house, it’s roof lines. Always the big giver of like, yep, that’s, that’s for sure. Mid bot, there’s no question about it. That’s the one.
Della Hansmann
Yeah, maybe that’s the thing you can see and you’re scrolling through Zillow, unless they’re showing you just subway tile kitchens, if you’re looking for no matter what else has happened to the house, if it’s got its structure, if it’s got its roof line, then,
Adrian Kinney
yes, that will really help to bring back those elements too. Because, like we chat on a couple of times, the post and beam structure is usually a low slung roof that taking out some of the, you know, not great addition things they may have done to the house in cosmetics, it’s easier to put back in those character, if it is, you know, post and beam with the low slung roof to really, you know, make it that true mid-century house and. Bring back the character.
Della Hansmann
Fantastic. Anything else you would tell someone to keep an eye open for if they were looking for a mid-century dream house.
Adrian Kinney
One of our other talks, we talked about a, you know, using the right agent. And I think having the agent, you know, make sure they’re on a lookout. Because a lot of times I will send one to a client, and I do a quick look through, and they’re like, this is not a mid-century. And I re-walk them through, and I say, look, there’s this low, slowing, speeding. There were probably windows up here. Yeah, it’s really greiged out. But there’s ways, you know, fix that.
Adrian Kinney
I think it’s either, you know, trusting your advisor or starting your search yourself. I think it’s using that date stamp like you alluded to of you know, what era they were built in your area. But then you’re going to have to, unfortunately, literally, go through every listing that pops up to make sure has it been added on to and can you fix it, or has it been grazed out, but it still has the bones.
Adrian Kinney
So I think that’d be the thing too, is once you kind of find those main hallmarks that make it up for your geographical area, yeah, then you’ve got to apply that lovely knowledge to, unfortunately, every single listing to say, Ah, okay, well, we’ll see if this is the right thing or not. And that’s the thing I say, is be patient and really dig into every one of those houses with your real estate advisor or as you’re starting your search, because sometimes they’re hidden, and you wouldn’t see it unless you really looked into it.
Della Hansmann
And that’s in some cases, that’s your best bet, is the ones that have been manipulated so much, or have, like, a horrible 70s wallpaper that’s just, like, frightening everyone else out of the house.
Adrian Kinney
But you’re like yeah that’s my vibe actually, I really like that.
Della Hansmann
Right? Sometimes you’re like, oh, actually, I see what no one else sees. And sometimes you’re thinking, this is going to scare away people who don’t understand why. Can find
Adrian Kinney
These full gut and you’re like, all we have to do is add new cabinets and that wallpaper stays, and it’s just those are our people. That’s what I get, yeah, well,
Della Hansmann
and that’s we find each other, right? I think there’s some magnetism in the mid-century community that just pulls us out of the way.
Adrian Kinney
We vibe really well. And it’s back to that other talk we had about, you know, vibing with your professionals and, you know, the network that you make to help you on this journey. That’s a big part of it.
Della Hansmann
And maybe that’s one more thing to add, which is that, you know, when you find a community of people, when you’re working with one person that you really like and you vibe with and they love mid-century, and then you find your realtor, your designer, your contractor, they can all be a greater team together if they all belong, because they all have that same quality that helps them get along with you. It’s just all to the good, yes, and I think, you know,
Adrian Kinney
finding the professional that can be the good pinpoint, you know, kingpin of all the ones that works all together. That’s huge. I do that with my background. I actually help, kind of find the designer, and then, you know, help be the bridge between what they wanted in the house that there’s professionals out there that can help bridge that all. And it’s, it’s worth it. Making the taking the time to make the right team.
Della Hansmann
Building the right team is so essential. Well, thanks so much for sharing your expertise, and of course, sometime soon,
Adrian Kinney
I would love to
Della Hansmann
so there it is. As with every one of these summer mid-century mastermind chats, there’s so much more to say. We’ll just have to do it all again soon, but in the meantime, I think the takeaway here is that there are always good choices you can make for your home, and good people who want to help you make them.
Della Hansmann
If you’re looking for help buying a house right now, you want to collaborate with a realtor who knows their stuff, like Adrian. And if you’re struggling right now with how to make good choices for a house that you’re already in, well, I’ve got a couple of ways I could help if you mostly want to plan a remodel by yourself, but you need a little expert guidance for how to DIY the perfect master plan for your perfect home remodel.
Della Hansmann
Well, then check out the free on demand workshop that I’ve got recorded for you how to plan a mid-century remodel to fit your life and budget. You can get a clear picture of the exact steps to take to have a great master plan for your home and then execute it if you need someone to just pull together a comprehensive vision for the house for you, then that’s what a mid-century Master Plan package is.
Della Hansmann
My team and I at mid mod mid can certainly do that creative thinking for you and with you, and then give you a master plan you can go forward into the world and make happen.
Della Hansmann
Or if you’re just stuck an indecision about some smaller piece of a project, then get the quick advice you need with a design detail. SOS consultation. You can schedule these calls with me anytime you need a design boost. Well, not any time of the day or night, but there are schedule options on the calendar every week. So pick a time you need a design boost, we’ll get together. We’ll lock down the choices you’ve been disagreeing about with your partner or dragging your feet on or just going around in circles, internet researching, and in 30 minutes, we could change your whole outlook on how your house is going and what you want to do with it.
Della Hansmann
Find the transcript of this episode all the things I said with Adrian and the help I’ve just mentioned on the show notes page, mid mod midwest.com/ 1807.
Della Hansmann
Quick tease next week on the podcast, I’m talking with Brandi McLean of Modern House members again, and we’ll be teasing a fun, practical workshop coming up soon, kind of a lunch and learn for your house. How you can quickly and effectively up your mid-century home’s curb appeal. So stay tuned for that and so much more next week. See you then.