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Make a Plan so you can Remodel Right Now

11 min read Yes. 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!

Maybe you want to start updating your house but have no IDEA where to begin. Maybe you are dreaming of a remodel for your kitchen but wondering if it is in the cards this year?

  • I hear that.  But wait …  You don’t have to wait for the time or money of a big remodel in order to make a few satisfying upgrades.  Start living in a house you love right away!

Maybe you are planning your DREAM remodel … but tapping your toes right now and itching to see some positive progress.  

  • Even if you have a list of updates in mind for the future … let’s talk about what you want to tackle first to set yourself up for success!

Maybe you are planning to totally transform your mid-century home this year and just gearing up to call a contractor

  • There are still a few easy steps you can take to make your house more lovable while you wait to get to the top of your GC’s list. 

Curious?Yep, I knew you would be! 

There are simple and fool-proof ideas you can use to make any mid-century home feel spiffier, brighter and more like the place you want to spend your days.  

You can also watch this episode as facebook live. Check it out!

In Today’s Episode You’ll Hear:

  • Why its so important to start with a satisfying, SMALL, project to kickstart your remodel energy
  • The three levels that all home remodels cover – and which one is most suited to your life
  • How to update your front door a little, a bit more or a lot in ways that will change your whole relationship with your house.
  • Why you need a big picture plan – a master plan – for your remodel no matter what level or scale you are ready for.

Listen Now On 

Apple | Google |  Spotify | Stitcher

Resources to Learn how to Remodel Right Now

Read the Full Episode Transcript

There’s a right scale of remodel that you can start planning and carrying out right now. Whether you’re putting things off because your DIY project is a little bit too big to tackle this weekend, or you’re just worried about calling a contractor because you’ve heard the market is really crazy right now, there are things you can do to get a sense of satisfaction from your home. There are actions you can take to set yourself up for success once you get underway. I want you to take a few easy steps to make your home more yours. Do this while you wait to plan a bigger remodel or just get anything done on your house right now, whether you’ve got a big remodel planned or not.

Hey there, welcome back to Mid Mod Remodel. This is the show about updating MCM home, 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 season eight, episode five.

And today’s episode is actually going to be the audio from a recent Facebook live I did. This is a pep talk that I think you can really use talking about how take action right now. so lets talk what action you can take and why it’s so important to start anywhere, to start small, and then plan big. Give this a listen and then hit me back on Facebook, Instagram, or with an email. Let me know what level of a remodel is the right one for you right now. I really wanna know.

I want you to start now. Start now and plan a remodel that’s right for where you are in your life this year. Hi, I’m Della. I’m an architect who specializes in remodels for mid-century homes. I’m just a general mid-century home enthusiast. What I want you to know is:that you can make dramatic changes to your house with just a few tweaks, or you can really dramatic transformations by overhauling everything in your home with a help of a general contractor. Both are totally legitimate ways to go about a remodel. So I want you to figure out what’s the right scale of a remodel for you. Something that you can take on now, and you can plan this year and lead with confidence.

But first, if you are excited about what I’m saying, then you don’t wanna miss the free masterclass I’m giving a week from Saturday a week after this Saturday.

It’s the planning of mid-century remodels of figure life and budget masterclass.

I only give it a few times a year and in it, I’m going teach you the exact steps to take, to plan a remodel that will match your life; that will seem manageable; that will reduce your amount of stress. It’s really everything I believe in.

So if you’re watching this on Facebook, there’s a link below the video. If you’re watching it on Instagram, there’s a link in my bio. And if you’re listening to this later on the podcast, just go to midmod-midwest.com/waitlist. Put your name on the list and be the first to know when I’m gonna have new information, when you can sign up for that master class.

Alright. How do you know what scale of a remodel is even right for you? I have two steps that I want you to take here. One is start small and two is think big.

Last week I was chatting with Sarah of Mid-century Homes in Boise about front door, curb appeal updates. The front door area is such a perfect example of where a little improvement can do a huge amount of good. But you’re also rewarded for basically any amount of effort you put into your front door area. What scale you’re at depends on you. And I’d love to hear from you, so if you’re watching this live or even if you’re not put in the comments for this video what scale you identify with.

So here’s how it goes. Most home remodels happen on one of three scales. The first, the smallest level one, a lot of people don’t even think about as remodeling, but it counts, it’s home improvement. A level one remodel is an easy DIY project. It might be just something you buy and attach to your house at the front door. That could be a new mailbox, new house numbers, a new light. It spiffs up the house you have right now. It’s perfect for people who just wanna see a small change. They wanna see some improvement in their life.

A level two remodel is a bit bigger of a deal. It’s still DIY. It might be owner led. So you’re calling a contractor. You’re getting a plumber to come in and help you with one thing, an electrician to come help you with another, but you are kind of taking on all of the steps.

Often, people who do level two remodels will sort of space their plans out over a couple of years. They’ll start with one area of the house, do that until it’s done, then move on to another. It’s great for people who have more time than cash. Also for people who don’t wanna have to move out of their house while they improve upon it. It’s great for people who like to be in control of what they’re doing with their home and with their life.

Actually, I just put up a reel and Instagram today about why I think a level two remodel is perfect for a mid-century homeowner. You can completely sidestep the risk of having a well-meaning contractor who’s had too many clients asking them for the HGTV special, just kind of erase, the mid-century character of your home, almost by accident. When you are calling the shots that can’t happen.

Step three, level three is a big and contractor led remodel, and these are still great. I love doing master plans for projects like these. They cost big, but they also have big transformations. They’re perfect for people who want a total transformation in their home.

Each of them have their pros and cons. But I think you probably can identify almost immediately what level of remodel you are comfortable with. If you’ve never done anything to your house before start really small. Just do something, one thing to give your self a sense of, I can do this of progress of dopamine. If you’re talking about the front door, let’s just use the front door as an example. It’s so perfect. If you’re still riding with the front door, I just want you to do two things for a level one, remodel, buy a new mailbox in your favorite color. I love Modbox Mailbox for this, but there are a bunch of other mid-century adjacent mailbox companies that are coming out and then paint your color, paint your front door, that same color, paint it to match.

If you wanna go beyond that, there’s a couple of other little tweaks you can make things. These could be done in literally an hour or two. Replace your house numbers, that’s a great step and it’s really fun to do. For modern house numbers actual Modern House Numbers is a company I love, and there’s a number of other mid-century style, big, bold, fun colored house numbers that you can shop and attach to your house. Anyone can do this.

Frankly, I think anyone could probably also replace their front lights. If you turn off the power of the breaker, I’m not advising anyone to have an electrical accident, and watch a couple of YouTube videos. This is again, totally DIY doesn’t require a lot of tools thing that anyone can do, or you can hire a handyman to come and help you make that change.

You can throw in a planter. Again, this is just something you buy and set next to the house. If you love simple monochromatic schemes, do it the same color as the door in the mailbox. If you like variety, do it in a complimentary bold color, and you can go like vintage mid-century baby pink powder blue. You can go sixties, mod orange, yellow, avocado green. Choose your favorite color, whatever it is, it’s your front door. You should love it.

Now, if you are thinking about more of a level two remodel, you can go a little further and you can think about things like changing the color of the entire house, paint your siding, by the way, do not paint your brick. You can improve the stoop, build it out so it’s a little larger, more generous. Build a front deck around your existing stoop or to replace it. Add an over hanging roof element a veranda, a pergola, even a shade sail that creates a sense of enclosure and protection at your front door.

Think about sprucing up some mid-century landscaping. Spring is coming and what can you plant that will help add interesting asymmetry and variety to your house? Can you make it more native pollinator friendly or more low maintenance depending on your green thumb status. Mine is very low so I always go for really easy to maintain minimalist landscaping. You can think about adding some decorative elements, a breeze block, or a wood fence or a wall that will just frame your yard, create layers and closure around your front door.

And if you’re thinking about a total transformation, a big contractor-led remodel, the thing you can do for your front door is this. A lot of builder grade modest ranches you just enter straight from the street right into your living room, which is a bit of an abrupt transition.

If you’re not at your front set back line, even just a three foot addition at the front of the house, changing the roof line, putting a cross gable on so you have a really interesting dramatic roof front. You could also extend that across so you increase the size of your garage a little bit, put on a new mid-century style garage door, get a bit more storage space and have rooms to just come in to a tiny vestibule with a little tiny mini mud room so you can drop your shoes, contain coats and hats and bags, and then turn to enter your living room. This could transform not just the front of your house, but the entire way you feel about entering it.

All of these things are front door tweaks, and any of them is the right level. So as I was just using these examples, which one of these felt like the viable option to you? Which one of them was like, oh, I could do that. That could happen now. I have the skillset. I have the money. And, I have the resources to make that happen. Put it in the comments. I would really love to know.

But here’s the thing, whichever level you’re gonna go after. I want you to do a couple of start-small projects. I want you to have that sense of progress and getting things done. And then I want you to pause and start to think about the big picture plan. Because if you just do one little project after another, after another, eventually they add up into something that’s a little incoherent. At a certain point, you’re gonna wanna take a master plan approach to your house, regardless of the scale you’re planning for. If you’re working with a contractor, they will thank you for having a clear goal of what you wanna get done.

And if you’re DIY-ing your projects, one at a time at a time in a level two style, frankly, you even more want a master plan so that you’ve got a sense of your trajectory, where you’re going, where the road ahead is going to lead you. And that will be really helpful. Even if you just wanna make little tiny tweaks to your house, you still wanna follow the master plan method, these same steps that you will follow regardless of the scale of your remodel right now, so that you can know that the energy you’ve got however much or little it is that you’re putting into your house and the budget you’re spending, however much or little it is that you’re using for your house is being well spent. Time well spent money well spent.

I just asked my Instagram audience to let me know what was the biggest obstacle that was holding them back from planning a remodel. Here’s just a few answers: time, where to start, budget, where to start, currently window and door sourcing, I don’t have 14 monthly times, (yeah a master plan won’t really help with that) time, money, money, dollar signs, the some money, and my husband. Yeah, okay, so this is exactly what I expected to hear. These are the obstacles that hold us all back. The thing is even with a little bit of time, even with only a little bit of money, I don’t want you to do nothing to your house. I want you to get the satisfaction, having done something. I want you to feel the win of progress.

And so I have a couple of resources for this that are free and you can get right now. Actually, if you want a checklist of ideas, you can tackle on your front door area, go to midmod-midwest.com/frontdoor and download a free list.

And if you’re looking for sort of easy ways to get started, send me a DM on Instagram. I can send you a document, I’ll put a link in my Instagram story too, to basically how you can start from 1, 2, 3 tiny things you can do at any place in your house, in your mudroom, in your living room, at your front door, basically a formula for building out easy weekend, tiny micro moves that will still give you a sense of real satisfaction.

A sense of “I took a step forward and now this house is a little bit more my own.” Whether it’s the house you’ve been living in for years and are kind of feeling stagnant about to refresh your sense of ownership of it, or whether you just moving into the house. The first thing you do to it can really feel satisfying. It’s you putting your stamp on the place. It’s you making your mark. So let’s talk about how you can make all of those things happen.

And here’s really the thing one way or another, you’re gonna need bigger plans. So don’t sleep on this offer. I want you to be on the wait list to hear about how to plan the perfect remodel right now at any level.

Show up with me next Saturday at Planning a Mid-century House to Fit your Life and Budget. It’s gonna be amazing and the Ready to Remodel program is gonna be opening really soon. If you wanna know more about that and how I can hold your hand, give you weekly calls and walk you through the process of planning your mid-century remodel step by step by step. I’ve got that all waiting for you. So put your name on the waitlist and I will see you there. Meanwhile, if you have other questions, hit me in a Facebook comment or a DM on Instagram. I love to hear where you are in your mid-century remodeling journey.

Okay. That was fun. If you’d like to see those front door update examples as a blog post with sketches, visuals are always great. I’ll put a link in the show notes. Grab those at midmod-midwest.com/805. Get the links I mentioned, see an outline of what we just covered and get your name on that waitlist. I wanna see you at the planning workshop a week from Saturday.

Next week on the podcast, we’re gonna be talking about how to cut down on the inevitable overwhelm of planning a home remodel at any scale. It can’t be avoided. I’m sorry, but it can be reduced tune in and find out how see you then.

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