the midcentury ranch for a new generation
23 min readWant to mix Wright’s style into your mid mod remodel? Focus on simple, natural materials and (of course!) the color red.
Lots of mid mod lovers are also big Frank Lloyd Wright fans. And why wouldn’t you be? In the last podcast episode we explored how Wright’s Prairie School and later Usonian homes are cool aunts and uncles to modest mid-century ranch houses.
As you plan your ranch remodel, you can absolutely dip into Wright design ideas. Your house is actually already full of them!
Continue reading “How do I mix the Wright style into my ranch remodel? (Part 2)”42 min readLet’s talk mid-century landscaping with a certified expert – Jim Drzewiecki of Ginkgo Leaf Studio.
I get asked about the right landscape design for a mid-century a lot.
And, while I do design outdoor “rooms” and have a landscape at my own house, I am far from the expert on designing beautiful gardens. Seriously…I only just succeeded in not killing (most of) my houseplants in the last couple of years.
So to tackle all your landscaping questions I called up a landscaping expert.
And big giant bonus? An expert who specializes in design for mid-century homes. Jim Drzewiecki, APLD, award-winning principal designer, is the founder and owner of Ginkgo Leaf Studio where he and Hannah Paulson design beautiful landscapes for all kind of homes.
Long story short: The best way to design a landscape to fit your mid-century house is to … listen to the house! Jim so good at doing just that. He’s interested in the shapes and materials on a good MCM house. And not locked into (probably) overgrown and (almost certainly) DIYed plant placements from decades of yore.
Continue reading “How to plan a Mid-century landscape…is that a thing?”25 min readToday we are going a little more positive in our HGTV exploration. Because it is SO FUN to look at other people’s homes.
OK, so I spend a lot of time warning Mid-Century homeowners off of getting their ideas and advice from general shelter media. A lot of it is just not for us. But that doesn’t mean there is nothing we can learn from HGTV.
Home improvement shows (and magazines, and social media) give us lots of chances to look at other peoples homes. And to observe those people looking at lots of different homes. And even have the occasional good Mid-Century design idea. (It happens!)
Let’s talk about what we can learn from HGTV.
Continue reading “What we CAN learn from HGTV.”23 min readGoogle’s modern mid-century kitchen is slab cabinets, sleek metals, minimalist hardware and simple geometric tile. But YOUR mid-century dream kitchen may differ because your kitchen, your rules.
The modern mid-century dream kitchen isn’t the kitchen that Lucy Arnez or Donna Reed or Carol Brady had. It also isn’t the kitchen you might find in vintage kitchen ads. And it certainly isn’t the kitchen you’ll find in most builder grade ranches.
So what exactly is it then?
According to Google, it’s slab cabinets in warm wood tones, sleek metals, minimalist hardware and tile set in simple, geometric patterns.
According to home and garden media, it’s an open, busy social space.
And both of those descriptions hold up! But YOUR mid-century dream kitchen may differ because your kitchen, your rules.
You are actually the most important element in your mid-century dream kitchen. Your kitchen isn’t just a place to cook; it’s an extension of you! Whether you’re a mid-century purist or someone who loves blending eras, the key is to design a kitchen that works for your life and the way you want to live in your kitchen.
Continue reading “The modern “mid-century” dream kitchen”19 min readAspirational mid-century kitchens inspired the kitchens we live in and love today.
In all seriousness … why ARE mid-century kitchens? We’ve chatted before about the history and socioeconomic drivers of the era. And about the default layout of an MCM kitchen and why it doesn’t work for our modern lives so well. But what were those mid-century modern folks really … going for? One thing that made them what they are was …
The TV kitchens that served as backdrops for our favorite mid-century TV families! These show kitchens often included features missing for the builder basic kitchens of the time (and still missing in many of our ranches!)
After all, an average mid-century ranch, the kitchen was seen as a one-person space. A kind of a home office for a homemaker. In a TV show kitchen, it had to be a place where two people could hold a conversation! That’s something we like in a kitchen today!
So let’s dig into how aspirational mid-century kitchens influenced – and didn’t – the kitchens we live in and love today.
Psst !!! Before we dig into some SPIFFY and fun MCM kitchens of TV history … quick shout out for your best resource for updating your own mid-century kitchen to mid-century or modern glory. Don’t forget to save your seat for the Mid-Century Kitchen Clinic!
20 min readHow did gas (and granite and stainless steel) come to seem like our only finish options? Blame it on the sponcon.
Certain elements seem to make it into every renovation. Think gas stoves, stainless steel finishes, professional grade appliances, countertop materials like granite and marble, luxury vinyl flooring.
Want the most reliably biased remodeling advice around? Head for HGTV. In fact, pick up or turn on any mainstream piece of home and garden media. Now, try to separate expert advice from paid content. What you’ll find is a strong push toward well funded trends that dominate the industry.
Are these the best choices? Unlikely. Are they the best choices for you? Maybe.
Continue reading “Cooking with gas…ads and sponcon in remodeling “reality” shows. “< 1 min readLaundry is a great way to illustrate how daily cycles impact your design choices and how to consider future cycles of life as you plan.
There’s a secret to planning a truly successful remodel – one that tailors the house you have to the life you want to lead in it. You need to take account of the cycles in your life as you tailor your home to match your lifestyle.
To help you do that … let’s talk about how the way you do your laundry can define how you remodel your home.
Continue reading “Letting cycles of life guide your remodel”How did I become so invested in empowering women to be strong leaders in their own home improvement projects?
As a young female architect, I’ve faced skepticism and dismissal from male colleagues and contractors throughout my career. But over many years and many projects I’ve learned to push back confidently and achieve the results I believe in. Not everyone has the luxury of building this confidence over time, especially women homeowners who may only go through one or two remodels in their lifetime.
I created the Master Plan method as a direct response to my experience in residential architecture.
Continue reading “Remodels By, For and With Women”22 min readSketching is the most important visual thinking tool you can use to plan your remodel. Sketches help you generate ideas quickly, explore alternatives without risk and avoid getting bogged down in the details too soon. And YOU CAN sketch…even if you have kindergarten-level drawing skills.
Sketching is the most important visual thinking tool you can use to plan your remodel. Sketches help you generate ideas quickly, explore alternatives without risk and avoid getting bogged down in the details too soon. And YOU CAN Sketch…even if you have kindergarten-level drawing skills.
Now when you think about a drawing that’s related to your remodel plan you are probably thinking of a blueprint. If you are, there are two things you need to know. One, blueprints haven’t been blue since, oh, before I went to design school. And two, they are the least interesting drawings in your remodel.
They also take months, years or even decades to complete depending on the complexity of the project. A sketch can be done in moments. It’s simple and yet surprisingly effective and evocative.
And here’s why. It’s not just less, it’s centralized. It shows the details that matter and only the details that matter. A sketch is precise to the level that you create it with no expectation of accuracy. It allows us to talk about the shapes and forms of things, the overall relation of length and width.
Continue reading “The Power of Sketches”16 min readEasy summer projects can help you kick-off this year’s (mid-century) home improvement season! Here are a few of my favorites.
What feels like the true beginning of summer to you? Memorial Day weekend? Seeing the first lightning bugs? The last day of school? For me, my birthday in early June is the real start of summer!
It kind of feels like we just dived into the middle of summer in the last week or two and I have a feeling you might be in exactly the right headspace to take on some easy summer projects to make your mid-century home a little more your own.
So, grab your lemonade and a lawn chair and listen in for a few fun (and, okay some less fun but more necessary) summer project you can tackle right now to kick off your mid-century home improvement season!
Continue reading “Easy Summer Projects to Tackle This Weekend”
