the midcentury ranch for a new generation
24 min readOne of the easiest ways to make your front door shine is to upgrade your house numbers.
One of the easiest ways to make your front door shine is to upgrade your house numbers. I’ve been a big fan of Modern House Numbers, for quite a while.
I’ve got their numbers on my house, and I recommend them to a lot of my clients.
I didn’t even know how much I love this company until I sat down to chat with owner Brandy McLain recently.
Before we get to the goods … though, don’t miss this:
Here’s what we were dealing with: a very basic ranch that had been through an unfortunate 1990’s remodel.
Built in 1956, this was a modest house from the get go. But one that reflects the focus on maximized efficiency as a defining feature of the era. The homeowners described their home as a “pretty boring, standard builder grade ranch”. They wanted to add some style to the exterior and connect to the outdoor space for daily living. The house had one of the trickiest kitchen layouts we’ve ever encountered in a mid-century home!
Our goal was to add some interest to the exterior aesthetics and make the most the outdoor space by improving the connection to the living spaces with an adjustment (or transformation) of the kitchen.
We focused on solutions that could be implemented in phases – adding surrounding elements, anchoring the porch, and even replacing the siding eventually. The house’s pleasant form and classic ranch elements would allow for a dramatic shift with small one-off projects or with simple updates. The potential for a kitchen addition in remodel budget allowed us to explore a deck as an option to improve flow out to the backyard.
