kitchen remodel Archives - MidMod Midwest

Hands-On Kitchen Design with Aletha VanderMaas

30 min readKitchen design is a hands-on endeavor.

That’s why my friend mid-century Kitchen Designer Aletha VanderMaas takes every one of her clients on a kitchen field trip.

There’s a specific kind of magic that happens when you stop looking at Pinterest and start touching real-world materials.

No amount of internet research or saved magazine photos can substitute for putting your hands on an object to know if it’s truly right for your home.

This week, I’m thrilled to dive deeper into mid-century kitchens with Aletha! I love her unique perspective on how to do right by a mid-century home while matching it to your modern lifestyle.

Is the kitchen work triangle complete nonsense?

17 min readDo you need a better kitchen work triangle? Maybe…or maybe it’s completely wrong for you and already the cause of your problems.

Odds are, if you’ve ever given serious thought to an upgrade for the kitchen of your mid-century home, you’ve run across the term “kitchen work triangle”.

And if you have issues with how your kitchen works—not enough storage, not enough prep space, no room to share the work, a crowd underfoot at dinnertime every night—you’ve wondered if this mythical concept of a perfect kitchen work triangle is the solution.

Maybe…or maybe it’s completely wrong for you and already the cause of your problems.

Your mid-century house is not up to code

33 min readThe good news? Your home is currently grandfathered into every code statute written and approved after the day it was built.

Let’s get the scary part out of the way first. Your mid-century house, the one you love for its charm and quirks, does not comply with the modern building code.

That’s ok for now. No one is going to knock on your door tomorrow demanding you rewire every outlet in the house.

Nightmare Mid-Century Remodel Scenarios

32 min readIn honor of spooky season, let’s talk nightmare mid-century remodel scenarios.

Can you picture it? Sure you can. We’ve all seen some really scary remodeling choices —on Zillow, on Instagram, or sadly, maybe even in our own homes.

You can file this under schadenfreude if none of it applies to your house. Or it can serve as a what not to do guide to help you avoid mistakes. If you’re already living one of the nightmare mid-century remodel scenarios I’m about to describe, then let’s focus on the fact that you’re far from alone.

AND there’s hope!

I really believe that a good, solid master plan can bring any mid-century house back from the brink of horror.

Let’s Review: You’re not done DEVELOPing a master plan till the house is done.

31 min readI’m taking July off from recording the podcast this summer but that doesn’t mean YOU have to. In fact, I’m actually pretty excited about what I’ve got planned for you. I took a dip through our deep archives (did you know we have over 250 episodes recorded) and pulled together some throwback episodes that have great content but may be SO FAR BACK in your podcast feed that you’re unlikely ever to hit them. For these four weeks I’ve chosen some fun episode pairings from the past that will take us on a little spin through the master plan method. So sit back and relax and get read to get inspired to do little more for your home and for yourself.

Creating a great vision for your remodel is the goal of everything I do for my clients and with my students. But it actually will only take a mid-century remodel so far.

If that vision lives only in my mind, I can’t share it with my clients.

If that vision only exists in your head, you can share it with anyone who’ll be helping you make your remodel a reality.

So clearly documenting what you’ve designed is a key element to bringing a remodel to fruition.

I could have called the last stage of the master plan method Document. But I didn’t. I called it Develop.

Let’s Review: Distill your style then Draft options to for a Tailored Timeless update

24 min readI’m taking July off from recording the podcast this summer but that doesn’t mean YOU have to. In fact, I’m actually pretty excited about what I’ve got planned for you. I took a dip through our deep archives (did you know we have over 250 episodes recorded) and pulled together some throwback episodes that have great content but may be SO FAR BACK in your podcast feed that you’re unlikely ever to hit them. For these four weeks I’ve chosen some fun episode pairings from the past that will take us on a little spin through the master plan method. So sit back and relax and get read to get inspired to do little more for your home and for yourself.

A great remodel for a mid-century home needs to be a good fit for you.

And it needs to be a good fit … for your mid-century home.

If you don’t make an effort to fit your home to your actual life, you’ll never really feel satisfied with the way things turned out – the house will feel too formal, too closed off, too open for your life.

BUT if you don’t remember to plan a remodel that fits the mid-century era of your home … your too-trendy choices will rapidly become dated ones.

Mid Mod Design Details with Aletha VanderMaas

38 min readI finally met Aletha VanderMaas, of True Home Restorations! Aletha is a talented designer and one of the OG tastemakers of mid-century Instagram.

Do you remember the first person you encountered who validated that your mid-century house was great and that you should LEAN INTO its charm when updating it to suit your own life?

That’s such a magical feeling. To realize that you’re not alone in wanting to steer clear of the HGTV “paint it white” world. Today I want to introduce you to one of MY OWN first sources of great Mid Mod inspiration.: Aletha VanderMaas

Micro-masterplan Your Way to Your Perfect Kitchen

12 min readMy master plan process was created as a path to managing a full house remodel, but you can still use the five D’s develop to micro-masterplan any space.

A masterplan might sound like something you use for a BIG home improvement project. That’s true. But it is also something you can use at ANY Scale. Today let’s talk about how to micro-masterplan any thing in your home!

My master plan process was created as a path to managing a full house (or at least very significant) remodel. You begin by dreaming about your ideal home and the life you envision in it and move through each step until you have a full vision for your home.

The five steps follow in order and you are able to plan until you feel ready to tackle your renovation.

Sounds just like real life, right? Nope.

The Lazy Genius Kitchen

13 min readI’ve talked about Kendra Adachi’s Lazy Genius philosophy before and this week we’re joining her in the kitchen. You can start lazy genuising your kitchen as you plan your update!

In her fantastic new book, The Lazy Genius Kitchen, Kendra Adachi lays out a system for creating a kitchen that has and does everything you need. The lazy genius kitchen isn’t really a book about remodeling. Nor is it explicitly a cookbook or an organizing book or a lifestyle guide. It’s some of all of those things. And, perhaps, it’s better than any of them could be on their own.

Adachi’s advice is to think about the way you want to live in your home. And if you know me at all, you know this is absolutely where I believe every project in architecture should begin. So, let’s talk about how you can be a lazy genius about your kitchen update. And create the kitchen that’s perfect for YOU.

the Lazy Genius Kitchen by Kendra Adachi on a yellow background

Mid Mod Kitchen Update Essentials

16 min readThere are five Mid Mod Kitchen Update Essentials. These design elements are key to creating a fabulous and functional kitchen regardless of style, but are extra important when updating a mid century kitchen.

The five Mid Mod Kitchen Update Essentials are key to creating a fabulous and functional kitchen regardless of style, but are extra important when updating a mid century kitchen.

The kitchen is the heart of nearly all mid-century updates.