Rolling Back a 90’s Remodel (with recent client Michelle)

37 min readAs a designer, it’s so hard to pick a favorite project, but one I’m talking about today has certainly got to be at the top of my list. I recently covered this house on the YouTube channel, because it’s a perfect case study of getting the 90s out of a perfectly nice mid-century home.

Sometimes you find the house in the perfect spot that completes your future dream checklist … but no one has taken the time to revise the 90’s remodel. So only you can really see it’s potential.

Today I’ve invited homeowner, Michelle Cramton, to talk about how we took a shell of a house and turned it into her dream retirement home as she was literally starting from zero after the Altadena fires last winter. I am so happy to share her story of resettling back into her hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, and into her mid-century dream.

Her contractors are still tying up the last loose ends so no “after” shots yet but some of these progress photos are looking pretty SNAPPY!.

Settle in to hear Michelle telling you her story of how we met, how we started thinking about this project together, and how we explored her options in a master plan package.

And then had the opportunity to take it further through a bunch of really fun additional services.

She just let me stick with her from the beginning right through until now! We’re currently working on the last final few details of the house. It has been such a treat to get to follow along closely at every step.

You’ll find some photos of this house below. These are recent progress snaps. We don’t have final photos yet, because work is still underway. In fact, in the conversation you’ll hear just a little bit of banging – outside work being done. 

If you’d like to see a bit of the design process, jump to the YouTube case study I just made about this house.

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Continue reading “Rolling Back a 90’s Remodel (with recent client Michelle)”

Mid-Century Hardscapes and Feature Elements with Ginkgo Leaf Studio

24 min readRemember the delightful Jim Drzewiecki from Ginkgo Leaf Studio? We barely scratched the surface of all the listener landscaping questions we received last season. So, naturally, I had to bring him back on the podcast to continue our chat! Today, we’re diving in on hardscaping and adding feature elements to your landscape.

Hardscaping includes any solid surfaces in your yard – think patios, walkways and driveways. These elements aren’t just practical; they set the stage for the entire landscape design. While many folks think landscaping is all about plants, according to Jim it’s actually the hardscape that lays the groundwork for everything else.

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Progress: a (pretty painless) mini patio for the back yard

2 min readI’d thought my next move was to start framing in the new mudroom between the house and garage but then I remembered … it will never be easier to move the pavers from front to back than right now.  

I did a quick about face and prioritized putting together my (mini) patio project.  I’d had something like this in mind for a while but had to make some quick executive decisions about size  and proportion.  Continue reading “Progress: a (pretty painless) mini patio for the back yard”