mid century house Archives

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.

DIY Landscaping Advice for Your Mid-Century Yard with Ginkgo Leaf Studio

25 min readDo need need some advice to get started on your DIY landscaping project? This week Jim Drzewiecki is back with his best tips for DIY landscape designers.

I get asked about landscaping a lot and I always turn to our favorite mid-century landscaping expert, Jim Drzewiecki. Jim is an APLD, award-winning principal designer and the founder and owner of Ginkgo Leaf Studio where he and Hannah Paulson design beautiful landscapes for all kind of homes.

Now, not everyone can afford to hire a landscape designer for their project. Others just love gardening and planning for their own yard. And Ginkgo Leaf Studio usually has a waiting list.

So, this week Jim is back with his best tips for DIY landscape designers.

If you tune into the episode you’ll hear him start off with a great idea that I wanted to write down and then start putting into my own designs, immediately!

Finding the right mid-century home for you with Susan Halla

44 min readSusan Halla, founder of Make It Mid-Century and mid-century enthusiast, joins me this week to dish about her own recent house hunt.

If anyone knows what they’re looking for in a mid-century home, it’s Susan Halla. She has spent the last decade making retro-focused DIY doable for mid-century lovers of all stripes.

When she had to move, she knew she needed another perfect mid-century house to make her home. And she’s just completed a multi-city search that was laser focused on finding a relatively untouched, not too high end mid-century home.

An Architect’s Remodeling Regrets

< 1 min readThis week, I share some of my biggest remodeling regrets and lessons learned from my own mid-century home. Biggest take away? Make small, low-risk updates first and then be sure to create a Masterplan for a remodel you’ll love without the regret.

We all have remodeling regrets.

Yep, even mid-century loving architects like me. And some of my personal regrets helped shape the Mid-Century Masterplan method I now use to help homeowners like you. But it can feel lonely when you’ve made a choice you don’t love.

So this week I decided to get personal and share some of my biggest mistakes in my own home, hoping you’ll feel some solace if you’ve made a mistake. And if you haven’t, you can learn from mine and avoid making the same ones!