the midcentury ranch for a new generation
When you love your mid mod house … but also like Frank Lloyd Wright for his Prairie and Usonian design … how do you choose? The great news is that you don’t have to!
Because here’s the thing: Wright’s Prairie School and later Usonian homes are cool aunts and uncles to modest mid-century ranch houses. You can absolutely dip into Wright design ideas when you plan an upgrade for your mid-century modest home!
Continue reading “Can I mix Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie style into my ranch? (Part 1)”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?”31 min readThe best mid-century flooring for your house? It really does depend – on your taste, the size of your pets, the age of your kids and even your tendency to be a little bit of a butterfingers.
What is the best mid-century flooring for your house? I get this question ALL the time and I have a lot of opinions about it. But before I tell you about what I like and what I’d choose … we need to focus on you.
That’s because my answer to you, to my clients, to my students and to everybody who asks me this is …
It depends.
Now, when I answer this way, I’m not hedging or hesitating.
I do have opinions about and experience with many types of flooring in all sorts of applications. And strong personal preferences of my own!
But when people ask “What’s the best mid-century flooring?”, what they actually mean to ask is, “What’s the best mid-century flooring for me and for my house?” And that’s where it really does depend.
Continue reading “What are the best mid-century flooring choices?”26 min readTL;DR: Your remodel will probably take longer than you hoped, but you can shorten the timeline of the actual work by investing your time in solid planning!
One of the questions I get asked most often (right after how much will my remodel cost) is, hey, how long will my remodel take?
We all want a solid answer to this question before moving forward. But the reality is how long it all takes depends on how much of your house is affected, who does the work, when it starts and HOW DECISIVE YOU ARE ALONG THE WAY!
So … the answer is it depends.
But I’ve got good news for you as well as bad news, here. Because it depends on some factors you can predict and sometimes factors you can control with your own choices!
TL;DR: Your remodel will probably take longer than you hoped, but you can shorten the timeline of the actual work by investing your time in solid planning!
Continue reading “How long will my remodel take?”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.”21 min readThe culture we live in tells us that we can change our lives by changing our homes. Let’s interrogate this modern urge toward self improvement through remodeling.
According to HGTV, you can never take a house as it is. A change is required. You must remodel it to make it “yours”.
But … (again per HGTV) there’s ONLY one right way to improve your home. And that is whatever is the most current latest and greatest on Pinterest on Instagram on HGTV and in Dwell magazine.
Now, in fact, I actually do believe in the transformative power of a remodel.
Planning them is kind of my bread and butter.
But here’s the thing: real, life changing transformations rarely look the same for every homeowner or home. And very frequently there’s nary a subway tile to be found.
Continue reading “Change your home to change your life.”75 min readTake my remodeling masterclass on the go!
If you listen to the Mid Mod Remodel Podcast regularly, you hear lots about the tips and tools I recommend to help you plan and lead your perfect MCM remodel.
And once or twice a year I boil down the most helpful of those tips and tools into a free masterclass that I offer live. Folks show up on a Saturday for an hour-ish class full of advice and a Q&A where I promise to answer every question.
In the past that session was only available to the folks who signed up and attended the live event, but this year I’m trying something NEW!
We are making the audio of my February 24th session available for a limited time.
Now you can listen on the go! (but just for one week.)
So, if you missed the live session and don’t have time to sit and watch a replay… or if you were there, loved it and just want to hear it all again…grab your headphones!
22 min readWhy avoid trends in remodeling? Because your taste and your home’s history matter more than what is current.
When it comes to updating and upgrading a mid-century home … trends are not your friend. You know this already. But the pressure to make the same choice as everyone else is SO STRONG. “What about the re-sale value?,” your well meaning advisors will anxiously wonder. But in reality, a timeless choice will always work better than a trendy one!
Here’s the most basic truth: Trendy =/= Timeless. And you don’t want to put all your energy, money and time into a remodel with an expiration date!
Continue reading “Trends are not your friend, Mid Mod lover.”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”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. “
