midcentury Archives - Page 4 of 8

Let’s Review: Discover what’s great about your Mid-Century Home

36 min readI’m taking July off from recording the podcast this summer but that doesn’t mean YOU have to.

Instead, I’ve rounded up the BEST of our back catalog to take you on a journey through Master Planning your remodel. Let’s start with making it fun and easy to learn more about your home!

I want you to become an expert on your home before your remodel.

Note, I did not say that you need to become an expert on remodeling … just on your house.

Why? Because it’s going to smooth every step of your remodel journey!

One good reason to take a few of your own measurements, skim an inspection report, or dig into some MCM history about the original owners by chatting with elderly neighbors, is that these activities will set you up for clever design ideas for your remodel. And they will.

But another super important reason getting familiar with your home is essential to a successful remodel is that the more you feel like an expert in the specifics of your house (not even all of them, just in certain parts of it!) the more you interface confidently with everyone else in the project.

Let’s Review : Dream the right way for a great master plan

32 min readI’m taking July off from recording the podcast this summer but that doesn’t mean YOU have to.

Instead, I’ve rounded up the BEST of our back catalog to take you on a journey through Master Planning your remodel. Let’s start with Dreaming … the right way!

Julie Andrews said it best – the very beginning; a very good place to start.

In fact, if you start your remodel planning anywhere other than HERE it will take longer, feel more chaotic, be more stressful and likely end up more expensive.

And for us, the ABC or do-rey-me of a remodel is you. Your own life. Your family. The way you want to feel at home.

Remodeling a (mostly) Mid-Century Gem

44 min readIs your house a (mostly) mid-century gem? The “mostly” means that your house that has some really great, intact mid-century features…and then an area or two where a maintenance failure or unfortunate remodel has wreaked havoc on the charm.

Is your house a mostly mid-century gem?

And by “mostly” I mean that your house that has some really great, intact MCM features … but there’s a room or three where someone made a few bad calls. Now you’re left holding the bag on a sweet place with a super tired kitchen, a really strange bathroom or even a structural issue created by the previous owners.

I see houses like this all the time!

Full of wonderful, intact details set against the backdrop of an over large kitchen or unfortunate addition. And the good news is they are perfectly suited to the master plan process.

While I love working on everything from grandparent time capsule houses to places that have experienced a brutal flip and need to be entirely hauled back from the brink … the (mostly) charming house is one of our most common projects.

Today, lets take a spin through three recent Mid Mod Midwest master plan projects. I’ll share some fun history, common design challenges and my favorite approaches to upgrading mid-century homes that are in (mostly) great shape. With a big focus on putting back the appropriate mid-century materials in those not-so-great spots.

In Today’s Episode You’ll Hear:

Why homes with just a few problem areas need a master plan, too.
How to approach right sizing a space post remuddle.
Where to consider if “decorative” mcm elements might be much more.

Listen Now On

Apple | Spotify | YouTube

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.

The five mid-century kitchen cabinet questions you need to answer.

To make timeless choices right for you and your house when you replace mid-century kitchen cabinet s you’ll need to choose correctly for your home and your mid-century style.

Choose right and you’ll end up with remodel that will have people wondering which parts are original, which are new, and which are a really slammin 60’s tweak to the house.

Make the WRONG choice or choices and everyone who ever walks into your kitchen will instantly know the year you updated from now until it all ends up in a dumpster to make way for the next new trend.

Trendy choices in mid-century homes always age like milk.

Public Housing and Our Mid-Century Homes

Your mid-century house, and mine – just like 13 million solid ranches, tidy Levit cottages and charming post and beam homes built across the US between 1945 and 65 – might not strike you as “public housing.” But they ARE our country’s solution to a housing crisis.

You may be aware we’re having another housing crisis right now. But so far … we do not have another big solution.

Keep your mid-century house cool with passive solar

40 min readPassive solar design has been around since forever. It just means that a builder makes siting and design choices that use the sun and shade to keep a building warm or cool.

Your mid-century house might be blessed with a great passive solar design or it might have a wall glass facing full west. If you know, you know!

For anyone in the later situation you may be looking for some mcm appropriate ways to shade your over-sunny living room in the evenings or to let a little more light into a shade-locked space! With a smart remodel, you can!

If you can set up your remodel plans to IMPROVE the passive solar potential of your home while also jazzing up it’s looks and streamlining the flow … you’ve got a win win win!

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

How to Choose Window Treatments for Your Mid-Century Home

34 min readChoosing window treatments for your mid-century home can be a challenge. The good news is, when it comes to window coverings less is (usually) more. Let’s narrow down your options!

The window treatments you choose to cover up your windows will have a big impact on the overall aesthetic of your home, inside and out, actually. This is true if you live in a magazine spread worthy post and beam home or a simple builder-basic ranch house.

So … what are the right window treatments for a mid-century home? And why are they either: floor to ceiling, pinch pleat curtains or modern up down, insulating shades.

There’s more to it than that, obviously. But let’s talk …

Expand your MCM house with an Outdoor Room

37 min readOutdoor rooms are spaces around your house where you could be extending your enjoyable living areas, sometimes with just a few simple tweaks.

With spring around the corner, it might be time to spend a little more time in- and on – your yard. Let’s make it COUNT! You can easily feed two (or more) birds with one scone when you create an outdoor room – a space designed to expand your living area without necessarily adding any more solid wall or roof!

Make an outside space you want to spend time in that ALSO fixes design or lifestyle challenges you’ve been having in other spaces. Done right, an upgrade to your yard can be an upgrade to your house, too!