Today we are going to talk about mid-century kitchen layout problems.  Nearly every ranch kitchen has a layout that can be problematic for the way a modern family likes to use their cooking and eating space.  

When it comes to kitchen layout changes you want to weigh a number of factors.  If your layout is close to being workable and you are blessed with your original cabinets, I encourage you to consider keeping them.  You likely can’t find or buy anything more sturdy.  

But if you do need to update your mid-century kitchen layout, you’ve come to the right place.  We’ll go over all the pros and cons of the common layouts and discuss some ways to improve on them.  Stay tuned for more on total kitchen remodels that change entire layouts in the upcoming episode on how to choose the right Level of Kitchen remodel for your life and budget.

In Today’s Episode You’ll Hear:

• How life has changed but kitchens have generally not kept up since the MCM era [1:20]
• Common mid-century kitchen layout scenarios including the (rare) Single Wall Kitchen [2:55]
• The Galley style Mid-Century Kitchen [4:35]
• The L-Shaped Kitchen Layout [6:30]
• The U-Shaped Kitchen Layout [8:35]
• The (rare) Island Centered Mid-Century Kitchen [10:10]]
• Design Guidelines for MCM Kitchens [12:35]

Get the full show notes with all the trimmings at www.midmod-midwest.com/503

Today’s episode is an interview with Sarah Archer, author of the Mid-century Kitchen. I’m so excited to share this conversation about the history of the mid-century kitchen we all love so much.

We are going to talk about how the mid-century kitchen came about - the influence advertising, war time deprivations, the great depression, freezer goods, keeping up with the Jones and our cold war race to make Russia jealous of capitalism all contributed to the kitchens we pretty much all live in today.  

If you don't have a copy of her book, I highly recommend you get your hands on it! It's filled with interesting history and drool worthy advertising from the era.

In Today’s Episode You’ll Hear:

• Why the mid-century kitchen represents peak American consumerist achievement [1:20]
• An overview of how the modern kitchen evolved over time [2:30]
• How MCM kitchens went hand in hand with early planned obsolescence with high style appliances [4:10]
• Learn how MCM kitchens were supposed to “save your beauty” by saving steps [8:10]
• The logic of the labor saving kitchen … for stay at homes moms [9:25]
• When the kitchen began to open up for entertaining and hanging out [17:00]
• We all live in mid-century kitchens … even if we don’t.  Here’s why [23:45]
• How do we live today in a Mid-Century Kitchen [25:55]

Get the full show notes with all the trimmings at www.midmod-midwest.com/502

There's a saying that the kitchen is the heart of your home.  

That’s a little trite but still true.  The kitchen update is THE first element that I hear about from new clients wanting to plan a remodel.  In any house, of any era, the kitchen is one of the most complex, expensive, and personally specific parts of the home.  

So ... your kitchen update serves as a microcosm of your whole home remodel.  It is just as complicated and important alone as a whole house overhaul can be.  

That means we can approach it in much the same way that I would approach any full remodel plan for a mid-century house.  If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while … you know that means I’m going to say we should have a masterplan to do it well.  

So here’s my advice.  Planning for a kitchen update doesn’t really start with Pinterest or Instagram or Shelter magazines showing you what other people have done.  

It starts with you, your family and your current kitchen.

If you’d like to grab a Roadmap of the 10 Steps along the way of planning a remodel you’ll love … get it here.

In Today’s Episode You’ll Hear:

• What’s coming up in this season - it will be all kitchen updates all the time around here for the next few weeks [0:50]
• Why we can also use a Kitchen update as a microcosm of the entire remodel process [2:45]
• A quick spin through the ten steps any smart home remodel process will include as applied to your kitchen update [4:35] 
• Focus on the first phase of the process (this one gets skipped entirely WAY too often).  You need to start from what you WANT out of a remodel and where you are starting from - the house you have right now [7:20]
• Three through exercises you can use to help get clear on what you want your remodel to do for you (as opposed to just what you want it to look like) [9:15]
• News from Mid Mod Midwest: we are a team of three now! [13:20]
• Recent updates to our custom Midcentury Masterplan Package process.  If you’re planning to give us a call listen to this [14:40]

Get the full show notes with all the trimmings at www.midmod-midwest.com/501

I’ve talked about the value of design planning SO MUCH you might be sick of it.  If so, sorry, not sorry.  Your remodel is your home. It's important!  Creating a master plan for your home update will help you prioritize what you and your home need most ... then make it happen! But you also need to keep an eye on the details. Creating a Style Guide for your project works to keep those "little" things on track the same way. 

First, a word of caution.  I’m not saying that when you’ve done this work, you’ll be done.   This not a matter of  Making a choice once and never have to make it again.  That is an over simplification.  But you CAN make a choice once and then only have to tweak it for each new scenario that comes up. 

Trust me, this helps!

Want some help with this? Give the episode a listen while you download your this easy Style Guide workbook to walk you through some of the decisions you're about to make. It's as easy as filling in the blanks (with the right answers) and a lot of fun too!

Grab the guide right here!

In Today's Episode You'll Hear:

• How a Style Guide is really just a masterplan for all the little details of your home remodel project (and just as useful) [2:05]
• Why brushed nickel handles are a Mid Mod no-no and how to avoid using them and instantly dating your home update! [4:15]
• The difference between a fully bespoke custom designed remodel led by an architect and one managed by Joe Contractor ... but how you can get the best of both worlds (hint it involves a Style Guide) [5:05]
• How to get started [9:05]
• Metals for your Mid-Century home [9:55]
• How to make sure all the wood in your floors, cabinets, walls, trim and furniture plays nicely together [12:10]
• How to have fun with color in an MCM update [15:25]

Get the full show notes with all the trimmings at www.midmod-midwest.com/407

Today, I call on another expert to help explain landscaping for your mid-century home. Listen in while I chat with Sara A. Meier, aka Green Thumb SAM, about how to bring a mid mod vibe ... to your yard!

Sara is a freelance landscape and garden designer who helps homeowners create a road map for their landscape that they can implement or give to a qualified landscape contractor to install.  I became fascinated with her work by following her super instagram account @GreenThumbSAM where she documents her design projects and gives helpful tips about plants and how to arrange them. 

Sara's home base in Boise Idaho has a lot of Mid-Century homes and she's become an expert in designing "outdoor rooms" which complement and highlight the MCM houses of her clients. 

I know you'll enjoy our chat chat. We talk about how her childhood in the landscapes of her grandparents' yards made her want to grow up to design tree houses for grownups. She'll share what she learned from years curating a Japanese garden that she applies to her work today 

And she explains EXACTLY where to start yourself when you plan the landscaping for your mid-century home. As I was editing our chat for the podcast I kept wanting to stop and listen from the start to take notes! 

Grab the links and show notes at midmod-midwest.com/406

Mid-Century ranch houses appeal to just about everyone. They are great starter homes for young families and just as great for couples looking to age in place over time. They also work well for people with disabilities … especially with a few essential updates. Today let’s talk about how to make sure your remodel improves your home’s accessibility!

IN TODAY’S EPISODE YOU’LL HEAR …

• A quick over view of the Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA [2:35]
• Some history of how Americans have planned for people with disabilities in the past (spoiler: it wasn’t great) [3:30]
• A guess as to why MCM homes are so much more accessible than earlier eras’ homes [6:40]
• How to bring added accessibility into your remodel plans [8:30]

Get show notes (with diagrams) at www.midmod-midwest.com/405

Do you ever think of remodeling your ranch as a strike for sustainability? I do. There are so many ranches across America waiting to be someone's dream home ... and choosing one to remodel is green - as in sustainable - compared to any new construction except maybe the most dramatic of Passivhaus or LEED Certified new homes. 

Why? Because the choice to remodel is green, inherently. You are protecting undeveloped space, cutting down on building materials and waste, and keeping your home smaller. Good on you!

But you can still plan your remodel to be even more sustainable by keeping a few key concepts in mind. 

In today's episode you'll hear ...

• Jump right to why remodeling can be greener than any kind of new building [2:10]
• Why good designers love "problems" and "constraints" and how they can make your home better [6:00]
• How to make any remodel more sustainable [6:45]
• Add natural light as much as possible [7:05]
• Plan for passive solar [8:25]
• Embrace Thermal Delight instead of controlling for perfect temperatures [10:10}
• Remember that small is beautiful [11:30]
• Choose your materials and other finishes carefully [13:00]
• Avoid trendiness [14:20]
• Remember that good design takes time. Try to give yourself time to discover what will matter most to you in your remodel [16:05]

Find links and detailed show notes at midmod-midwest.com/404.

In the 70 plus years since mid century ranches were built, these homes have had a lot of different stories, different owners, and different histories. Some have changed hands many time; some have been in a single family since the day they were built.  Whether your ranch is an MCM time capsule or flip, I can help you figure out how to make it your own..  

What's the diff: MCM time capsule or flip

I’ll discuss these as opposites, the extremes question today to give you a sense of the most intense cases. However, odds are your own mid century ranch fall somewhere in the middle. 

Just maybe though, I'll be speaking straight to you when I describe what it’s like to move into a single-owner ranch that’s been well-maintained and never really changed since the era in which it was built. 

Or I might be talking to YOU about the special challenge of buying a house because it’s in the right place at the right time for you, even though it’s been flipped and stripped of its most or all of its original MCM character. If you love mid century houses you’ll be looking for a way to reset the house  to match its origins 

I’m kind of a remodeling optimist so we are going to talk about the positive either way. 

So ... which kind of house do you have?

On which end of that spectrum does your house fall?  Send me an instagram DM or drop an email to let me know. 

In today's episode you'll hear ...

• How to figure out your Mid Century Style with my easy and fun quiz. TAKE IT HERE to find your style and get my customized style guide [1:15]
• What I mean by "chipped and flipped:" I'm looking at YOU Chip and Joanna Gaines with your painted brick, white everything, and shaker cabinet doors! [2:45]
• An overview of the MCM time capsule or flip dichotomy [3:45]
• Why I'm a remodeling optimist. There are pros (and cons) to either situation [5:05]
• Jump straight to the vintage time capsule style house and what to do in it [6:00]
• The upside of a flip ... and what to do with yours [11:00]

Grab the links and show notes at www.midmod-midwest.com/403

Some people are looking for their turn key dream house but others want a fixer upper they can make their own. Fixing up modest little ranch houses into mid mod show pieces is kind of my jam.  I have some THOUGHTS on how to choose a house that you can remodel well.

Here are this architect's ideas for how to win at the house hunting game.

In today's episode you'll hear ...

• Skip to the short version of my house hunting (for a fixer upper) tips right here [1:35]
• Advice from a few of my favorite local realtors on the Madison housing market [4:25]
• How (and why ) to assemble a home buying team [6:00]
• Prepare for a hot market ... even in or maybe because of the pandemic [9:30]
• Zero in on the right location and site orientation [11:00]
• How to Goldilocks your way to the right level of rundown. ID the difference between maintenance issues and big expensive problems [13:25]
• How to look for secret spaces inside a house [15:35]
• Embrace the weird and dated finishes ... and a bad layout for a best buy [16:15]

Find links and the longer show notes at www.midmod-midwest.com/402/

Finding the right Mid-Century home to make your own is an exciting challenge for a first time home buyer. To kick off Season Four of Mid Mod Remodel, this week I chat with my sister, KJ Hansmann. She is in the earliest “Zillow” phase of planning to buy a modest MCM ranch to fix up with her partner.

We’ve been talking about her house hunt process so much in recent weeks. Finally, I realized that I should capture it for the podcast. Listen in as we dish on some family history, chat about why she’s choosing to live near her work place and have some fun discussing this essential phase of any millennial’s house hunt!

In Today's Episode, you'll hear: 

• An Invite to come ask me for design advice. I'm really booked up at the moment but that just means you should jump in the queue. Use the form on my services page to reach out [1:15]
• My intro to Season FOUR of Mid Mod Remodel and what's coming up [2:10]
• Our chat starting with how my sister believed she would never be a homeowner but how COVID changed her mind [4:10]
• How she, her boyfriend and two high energy cats have kept up two full time jobs and the kick off of her PhD within the four walls of their ONE BEDROOM APARTMENT [5:00]
• The great triumph of her quarantine house updating: when I talked her through mounting a black out shade using a power drill via zoom [7:15]
• The AMAZING murals of Banyan Bridges and how KJ is absolutely planning to get one created for her new home as soon as its hers. [8:40]
• Using my Ready To Remodel course content to workshop what it is they really want and identify their key deal-breakers before they even find a realtor [9:40]
• Various Apartment Update rules we've broken and bent in the past and howe well that's gone for us in the past. [13:00]
• How the "Super into Zillow" phase can help you identify what can be updated in a fixer upper and what can't be easily remodeled [13:50]
• One of which is the neighborhood. A little rant from both of us on the importance of walkable, well connected, socially varied neighborhoods and living where you work [17:20]

Find the show notes with all links at www.midmod-midwest.com/401