I work with three distinct types of mid century homeowners.Which one are you?✨ Are you a brand new mid century homeowner still unpacking your boxes? ✨ Have you had your house a couple years now with a number of DIY projects under your belt?✨ Or have you lived in your ranch for decades making do with what it is and learning to live with its  challenges?Short answer: It doesn’t matter which one you are, the master plan model is still what you need to make the most of your home.  If you want to create a Perfect Remodel for your mid century home but you’re not sure where to start.  I get it!  Want to know the good news?  The Master Plan method will work for you no matter which one you are.Listen in to see why it is the right answer for each of the classic MCM homeowner types!Grab the show notes right here: www.midmod-midwest.com/608/ARE YOU READY TO START PLANNING??If you’re ready to dive in and get started on master planning, THIS is the week to take action because enrollment for the ready to remodel program is open right now … but only until 5pm on Friday - that’s tomorrow if you’re listening to this fresh off the press on Thursday morning.  Join us on the inside of Ready to Remodel to get step by step guidance to making mid-century master plan for your remodel dreams.  You get: video (and audio lessons) workbooks to take you through each phasea community of like minded remodelers on the same journeyseven week of group coaching from mePlus tons of bonus materials including:coaching on where to find the TIME to planthe Design-O-Matic flow chart to simplify picking your finishes and fixturesthe contractor selection system I use  my mid-century design guides  - basically a download of everything I’ve learned in my work as an architect - in a series of videos and workbooks.  You can join this fall cohort of Mid -Century Remodelers until 5pm Friday. Here’s the link:   https://midmod-midwest.com/replay/

Mid Mod Remodel

Who needs a Master Plan ... I bet YOU do!

Nothing is more expensive in a remodel than changing your mind after construction is underway.  It will tank your timeline too.  The best way I know to avoid both of those problems - to save time and money as you remodel - well (Surprise) it’s a master plan.  The cost of construction has rarely been higher.  Everyone wants to remodel and there aren&apos;t enough skilled tradespeople or (boards of cedar) to go around.  Delays and high costs are somewhat inevitable.  BUT there is one lever that the homeowner can still control - how much of a decision making bottle neck, crisis generator or way smoother YOU are in the process.  Some chaos is inevitable, sure.  But you as a homeowner can pull your self back out of the equation and save time and money with a good master plan.Grab the show notes at www.midmod-midwest.com/607/Want to know more about making a Master Plan for your remodel?  For the past 5 years I’ve been working with Mid-Century Homeowners to plan home updates they LOVE using my Master Plan Method framework.⁠⁠  I’m teaching this framework in a FREE MASTERCLASS next TUESDAY.  Want to be there?  Sign up today!!https://midmod-midwest.com/signup/

How a Master Plan Saves Remodeling Time and Money

When you’re at a loss for how to solve some particular problem area of your mid-century house, your go-to resource should not be HGTV, and it should not be whatever they are pushing this week at Home Depot might be. Those are solutions for non-ranch houses.  The key is to play to your home’s strengths.  Mid-Century Houses are great!  They don’t need much to take them from a bit tired and looking their age to the very peak of retro modern vogue. But there are some ways that homes built for mid-century people don’t fit our modern lives.  If you need some MCM remodeling ideas to solve your style or layout problems, you’ve got two great resources at your finger tips.You can dive back into the origins for MCM design or you can just check out what other people have done to solve the same problem in their Mid mod houses.   Listen in for more!Grab the show notes at www.midmod-midwest.com/606.Want more Great MCM Remodeling IdeasGet on the wait list for the free MCM remodel Planning class on October 12th!!

Where to find Great MCM Remodeling Ideas

I suspect you might be a little like me, and find yourself scrolling on social media more than you mean to these days!  This is where we catch up on news from our friends, check out all the latest pictures of the little ones in our lives, and … bask in beautiful midcentury imagery!But if you’re thinking about any home update projects, you could be putting some of that social media scroll time to really good use by using it to effectively plan and brainstorm for your remodel.Wouldn’t that be nice?To make this happen you really don’t have a change to current behavior.  You just need to make sure that in addition to seeing and liking beautiful things for homes on social media you’re also capturing those ideas in a way that will allow you to come back and find them again.Tune in for some practical tips and tricks to turn your scroll time into concrete, actionable remodel planning.  I’m serious!  Grab the show notes at www.midmod-midwest.com/605.Want more help thinking about your Remodel BudgetGet on the wait list for this fall’s Ready to Remodel course!!

Turn Scrolling MCM Instagram into a Remodeling Action Plan

The common wisdom is that you should save up money for a remodel and then plan one that fits your budget. I want to pitch an alternate plan. It can be better to let the design drive the budget, rather than the other way around. Let&apos;s talk about diving into your master plan before you decide what your home update should cost.Try a hybrid approach.  Keep your ballpark budget in mind.  But rather than asking “How much kitchen can I get for $XXX, spend the time to think about what you really want from your home.  Then you can set out accomplish that WITHIN YOUR SCALE and discover out what that will realistically cost.  It’s a cycle of design, budget, design, with multiple opportunities to assess.Grab the show notes at midmod-midwest.com/604.Want more help thinking about your Remodel Budget? Get on the wait list for this fall’s Ready to Remodel course!!

Design your Remodel BEFORE you set the Budget

While today’s episode is all about how lead your remodel like a woman, it is also universally good advice for anyone planning to take on a home update.  If you want clarity and confidence to direct how your remodel can go … this is what you need to do!Knowledge is power. Empower yourself to lead your home remodel by gathering as much information as you can about your house and focusing your plans for it.  If this all sounds like the advice I give about building a Master Plan for your project … it IS! All the parts of the Master Plan Method are designed to empower you to lead with confidence.  Plan your work and then work your plan.  You’ve got this!Grab the show notes at www.midmod-midwest.com/603.

Smash the Patriarchy: Take the Lead on Your Remodel Like a Woman

What do you think of when I tell you that you can personalize your home? Does it call to mind choosing furniture, painting the front door, and perhaps eradicating the color "mint-green" from a house that still feels a bit like it belongs to the previous owner? Those are all great things to do. But I’m what I&apos;m talking about here is adjusting the house - sometimes its very layout and structure - to meet YOUR family&apos;s particular needs.  So much of what you see on HGTV and in shelter magazines is just cookie cutter updates. They focus on making a standard house more luxurious or bringing up to date in cookie cutter ways.  If you are going to take the time, and spent the money and live through the stress of a  home remodel, I want you to end up with a house that makes your home dreams come true. For a perfect example of what I mean by that, today I’m going to chat with my little sister who’s been busily customizing her new home ALMOST since the last time we spoke to her on the podcast last fall.  Grab the show notes to see plans of her remodel, pics of her adventurous painting projects and to learn more about how you can personalize your house int a home that&apos;s just for you!Grab the show notes at www.midmod-midwest.com/602.

It's your House - Now make it your Home

A great home remodel needs more than a good floor plan. It needs a master plan.Having a master plan is more than pinning a bunch of things you like. It&apos;s more than having the furnace guy or the roofing guy come out and say, &apos;Oh yep. Your home inspector was right. Plan for a remodel.&apos; And it&apos;s more than having a perfectly tidy, organized blueprint for your house. A master plan is your guide for the entire remodeling journey. It&apos;s a travel book you create for yourself to set the home update on the right track.I believe no homeowner should remodel without one. I create a master plan for every one of my clients with my Mid-Century Master Plan Package.It&apos;s also what I teach people to create for themselves in my Ready to Remodel program. This online course takes people through every step they need to plan a perfect MCM remodel. The community we create around the process is made up of homeowners all working through the same steps. So sit back and close your eyes or grab a notebook. Because today we&apos;re going to talk about the hows, the whys and the whats of the master planning process.Grab the show notes at www.midmod-midwest.com/601/.

Your Remodel needs a Master Plan not a Floor Plan

Don&apos;t have time or the budget to plan something really big for your kitchen right now? You can still have a kitchen you love with a Level One quick kitchen update.This week we’ll be discussing quick fix, small budget, DIY solutions that turn your house into one you can live with while you wait to remodel. And sometimes, this is all you need if your house is pretty close to what you want. This week’s quick kitchen update ideas are the most budget and time friendly option. So, if you can&apos;t afford to do more, rather than do nothing, do just a little bit of the right thing and with planning, you can still achieve a great result. A quick kitchen update is the best option for anyone who&apos;s planning to do a big remodel later. Don&apos;t live with a house you don&apos;t love while you budget and save for a big change; take a few concrete steps to make the place your own and love it while you wait.In Today’s Episode You’ll Hear:A recap of the three levels of a kitchen remodel [0:50]The concept of a Level One Remodel and how your home may benefit from small changes [2:45]Mistakes I made in my own remodel and what you can do instead [4:00]Clever ways to paint your way to a kitchen you love [7:20]How to alter your cabinets to increase the sense of space in your kitchen [9:20]Easy solutions for changing your kitchen floor to something beautiful [11:05]Purchases you can make right now to transform the look and function of your kitchen [11:30]Get the show notes with all the extras at www.midmod-midwest.com/508

Quick Kitchen Update Ideas to try Right Now

Is your kitchen actually too small or does it just feel too small?  What Kitchen problems are you really trying to solve with your remodel?  Let’s make sure you know the answer!A crucial step in planning a successful remodel is understanding the scale that you are looking to take on and knowing what kitchen problems you are really trying to solve.   Once you know those two things you can find a solution that works for your budget and home.  This week, we will be exploring the difference between a level 2 and level 3 kitchen remodel and importance of solving the underlying issue, not just the surface problem.The difference between a level two and a level three remodel is not necessarily the scale of the finished result or even how well it turns out, but the difference of priority between cost and time. While you&apos;re carrying out one of these two kinds of remodels you&apos;ll feel the difference very distinctly, but once they&apos;re completed, they can both have accomplished the same sort of dramatic, even magical transformation of your home.Identifying the real layout kitchen problems you need to solve with your remodel often comes down to asking yourself what you don’t like about the kitchen you have … and then calling on your inner three year old to ask ‘but why is ___?” two or three more times.   Have a listen to learn more!In Today’s Episode You’ll Hear:Why and when you should lockdown and finalize  the scale of your kitchen remodel [0:45]The logic of picking apart a problem to discover the underlying issues in your home [3:00]Ways of creating the feeling of spaciousness without adding square footage [4:20]Reasons you may need to reduce the number of tasks your kitchen is trying to carry out [7:35]The big benefits of a tiny bump-out addition [9:00]Why you might reduce the pathways to increase circulation [10:05]The unusual issue of a kitchen that is too big [11:35]When to move the kitchen around the house or the house around the kitchen [12:15]Things to consider and goals to have for your kitchen remodel [14:20]Get the show notes with all the extras at www.midmod-midwest.com/507

Spot Your REAL Kitchen Problems … then use Design to Solve Them in a Mid-sized Remodel

A good kitchen remodel is more than pretty new appliances and tile.  It really needs to work on a number of levels - it needs to be sturdy and safe, it needs to be practical and it still needs to look lovely.  That’s a lot to keep track of which is why - like every home remodeler - you need a master plan to get the kitchen planned the right way!  Today we discuss how to put together a master plan for your remodel, what it is good for along the way and what it needs to include to do the job right!  Want our help to Master Plan your whole Remodel?  Click HERE!In Today’s Episode You’ll Hear:The three elements needed for good design and their origin [0:45]The making of a kitchen personalized to you lifestyle [1:45]The benefit of a master plan to organize and achieve your goals [2:30]A masterplan is an ongoing and living document that can change with your changing preferences [3:40]A masterplan is a powerful communication tool when meeting with contractors [4:35]A masterplan helps document the assets and shortcomings of your home and create a clearer vision of the final goal [5:00]A masterplan helps focus the scale and budget of your remodel [7:45]The importance of showing your ideas to others and getting multiple perspectives [10:45]The kitchen specific components of our Master Plan Package [15:30]Get the show notes with all the extras at www.midmod-midwest.com/506

Yes! Your Kitchen Remodel DOES Need a Master Plan

Will your kitchen remodel stand the test of time or look dated in five short years?  One of the best ways to make sure that your kitchen update won’t feel immediately out of date is to seed it with ideas from the original idea.  If your house was built in the MCM era, looking to mid-century materials for inspiration is the way to go!Today’s episode breaks down what you need to consider when you plan for the finished and fittings of your kitchen update, how to organize your plans for easy use and why you need to construct a Style Guide for the remodel to keep everything running smoothly.  To keep your the mid-century materials for your remodel cohesive, make sure you are working with a style guide for the project.  Grab my free workbook to help you create a style guide for your own remodel right here!  In Today’s Episode You’ll Hear:How to set your remodel plans by aligning them with the house’s origin story [1:05]Why it may be impossible to fully trend-proof your remodel but why you should try [3:25]How to use a style guide to simplify and streamline your mid-century material choices [5:25]A run down of good material choices for the kitchen [6:40]The “pick two” rule for making beautifully designed mid-century material choices [10:20]When to make bold choices for your remodel [11:55]Where to find ideas and how to organize them [12:45]Get the full show notes with all the trimmings at www.midmod-midwest.com/505

How to Choose Mid-century Materials for your Kitchen Remodel

Let’s talk about our friend the building code.  Why am I so excited about this topic that usually elicits a set  of grumpy complaints?  Because the kitchen building code and the inspectors who enforce it are meant to keep us safe and secure.  Following code needn’t be a hassle or make you tie your design process into knots.  As long as you can see potential kitchen code issues coming you can address them with ease.  So let’s pay close attention to some kitchen building code issues today.  With a little  knowledge in your back pocket, you’ll be ready to confidently talk to designers, installers, sub contractors and city officials about what you plan for your kitchen building code compliant home update!My goal isn’t to make you an expert on the building code. You don’t need to be one.   But if you know what to expect before you pick up the phone to solicit a contractor&apos;s bid, you’ll be better prepared for the advice they give and the cost they quote for the work. In Today’s Episode You’ll Hear:Why knowing some of the details about the kitchen building code can be important to you … even if you are hiring professionals to do all of the work [1:40]What to ask about in a call with your friendly neighborhood building inspector [2:50]Some history of how building codes came to exist in America and their pervasive influence on our built environment [5:00]Electrical Building Code for kitchens [9:00]Exhaust and venting needs for modern kitchens [11:00]Structural Code issues that might come up with a kitchen remodel [11:15]Zoning Code adjacent issues (if you plan to add on with your kitchen update) [12:00]Fire Safety Code that  comes up for Mid-Century Kitchen Projects [12:20]Get the full show notes with all the trimmings at www.midmod-midwest.com/504

Kitchen Building Code Issues You Should Know About before you Remodel

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

Solving Mid-century Kitchen Layout Problems

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&apos;t have a copy of her book, I highly recommend you get your hands on it! It&apos;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

The History of the Mid-Century Kitchen with Sarah Archer

Do you live in a Mid-Century Ranch? Are you curious about an MCM house and wondering what it would take to renovate? Or are you just a fan of all things Mid-Century Modern? Mid Mod Remodel is the podcast where you learn how to match a mid-century home to your modern life. Your host, Della Hansmann is an architect who helps people remodel their Mid-century homes and mid mod homeowner fixing up1952 ranch. Learn what makes mid-century homes great, the common elements of MCM homes that nearly always need updating, and how any homeowner can plan the mid-century remodel of their dreams.

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Mid Mod Remodel

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