Mid-Century Modern House Flip | Check out this little slide show for some inspiration from California on remodeling a mid-century home for today's modern lifestyle. Enjoy your Sunday. Cheers!
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I was online today in search of some retro style countertops for my distinctly mid-century kitchen. I came across this fun and informative site. Enjoy! RetroRenovation
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Affordable Remodeling that is not Black and White If you've been with me over years of remodeling homes and retail spaces you would have heard me say, during my efforts to be creative and economic, “It’s all about the paint and lighting.” It was over this philosophy that I bonded with Scott Courtenay-Smith last Tuesday night sharing glasses of Spanish red at the Battery Park Book Exchange. Scott is owner and resident artist of “Renovate with Color.” We all know about Design-Build companies. Scott refers to his company as a Design-Paint company. Get it? I first heard about Scott on the weekend pages of the Citizen Times. His work was featured in the “Home of the Week” section where he transferred a North Asheville, mid-century ranch into a creative retreat for a couple of IBM Executives who moonlight as potters. How perfectly Asheville! He combined a bold color palette mixed with vintage Asian illustrations from the couple’s travels. Scott's inspiration ignites directly from the home or business owner using what they have as the nexus to begin the transformative and aesthetic dialogue. The clients were comforted in the way Scott included them throughout his process, so they felt even closer to the final result.For a business client, understanding their branding is important to Scott and he likes to illustrate their story with his color and graphic choices. Recently, he noticed how the local Benjamin Moore store missed an opportunity by painting the outside of their store a muddy brown. Given the richness and history of the paint company, Scott approached them with his own vision that captured their branding at a billboard scale to grab the attention of the driving audience on busy Merrimon Ave. The result reflects the story of the business itself.Another component that Scott feels is important to his work is the green aspect. He is able to bypass extensive remodeling and waste while transforming a space completely with paint. Once, he convinced a residential client to keep their kitchen cabinets and let him rework them. They were thrilled with the dramatic change, the expert paint treatment he provided and the money they saved in the process. No cabinets and hardware were harmed in the process and, more importantly, they did not end up in the landfill.For merely $125, Scott will come to your business or residence for a one-hour consultation. He follows that up with a summary report and a master color palette tailored for your project. Given the nature of today's economy and home values it sounds like an appropriate alternative for your investment dollars. More with less. I get it. Article by Troy Winterrowd
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I recently toured 10 Crowningway in one of my favorite Asheville neighborhoods, Sunset Summit, just off Town Mountain Rd. The current owners, Bradley and Peggy Holmes, purchased the 1964 built, Bert King home in 2006. Having lived in it for a few years they were slowly exploring renovating the home when a pipe burst causing extensive damage and forcing them to seek repairs. This presented the opportunity to expand and bring the house into the future at the same time.As I pulled into the drive of the home I did not recognize it from the photos as I had found from its 2006 MLS listing. It was similar, but not the same house. I pulled out again to check the address. This was it. The confusion stemmed from the house looking so originally 60’s that I thought I was at the wrong house in the same neighborhood of mid-century homes. The house had seamlessly been altered within its original aesthetic. The owners had been careful to match the original wood siding and other appropriate details. Cool! Mid-Century MakeOvers - Allow me to pause and make a point here. You will often see around the country and in Asheville mid-century and ranch homes that get a traditional makeover by their owners and become a mix of conflicting styles. In Asheville you will witness many being “dragged out” in craftsman style garb such as windows, doors and siding. The end result is conflicting and uncomfortable and often times challenging to sell. I find that maintaining the homes true nature is the best way to go long term. Let's look at people as an analogy. We have all watched those make over shows where they find people who are 40-something trying to wear clothes of a 20 year old, a man trying to hide his balding head with a come-over or a woman trying to shove her breasts into a shirt that is way too small. Without fail the fashion expert will make them over wearing clothes that fit their true proportions and nature, age appropriate and working with their natural bones. In the end they look more fashionable, approachable and walk with more integrity by doing less. The same is true of a house. You don’t have to be a designer to know that it just feels right. Keep it simple and work with what you have. In continuing with my tour I found that the entry space was the most visible, but subtle departure from the original styling. The contemporary slat wall was crafted by a local artist, Craig Wies, using slats of rich Walnut. The choice was a personal statement and reflection of Brad’s upbringing in Pennsylvania and memories of building family homes using walnut off the land. To avoid isolating this feature they tied the wood into the entry flooring and the cap to the kitchen cabinetry.Originally, the home had no internal stairs to the basement. In removing the flooded and damaged laundry from this area and expanding it in the front they created an expansive entry and circulation area. As I toured the bedroom wings there was mention of the house having been expanded in one area to allow for a closet and other closets and doors being rearranged. If they hadn’t told me I would have thought it was all original. Again, it was seamless in its updating. This played out further in the den. Despite closing off an entry to the living space and rearranging a closet they were able to salvage all the paneling and place it back. The warm wood maintained the integrity of what was appropriate to the period and lifestyle keeping the contemporary and cozy feeling of the room while adding a needed third bedroom to the home.Overall, the house was clean, open and comfortable like most of the Bert King homes I have been in. I can’t say much more than they just feel right. Peggy states, “Some architects bring the outside in, but she feels that Bert King's designs really bring the inside out.” They definitely balance function and flow and make for a quality livable home for generations. Just ask the Holmes who plan to live a quality life in their own for many years. I commend them for their sensitve updating to this Bert King classic contemporary home and hope they inspire others to do the same.