Mad About Mid-Century? How to Incorporate Mid-Century Modern Touches

Add Mid-century modern touches to your home

Mid-century modern describes a type of architecture that sprang up in the post-war years and brought with it lots of light, dens, patio time, and open concept floor plans. Maybe when you hear “mid-century modern,” you envision the Brady Bunch’s California home or scenes from Mad Men. Or perhaps you admire the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright whose timeless designs remain immensely popular around the world.

Even though the Denver area is not rife with mid-century modern homes, with a few exceptions, you can still bring in elements of mid-century design without having to start from scratch. Below we’ve identified features of this design aesthetic and reasons to ask your remodeling company to incorporate them into your home renovation.

• Floor to Ceiling Windows

Mid-century modern design is characterized by a need to blend the interior and exterior of the home. One way to bring the outside in is to bring in more light and with it, views of the exterior.

The advantages include:

• The beneficial effect of more sun on your mood
• How light can make a small space seem larger

The downsides include:

• Seeing more of your neighbors (than you may like) and vice versa
• Heat loss unless you purchase high end windows

• Built-ins

Perhaps you will store artwork or books in your built ins or if you’re more the entertaining type, a bar!

Many recently built homes feature a basement bar that is quite large and may go unused, after all, most are built in the basement. Since the basement is far from the kitchen where most people congregate, why not add a built in bar feature just off of your existing kitchen and dining area?

• Emphasis on Indoor/Outdoor Living

As discussed in #1, incorporating more windows is one way to bring the outdoors in and blur the lines between your home’s interior and exterior. Many mid-century modern homes have multiple glass doors that lead out to the same outdoor space. Bonus: if you have a brightly colored chiminea to gather around! Many mid-century modern homes are smaller and creating a flow between the indoors and yard makes the entire home seem larger.

• Keep the walls white!

You don’t need a contractor for this, just a willingness to allow the walls to be bright white. It can be hard, especially with children, but white walls with sporadic modern looking artwork is an important part of remaining true to a mid-century modern feel.

• Open Floor Plan

An open living/dining/kitchen is a hallmark of the mid-century modern design. Architects sought a “flow” in the most heavily occupied areas of the home. Thankfully, a trusted renovator like Castle Builds can advise homeowners which walls are load bearing and which are easier to remove.

Finally, your home should reflect your unique tastes! If mid-century modern is the style you seek, contact us at (303) 944-0488 and we can renovate your home in a groovy way.