Monthly Mid-Century Makeover

Bedrooms

When it comes to renovating your home retro style bedrooms can be the simplest, but there are two main challenges to over come. 

Size - If you purchased a mid-century home the first thing you probably noticed was the teeny tiny bedrooms. In the '50s families spent time together in the living room and bedrooms were meant for sleeping, that's it. That means no televisions, no video games, no spending all your time alone in your room. See my page on how to renovate your living room into a space your family will enjoy being in.

Storage - With small bedrooms comes small closets. We'll discuss storage tips commonly used in the '50s a little later on.  

Basic Design

Color - As I mentioned in the segment on living room makeovers, the general color scheme you choose should flow throughout your home, and this includes the bedroom. The main reason for this is the ability to move furniture around your home when needed without colors clashing. Remember, general means just that, you don't need to have the EXACT same wall color and furniture color in each room, but they should be in the same spectrum.

Style - Style of furniture and decor varied greatly and depended on one's personal taste. Some of the most popular styles at the time were Old American, Modern, and Glamorous. 

 Glamorous master bedroom, 1953

Modern master bedroom, 1954

Furniture - A master bedroom would typically contain a minimal amount of furniture, most often only a bed, two nightstands, and a dresser. A particularly large or glamorous master suite may also contain a vanity or dressing table for the lady of the house. Just like today, it wasn't uncommon for bedroom furniture to be mis-matched hand-me-downs from relatives, so there was no particular style of furniture used above all others. 

Linens - Sheets and linens were very simple, usually plain white, sometimes with a simple stripe or flower pattern. The biggest deal at the time was fitted sheets, so most women didn't care what they looked like so long as they clung to the mattress! Bed covers were almost always family heirlooms. If you don't have an heirloom blanket you may want to take use this renovation as an opportunity to make one if you're crafty, or order a custom one on Etsy. Family traditions always need to start somewhere, why not with you?

 Basic linens, 1958

Basic linens, 1959

Storage - The most common storage solution for tiny closets was to separate clothes by season and only keep what you plan on wearing for the current season in your closet. The rest of the clothing was packed away in a trunk and stored in the the attic or seller until needed. This is a lot easier for us today with vacuum seal bags being fairly inexpensive we can store a lot more clothing in smaller amount of space. However if you're a family living in a mid-century home I strongly suggest making use of your attic space, you paid for that real estate, might as well utilize it!

Bedrooms For Kids

Let's be honest, designing rooms for children is a lot more fun than designing them for adults and it was no different in the '50s. If you have little ones take this opportunity to make their rooms as special and unique as they are!

Color - The color rule that you have used in the rest of your house does not apply to children's rooms, so allow yourself to go wild! Brightly colored walls and large, elaborate murals were quite common. Children may not have spent as much time in their rooms as kids of today do, but it was still important that they had a place just for them. 

 Brightly colored kid's room, 1955

Circus mural, 1955

Furniture - Given the extremely small size of most of the rooms the furniture was quite minimal. The goal for most parents was to give their child a room that would grow with them, so choosing furniture that would still be appropriate for the child in a number of years was important. To save room day beds were built into walls and bunk beds with roll away lower beds were used often. Generally children were given a bed, dresser, and a desk to do their homework. Any more furniture was usually unnecessary (no video games or TVs!) 

 Teen room with roll away lower bunk, 1955

A room to grow in, 1955

Storage - Storage solutions were a lot more creative in the kid's rooms than it was in mom and dad's room. Shelving was built along the walls and around the bed. Some kids would sleep in beds which were like large window seats to save space. Shelving was usually low and doubled as a bench for extra seating area, there was a place for everything. Check out the fish tank built into the desk in the picture below!

 Custom built storage, 1955

 Custom furniture, 1955

Custom desk and shelving, 1955

Room Sharing - If you have a large family, finding a mid-century home with enough rooms for everyone could be next to impossible. Most mid-century homes had 3 bedrooms, one for the parents, one for the boys, and one for the girls. Kid's learned to respect each other's space and share, but there were still some problems. If you have a big enough room, a separator is a great way to give kids their privacy when needed.

 Bunk bed with built in storage, 1955

 Sliding room divider, 1955

To get ideas for the rest of your home, please check out my past mid-century make over segments. 

Renovate your kitchen

Renovate your living room

Renovate your bathroom

Monthly Mid-Century Makeover

Now that the weather is getting cooler you may find the idea of a nice hot bath very appealing, so I decided to focus on bathrooms this month. Bathrooms have always been pretty basic, and the design of them haven't changed too much, compared to other rooms, but we can still have fun with them!

Luxury vs Function

The first thing to decide is what you want to get out of your bathroom, aside from the obvious. Do you want something very basic that functions well and allows you to quickly get ready for your day? Or would you rather have a luxurious bathroom, a place to pamper yourself for hours? This decision will allow you to allocate your money appropriately to ensure you get what want. If you have your eye on that extra deep, jetted bathtub, you may want to skip the designer paint colors and save some money.

       

       Pink luxury bathroom by American Standard 1956       

Basic functional bathroom showcasing Briggs' new color "Coral" 1954

Color

When doing a full house 1950s makeover, the bathroom is one place where the color does not have to tie in with the rest of the house. Pink, or some variation of it, was by far the most popular bathroom color in the 1950s, but it wasn't the only one. Yellow, green, light blue, and white were all popular colors. If you're lucky enough to already have a vintage fixture in your bathroom, such as a sink or tub, that you plan on keeping you may want to base your color scheme around it. Mixing and matching an array of colors was also quite popular. There are no rules when it comes to the bathroom, so have fun with it!

Yellow and black bathroom with green and pink accents 1955

Tiles and Flooring

Like most other rooms in the common Mid Century home, bathroom flooring was often made of plastic or vinyl. It was also quite popular to carpet the bathroom, however I don't recommend it for obvious reasons. To make bathrooms easier to clean, the walls were often tiled or covered in plastic sheeting, not unlike our showers are today. The only difference is they would put up plastic walls or tiles on the entire bathroom. This would make it easy for housewives to spray and wipe clean all bathroom surfaces, including the walls. I personally prefer tiling bathroom walls, but it can be quite pricey depending on the tiles you choose.

I bet you didn't know that before Good Year was making tires for your car, they were making flooring like this in 1952

Pink luxury bathroom by Dow Plastics 1956

Marlite red plastic walls 1952

Easy clean functionality by Crane Plumbing 1958

Plumbing and Fixtures

Like I said earlier, if you're lucky enough to already have some vintage fixtures in your home, keep them! If not, do not fret, options are available to you. If you're planning on having white bathroom fixtures you should have no problems finding new items with a vintage look, such as pedestal sinks. However, if you want colored fixtures, your options will be slightly more limited, and quite a bit more expensive. If you want true vintage check out Ebay, you can usually find what you're looking for there. A word of caution about online shopping, bathroom fixtures listed on Ebay as "pink" are often more of a taupe/light brown color. Before shelling out thousands of dollars for shipping, send a paint sample to the seller to ensure the pink fixture is ACTUALLY pink. This can be true of all colors, but it seems to happen with pink the most. If you want to buy new products there are two companies I know about that sell fixtures in vintage colors, Gerber and Peerless. Unfortunately neither company sells tubs or showers, but if you do a little searching you can probably find a company that will refinish tubs in the color you want, such as the Fine Finish Shop in Lynn, MA.

Briggs' "Sandstone" colored fixtures 1952

Pink Kohler fixtures 1952

White Universal Rundle fixtures 1955

Current available colors from Gerber

Current available colors from Peerless

Faucets and Decor

Since the retro look has been gaining popularity over the past few years, some really fantastic products have become available for your renovation needs. New Retro Bath has an absolutely AMAZING selection of faucets, shower heads, lighting, and more, in an array of vintage styles. If you're renovating your kid's bathroom, or you want to go with something really fun for your own bathroom consider these shower control valves.

Bel Air water flow control valve

Bel Air water flow control valve

Bring the look together with one of these super cute matching sink faucets!

Bel Air water flow control valve

Bel Air water flow control valve

If you're looking for something a little more classic, and perhaps a little less expensive, you can find some pretty nice vintage looking faucets at your local hardware store, and of course Ebay is a good resource for this as well. If you have chosen a more luxurious look for your bathroom, you may want to skip the pedestal sink and go for a nice vintage vanity. That may not seem so luxurious, but in the 50s it was not too common to have a large vanity in your bathroom, it was much more common for a lady to have a small vanity on her side of the bedroom to do her hair and make up. Mid Century homes were almost always built with only one bathroom, even if they had 4 bedrooms, and everyone had to learn to share, so mom could not be occupying the bathroom just to put on her face. Now all that's left to do is hang some colorful towels!

Cannon towels 1956

Cannon towels 1955

Lavanette Beauty Queen vanity 1952

Eljer plumbing fixtures 1956

Well there you have it! All you have to do now is close the door and you're ready to pamper yourself, 50s style!

www.retrorealtygroup.com

                 

Monthly Mid-Century Makeover

Welcome to the second installment of my monthly Mid-Century makeover series. This month will be all about living rooms and the importance of creating a family friendly space in your home. When we think of retro living rooms today, we usually picture boomerang shaped tables and starburst accents, but this was not the norm in the '50s. A sleek, minimalistic look was much more popular in the '50s, which makes recreating the look today much simpler!

Let's start by examining the differences between Mid-Century and modern day living rooms. I'm willing to bet that right now your living room is set up with a television as a focal point, all your furniture is pointed towards it, and spending time with your friends or family in this room usually means staring at the TV in silence. People in the '50s did things a little differently. The television (if there was one at all) was tucked away in the corner, and the furniture was arranged in a way that promoted conversation and socializing. Time spent together in the living room was used to catch up with one another at the end of the day, without television, video games, computers, or smart phones. If quiet, meaningful time spent with your loved ones is what you're looking for, it can be achieved with a reorganization.

Furniture Arrangement 

Focus should be given to flow and openness when creating a Mid-Century living room. The host and hostess should have an easy, clear path between kitchen/dining areas and the living area. An open space concept was very popular in the '50s, so eliminating the clutter is important. 

Furniture should face the the center of the room to allow for easy conversation. If you choose to have a television in this room, place it in a corner area with a comfy chair for occasional viewing. Remember, the purpose of the room is for easy socialization and togetherness, the television should not be the focal point .

A fireplace can make a fantastic focal point in  Mid-Century living room. Sitting in front of a roaring fire with good company is a great way to spend a winter evening. If your fireplace is your focal point, be sure to tie in the stone color and style with the color and style in the rest of the room. 

Furniture

Choosing furniture for you retro living room is easier than you may think. As I mentioned earlier, wacky shaped tables and starburst accents were not the norm in the '50s. Redecorating was usually done on a budget, which meant antiques and hand-me-down furniture was used quite often. New furniture was sleek and modern, usually with tapered legs, and came in all types of fabric and colors. One rule that was followed, however, was keeping the furniture theme the same in all rooms of the house. By doing this, furniture could be brought in from other rooms to accommodate large parties and the hostess wouldn't need to worry about it clashing with their living room decor. 

So whether you choose to re-purpose your old furniture, inherit some antiques from your grandparents, or buy a whole new living room set, it will work with a your new retro style. 

Colors

Color is the most important aspect to this retro renovation. No matter what style you choose, how you organize your furniture, or what type of furniture you choose to use, your color theme is what's going to pull it all together. So what are the Mid-Century rules of color? Well, any color is fine, from the palest neutrals to the most vibrant of colors, choose whichever suits you best. There should be one principal color that is repeated through out the entire house to give your home a sense of unity. 

Each room can have it's own accent color, but the colors should be matched with the colors beside them on the color wheel. It's more common today to match colors with their opposites, but that won't get you an authentic retro look! Repeat the principal color in your furniture, window treatments, and carpeting. 

Bringing it All Together

Now that you have the all the information it's time to begin your renovation! Remember, there's no one "right" way to do this, so let your imagination go wild! Utilize the space in a way that best suits your needs. If you have the space in your home, consider having a TV room or den so you can keep your living room TV free. If you have a large, open space living room, you may want to separate it into multiple functional areas, such as a reading/game area, television area, and socializing area. 

Happy renovating!

Common myths about real estate agents

The reason I became a real estate agent is because I love houses and I love making people happy. There is no better feeling than handing over the keys to first time home buyer. Part of my job as an agent is to know the neighborhoods I work in, and act as a resource to the community. Once a month I deliver a flyer containing info about community events to all the homes in my neighborhood. Every once in a while I receive a rather nasty email or phone call from someone who believes I'm only delivering flyers to him to secretly drive him out of his home. This of course is not the case. I understand there are people who have had bad experiences with an agent, and some people who have been grossly misinformed about what an agent does. So here is a list of some of the most common myths people believe about real estate agents.

1. Real Estate Agents are Like Used Car Salesmen
   False. While it's true that you may encounter one or two fast talking agents in your life who will say anything to make a deal, most do not employ these sorts of sales tactics. The truth is, most agents genuinely care about the well being of their clients and getting them the best deal. Find this hard to believe? What most people don't know is that 50% or more of an agent's business comes from referrals so hurting their clients will only hurt their business.

2. The More You Pay for a House, The More an Agent Makes
False. First off, it's important to remember that, regardless of your agent's input, you are the one who decides how much you will offer a seller for their home. So then why do you need a buyer's agent at all? Because they're negotiators, it's part of their expertise as an agent, and it's why you want one on your side when making one of the biggest purchases of your life. Adding an extra $5000 to your offer will yield your agent approximately $75, so if that's their suggestion to you it's most likely to be in your favor, not theirs. Ask your agent why they're suggesting you make a higher offer. If you don't agree with their reasoning, you can simply make the offer you feel comfortable with.

3. The Less Commission You Pay to Sell, The More you Make
False. Let me start by explaining what happens to the commission you pay your agent. First, half of your agent's commission goes to the buyer's agent.
Then, 30% - 50% or their remaining commission usually goes to their firm. Your agent is now left with approximately a quarter of their original commission, and out of that they market your house, pay their taxes, and of course feed their family.
Now that you know where an agent's commission goes, let's talk about discount agents who will willingly drop their commission price for you, how do they manage that? They generally do one or both of the following:
 1) They cut the buyer's agent commission. Most people don't know that the listing agent decides what the buyer's agent gets in commission. Usually it's 50%, because we all have to work together and we like to be fair. But an agent willing to do discount prices tend to drop the buyer's commission, sometimes as low as 1%. This will affect the sale of your home, because a buyer's agent needs to feed their family as well and won't be too eager to show your home such a small commission.
 2) They cut the amount they spend to market your home.
To put it simply, you get what you pay for!

4. Agents Get Kickbacks from Lenders, Inspectors, and Others They Recommend to You
False. The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, or RESPA, has prevented agents from receiving kickbacks since 1974. It is illegal for any agent to receive kickbacks and most will not risk losing their license for that sort of temptation.

5. An Agent's Home Inspector Will Always Favor the Agent
False. It is illegal for an agent to hide material facts about a house from the buyer, and by doing so they risk being sued. Like I mentioned earlier, a good agent will care about the well being of their clients, and will fight to get repairs done on the house. Agents will always recommend inspectors they've worked with in the past, because they know they will provide you with the service you deserve, but you are always free to choose your own inspector.

6. All Real Estate Agents Are Rich
False. The average annual salary of an agent in Washington is less than $40,000 a year. Half of all agents close an average of 4 deals a year, and some close even less or none at all.

7. Agents Must Tell You About The Ethnic-Makeup of a Neighborhood
False. Any agent who discloses this sort of information to you is violating Federal Fair Housing laws, which protect certain classes from discrimination. These laws also prevent agents from disclosing information about local school districts and crime rates. If you are a seller, your agent should not be expected to disclose the race, sex, religion, familial status, handicap, or sexual orientation of any person making an offer on your home.

8. Agents Will Say Anything to Sell a House
False. Any misrepresentation made on purpose by an agent is illegal and could cause them to lose their license and even spend time in prison. While you may come across this type of agent once in awhile, most will not be willing to jeopardize their business. Once again, most agents want to give their clients the very best service possible.

9. It's the Agent's Job to Sell Your House, You Shouldn't be Expected to Help
False. Selling a house requires teamwork, and at the end of the day it's YOUR house and YOUR money, so don't you want to do everything you can to get the best deal? When your agent asks you to keep your home tidy for an open house, or suggests you put a fresh coat of paint on the walls, it's in your best interest to do so.

10. An Agent Doesn't do Anything to Sell Your Home that You Couldn't do Yourself
False. You can put a for sale sign in your yard, put some ads online, and hold an open house, so why would you need an agent? That's all they're going to do, right? Wrong. Listing with an agent means your home will be priced accurately, it will be listed on the MLS and, if you have a good agent, hundreds of other real estate sites. Your agent will have a large database of clients looking for homes, as well as a database of hundreds of other agents who have their own clients, giving your listing much more exposure to able home buyers than if you listed it on your own. FSBO on generally sell their homes for less than they're worth because they lack the negotiating skills an agent would bring to the table, so at the end of the day they really aren't saving any money by not using an agent.

11. Agents Will Try to Force You to Sell Your House
False. Have you ever had an agent knock on your door, or leave a pamphlet on your porch, and thought to yourself "How dare they come right up to my door and try to force me to sell my home? If I want to sell my house I will find an agent myself!"? Probably. So if they aren't trying to force you to sell your home, what else could they possibly want? Well, I'll tell you the great secret. They want you to think about them, that's it. Real estate, like many other careers, is a competitive business. There are many more agents than there are homes being bought a sold, and the only way for an agent to survive is to let people know they exist. Of course, as I've said before, there are always a few rotten apples in the bunch who like to harp on people about selling their homes. The truth of the matter is no one can force you to sell your home, or buy a home you don't want.

What are your negative beliefs about real estate agents? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

When it comes to pricing your home for sale, pricing it right the first time is extremely important. This post will cover how to find the correct price range using a CMA, and the basic Dos and Don'ts of home pricing.

What is a CMA?

A CMA, or Comparative Market Analysis, is the process of comparing your home with similar homes in your area which are for sale, or which have recently sold. This process will give you the best price range for your home on the current market. Performing a CMA on your own can be difficult and should be done by a knowledgeable Real Estate Agent. Some agents, like myself, will perform CMAs free of charge for For Sale By Owner homes.

What Affects the Price of Your Home?

Location - An undesirable neighborhood will bring down the cost of the nicest home in the area, while a highly desirable neighborhood will bring up the price of the tiniest fixer-upper. 

Size - In general, the larger the square footage, the higher the price will be. However, a house that is too big may be tougher to sell because the population of buyers who can afford it will be smaller.

Condition - The general upkeep of a home over the years will greatly affect the selling price. It's important to remember a house is an investment and keeping up with maintenance is essential in getting a return on your investment.

Current Market Trends - More than anything else, the value of a house will be affected by current market trends. Your real estate agent should be able to tell you if you're currently in a seller's market, or a buyer's market.

What Doesn't Affect the Price of Your Home

To put it quite simply, What you spent on it, what you want to make on it, what your friends or neighbors say, and improvements you've made on it will NOT affect the price of your home.

Focus on What You Can Control

Finding out your home is not worth quite what you were hoping for can be frustrating. Focusing on the things you can't control, which are the location, size, and market trends, will get you nowhere. Instead, focusing on what you CAN control, such as the condition on the house, repairs, and curb appeal, can raise the price of your home and benefit you in the long run.

Importance of Pricing it Right the First Time

Pricing your home correctly from the beginning, based on the CMA, will garner the most attention, help sell your home quickly, and bring you the best price possible. In a seller's market when prices are moving up, list your house at the higher end of the price range. By the time your listing hits the market it will have caught up to rising market and won't be underpriced. In a buyer's market you will want to do the opposite and price your home at the lower end of your price range. This will help you avoid over pricing your home in a market where prices are falling.

The Dangers of Overpricing 

An overpriced home will not garner much attention from potential buyers, and will sit on the market for far too long. The longer a house is on the market, the less attention it will get, it will quickly become old news. These houses will often become stigmatized. Pricing it right after the fact will be too late, as buyers will see how long the house has been on the market and come to the conclusion that something is wrong with it. This situation usually leads to the seller dropping the price below market value in order to generate more interest. 

www.retrorealtygroup.com