Mid Century Revival

Designer: Erin Lutz
Scope of Work: Interior renovation/ Exterior refresh
Builder: Fixture Studio
Photographer: Kaylan Robinson

What was your inspiration for this project?
Our client came to us wanting to keep the authenticity of this mid-century house, while also giving it an overall rehaul. The original house had some great bones, but felt worn out. The layout of the bathrooms and laundry room were convoluted, and the brown laminate floors weren’t going to be missed! We saw that the basement had untapped potential! We also added a carport and covered deck to maximize the outdoor living space off of the kitchen. Because our client loved the bold and colorful mid-century styles, each bedroom received a different wallpaper theme, all of the bathrooms got different tile, but the wallpaper in the main public spaces are the same so as to provide some continuity for guests visiting only briefly in this bold time capsule! Our client also brought us a photo of a kitchen designed by Kristyn Bester in Portland, Oregon and loved it so much she wanted it almost replicated. So we had lots of inspiration when designing the kitchen!

What was your greatest challenge?
Honoring a house that was built in the 60’s, while also trying to make it feel new again was definitely tricky. But what’s in the walls of a 1960 house can also vary drastically from what you thought would’ve made sense! And weaving the two together was where it got the most challenging. There were multiple times where we had to circle back to the drawing board and rethink a layout so as to not tear out more than we wanted to!

What were you most proud of / excited about?
I think I’m most excited about this project’s overall commitment to an aesthetic. A lot of times our clients come to us liking aspects of architectural and design styles, but have preferences about making it look more modern or current. And honestly, we’re not above that!!! But having the opportunity to work on a house that was 100% sure that they wanted it to still feel like a mid-century house made this house unique!