Decorating
Ideas to Steal From Our Favourite 1960s Houzz Tours
Wondering how to renovate your 1960s home? Take a look at these clever ideas for inspiration
With their wide windows, clean lines and minimal aesthetic, midcentury homes are a fantastic blank canvas for renovating and decorating. But where do you start, how do you add character and, most importantly, how do you ensure your design is sympathetic to the original modernist style of the property?
Take a look at how these designers have done it, and grab some ideas for your own home.
Take a look at how these designers have done it, and grab some ideas for your own home.
Add a feeling of flow
Another key element in the design of this Span house was the creation of an open feel.
The designers took advantage of the lack of building restrictions to make some structural changes, including swapping full-height walls for half-height ones and squaring off archways.
The opening here was squared off and framed with plywood to create a clean, modern look.
Another key element in the design of this Span house was the creation of an open feel.
The designers took advantage of the lack of building restrictions to make some structural changes, including swapping full-height walls for half-height ones and squaring off archways.
The opening here was squared off and framed with plywood to create a clean, modern look.
Here, too, the Slightly Quirky designers have removed the original door to the hallway and added a full-height sliding pocket door to create a larger opening.
See more of this 1960s house updated for 21st century living
See more of this 1960s house updated for 21st century living
Restore the windows
If the windows in your 1960s property aren’t in good condition, or aren’t in keeping with the rest of the house, it’s worth replacing them. In this 1960s modernist home, the designers at Holt Construction replaced all the windows in the house with oak frames.
“This was probably the biggest challenge,” says designer James Holt, “as the double-glazed windows were bespoke, made to be in keeping with the modernist style and to match the other houses on the estate.”
If the windows in your 1960s property aren’t in good condition, or aren’t in keeping with the rest of the house, it’s worth replacing them. In this 1960s modernist home, the designers at Holt Construction replaced all the windows in the house with oak frames.
“This was probably the biggest challenge,” says designer James Holt, “as the double-glazed windows were bespoke, made to be in keeping with the modernist style and to match the other houses on the estate.”
Make it open-plan
The kitchen and dining room in the 1960s home Holt Construction redesigned were originally located either side of the hallway at the front of the property.
Rather than moving the cookspace to the back of the house, the team knocked through the hallway to create an open-plan living space instead. To achieve this, they also moved the stairs from the central area to a side wall.
Take a tour of this modernist home that’s been sympathetically restored
The kitchen and dining room in the 1960s home Holt Construction redesigned were originally located either side of the hallway at the front of the property.
Rather than moving the cookspace to the back of the house, the team knocked through the hallway to create an open-plan living space instead. To achieve this, they also moved the stairs from the central area to a side wall.
Take a tour of this modernist home that’s been sympathetically restored
Inject character with flooring
The redesign of this dated 1960s terrace by Studio Wolter Navarro is simple and minimal, but the wooden chevron-patterned floor adds warmth and character.
The oak floorboards are a little lighter than the original Brazilian cedar parquet (see the next photo), which gives the room a bright, airy feel.
The redesign of this dated 1960s terrace by Studio Wolter Navarro is simple and minimal, but the wooden chevron-patterned floor adds warmth and character.
The oak floorboards are a little lighter than the original Brazilian cedar parquet (see the next photo), which gives the room a bright, airy feel.
Architect Almudena Navarro says, “While the floor was interesting, there’d been some moisture issues and it would have taken a lot of our budget to properly restore it.
“The owner kept every piece and sold it to someone who was going to use it in their house, which was nice,” he adds.
Peek around the rest of this 1960s end of terrace given a Scandi makeover
“The owner kept every piece and sold it to someone who was going to use it in their house, which was nice,” he adds.
Peek around the rest of this 1960s end of terrace given a Scandi makeover
Enlarge the front porch
Some 1960s houses have a storage shed, accessed from outside, where the original owners would have stored coal. If you don’t need this area, you could make the most of it by turning it into an internal space.
The storage shed on this ex-council property, to the right of the front door, had already been converted when the current owners bought it, but it was quite narrow and had a low ceiling.
Architect Frederik Rissom of R2 Studio Architects, who owns the property with his wife, Emily, says, “It was cold and cramped, with a narrow entrance porch and a 1.9m ceiling height. Being almost 2m tall, this really didn’t work for me in particular.”
The couple got round this by enlarging the space by six square metres and extending upwards to match the ceiling height of the rest of the ground floor. They needed Planning Permission to do this, and they kept the design sympathetic by matching the existing concrete feature lintels on the outside.
Some 1960s houses have a storage shed, accessed from outside, where the original owners would have stored coal. If you don’t need this area, you could make the most of it by turning it into an internal space.
The storage shed on this ex-council property, to the right of the front door, had already been converted when the current owners bought it, but it was quite narrow and had a low ceiling.
Architect Frederik Rissom of R2 Studio Architects, who owns the property with his wife, Emily, says, “It was cold and cramped, with a narrow entrance porch and a 1.9m ceiling height. Being almost 2m tall, this really didn’t work for me in particular.”
The couple got round this by enlarging the space by six square metres and extending upwards to match the ceiling height of the rest of the ground floor. They needed Planning Permission to do this, and they kept the design sympathetic by matching the existing concrete feature lintels on the outside.
The new space is open and bright, with room for a studio, cloakroom and utility area. The entrance can accommodate a pram, scooters, school bags and other essentials.
Visit this 1960s terraced house with a fresh new makeover
Visit this 1960s terraced house with a fresh new makeover
Reinstate original features
Just as they’d reinstated the concrete lintel around their new porch, Frederik and Emily Rissom were keen to restore other features in the property.
These original 1960s open-riser stairs were “painstakingly refurbished”, while the concrete shelf above the sofa was exposed and sealed.
Tell us…
Do you live in a 1960s property? Have you recently refurbished it, or are you looking for inspiration? Share your ideas and advice in the Comments section.
Just as they’d reinstated the concrete lintel around their new porch, Frederik and Emily Rissom were keen to restore other features in the property.
These original 1960s open-riser stairs were “painstakingly refurbished”, while the concrete shelf above the sofa was exposed and sealed.
Tell us…
Do you live in a 1960s property? Have you recently refurbished it, or are you looking for inspiration? Share your ideas and advice in the Comments section.
If you’re wondering what colour scheme to go for in your 1960s home, take inspiration from the building itself.
Deborah Moor and Caroline Nicholls of Slightly Quirky, who designed the interior of this 1960s Span house, did just that.
“For the colour palette, we looked back at the hues of the 1960s – earthy tones such as olive, red and orange – for inspiration,” Deborah says. “The wallpaper is seagrass, inspired by the hessian wallpapers of the era.”