Well, yes and no. Now, before fans of the Little Red House get too
worried, the story of a this little Mid-century Modern makeover is not
going away. Over the course of this week, you're going to notice some
subtle (and not so subtle) changes to PrairieMod.com. We've decided to
make things a little more streamlined and add a few cool new features
that we'll be revealing a little later this week.
It was a beautiful weekend in Chicago and the perfect opportunity to work outside on the Little Red House. What did we get accomplished? A little flower-power and paint mix-up fix-up.
As promised from last week, today's PrairieMod Monday is chock full of photos showing some of the recent changes that have been going on at the Little Red House...
It was another busy day at the little red house. Two old doors we're done away with and a new sliding glass door and window were installed in their place. Here's the breakdown of how it went...
Things are going well at the Little Red House. I received news that our new energy efficient sliding glass door and thermal pane window will be installed next week. This is fantastic news, because it will allow us to move forward on some much needed work in the main living areas of the house. In the mean time, we've been putting in some work on our new "victory garden" and going to a lot of graduation parties. One recent party required a trip to down state Illinois, which meant another road trip.
With gas close to $4.00 a gallon here in Chicago, it got me thinking about two recent stories I heard on NPR that deal with the price of gas and the way we drive. One made me cringe, the other gave me a little hope...
As I write this, I'm pretty much tired and sore all over. Today represented an important milestone for the little red house: we planted the first part of what I'm calling our "victory garden." Why call it that?
A recent visit to Minneapolis had me thinking about the sad fate of one of Frank Lloyd Wright's last, great Prairie School designs: The second Francis W. Little House, formally of Deephaven, MN.
It was torn down in 1972 and pieces of the once grand home were scattered across the country and installed in various museums for visitors to gape at. It was an altruistic attempt to preserve some semblance of what the original interior was like. But, like anything, the act of installing pieces of a whole in a completely different context begs questions about the nature of preserving architecture at all costs and the various controversies that ensue.
For this week's installment of PrairieMod Monday, we'll explore the complex and tragic story of the Little House and if preservation is something to pursue--no matter the cost.
One of my favorite Monday past times (besides writing this article) is watching Antiques Roadshow on PBS. It's fun watching the many special things that people haul in out of their attics to have appraised. Antiquing is a fun thing to watch on TV and participate in as a hobby--but did you know that it's also one of the most important sustainable-minded actions you can undertake?
We're finally starting to thaw out here in Chicago. By the middle of the week, it's supposed to be in the 70s. Spring flowers are starting to come up everywhere and it has motivated us to work in the yard around the little red house. All of this yard work has me thinking about yards in general (and mine in specific). How should we approach our yard in keeping with Principles?
Spring is in the air! We're finally getting some warm weather in Chi-Town and it's time to do some Spring cleaning in the little red house. It's the perfect time to start digging into the closets and seeing what's there. There's just one big problem--the closets themselves! We need a total overhaul on our main "closet core" to make them even remotely functional. For this week's edition of PrairieMod Monday, I'll walk you through some of the ideas we have to remedy this closet quagmire we're in.
Two major renovation projects are in the planning stages for the little red house! With the "model room" pretty much done, we are setting the stage for some major overhauls to parts of the main living area and the bedrooms' closet core.
Over the next few weeks, I'll give you a sneak peek at some of the ideas behind these next steps in the "PrairieMod-ification" of our little atomic ranch. Let's look at the main living space...
Little touches continue in the "model room." After we moved in a bed from one of the other rooms, we realized that the bedspread we had just didn't fit the new color scheme of the room. It was a really nice bedspread and seemed like a terrible waste to get rid of something just because the color was off. So, we decided to do a little hunting to see if there was something out there on the market that would save the day.
One of the simple joys in life is figuring out how to creatively solve problems that will save time, money, or resources. I recently faced one of those challenges and thought it would be a great opportunity to share with PrairieMod Monday readers.
Well, it took a few months worth of Sundays, but the "model room" in the little red house is all finished except for moving the furniture in. I thought it would be nice to take a look back, see some before-and-after photos and discuss the role principles played in our project.
This weekend saw more positive progress on the little red house's "model room." It seemed like the PrairieMod Library would be held hostage in boxes forever. But luckily, we reached the point this weekend where we could put some shelves in and start setting the books free!
So close, I can almost taste it! This week saw an amazing window trim transformation and some finishing paint touches to the little red house's "model room."
It's getting closer! We're finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel with regard to the "model room" in the little red house. This weekend saw some great progress towards completing what will our aesthetic blueprint for the rest of the house.
We're experiencing some bitter, bitter cold here in Chicago. So cold, it freezes you right through to your bones as soon as you walk outside. It's a perfect time to work inside the warm home. In the case of the little red house, we've been working on a "model room" and this week, we made some great headway.
Over the last few weeks, I took a little time out of the busy remodel for the little red house to walk through the 10 PrairieMod Principles in a little more detail. You can follow the link to catch-up on those posts if you like. This week, I tackle a pesky problem with an aspect of the little red house I can't change: the view.
For the last two weeks I've been exploring the 10 PrairieMod Principles that help guide "The PrairieMod Lifestyle: The Art of Living in the Modern World." I wrap it up this week with the final four Principles. If you missed the other two installments, follow this link to the week 1 entry and this link to the week 2 entry to catch up.
Last week I started running through the 10 PrairieMod Principles that help guide what we've coined as "The PrairieMod Lifestyle: The Art of Living in the Modern World." If you missed it, follow this link to last week's entry to catch up on an introduction to the ideas behind this movement and an explanation of the first 3 Principles. Once you're caught up, follow the jump below to read part 2.
Work continues on the "model room" in the PrairieMod-ification of the little red house. We touched-up the paint and started adding trim around the doors and baseboards. In the next few weeks, it should be all done.
In the meantime, I thought it would be a good chance to delve a little bit into what it is that the PrairieMod Principles are all about. We've been getting some inquiries to elaborate on what PrairieMod is and what it's all about. As an attempt to answer some of these questions, I'll be posting a Guide to the Prairiemod Lifestyle in three installments over the next few weeks.
With the holidays and a bout of the flu, things have been running a little slow on the PrairieMod-ification of the little red house. However, this weekend, we we're back on track and we made some forward progress on the "model room."
Well, the holidays are just around the corner and the snow has been falling in Chicago. I've been shoveling and de-icing and just generally trying to keep warm. We have made a little progress in the last week prepping the "staging room" for a new coat of paint and some experimentation with the trim.
Sometimes, you need to take intermediate steps in a home makeover project before you can jump to the final execution. Case in point, the "PrairieMod-fication" of the great room is actually starting in the first guest bedroom.
Seems counterintuitive to focus on the guest bedroom to get the great room underway, but when you're dealing with the amount books that are in the PrairieMod library, you need to have a transition space to unpack all the boxes into as the final space takes shape.
Why? Because most DIY projects take awhile, thanks to the demands of our modern lives. No one in the little red house wants to live with cardboard boxes or life on hold for the next 6 months. So, we decided to clean, spackle, paint and put up some basic shelves in the guest bedroom to allow us to un-box the boxes, sort the books and see what we have and what we'll need to complete the great room project. I refer to it as a "staging" room.
When the great room project is complete, we can reuse the shelves in the guest room to hold whatever we (or our guests) need...maybe even more books! See you next week.
Last week, I revealed some of the plans I've been kicking around for the first "PrairieMod-ification" project in the little red house. One of the costs that early on had to be considered was the amount of painted wood trim that was going to have to be replaced in the home. So, how to do this in a way that doesn't totally throw the "sustainable" baby out with the bathwater?
For this week's installment of PrairieMod Monday, I thought I'd reveal a little bit behind the first set of plans I've been drawing up for little red house's "PrairieMod-ification."
An important first step was achieved in the PrairieModification of the little red house this last week. Before any major work could be undertaken in the house, the electrical box in the basement had to be updated to handle the power tools. With that work completed, I plan on setting up the workshop in the next few weeks so that I can start cutting and assembling the pieces necessary for completing the design ideas I've got cooked up for the first project area in the house: The Great Room. What's in store?
Some of the ideas being tossed around include: Usonian style floating shelves; new trim work and color schemes; integral lighting; a built in sofa and end tables; a built in buffet in the dining room with sliding doors, a reduction in a few entry doors and the addition of some new windows and sliding doors.
When it's all finished, the effect will hopefully be a unified and well designed living space that reflects the individuals that live in the little red house. As I continue to prepare for the projects to start, check back in the coming weeks to see glimpses of some of the plans, the inspirations and elements that I hope will be reflected in the final product. I'll also enjoy any feedback you might have along the way. See you next week!
The hardest part about any project (or almost anything in life) is managing expectations. I learned this lesson again this last week in trying to breathe new life into the painted woodwork in my little red house.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. On the advice of one of
our readers, I picked up some paint stripper at ACE hardware and I’m
ready to try, try again this next weekend. In the meantime I had other
project experiences around the house that I thought would make for a
good column this week.
If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Sad to say, but the ideal solution to recovering the lost glory of the mahogany woodwork in the "PrairieMod"-ification of the red house turned out to be a dud.
I decided that one of the first steps in making over the little red house would be to attempt to strip away the paint that now covers up the original wood work in the great room. I figured it would be a good start and one that would be relatively low cost, yet make a satisfyingly visible difference in the space. But with all those overhead beams, how to do it without making a giant mess, ruining the wood or breathing noxious fumes?
Last week, I started the tour of the inside of the new/old house that we're going to have undergo "PrairieMod-ification." We'll continue that tour today, with the remainder of the house's living spaces and see what we're dealing with in the "before" stage.
The perfect house does not exist. No matter how great the architect, no matter how expensive it costs—invariably there is always something not quite right about it. This is especially evident if you’ve ever looked to purchase an older home.
That said, when choosing a pre-existing home, it’s important to find a place that's "good enough," one that can be your blank canvas to work from—something you can make "Uniquely You" using principles as your guide. This weekly column will explore that path towards remaking one house over with the 10 PrairieMod Principles in mind. Let’s start by taking a look at what we’re dealing with…
Well, it's been too long since our column, PrairieMod Monday, made an appearance. It went on hiatus for awhile after running through 10 months of covering the 10 PrairieMod Principles. Well, something has happened to spark new life into this little slice of what we do at PrairieMod and we felt it was time to bring it back. What was the event, you ask?
Just a reminder that we're asking you, the readers of this blog, to send in your own personal insights as to how you're living PrairieMod--how are you living the PrairieMod lifestyle in your own unique way? We'll showcase as many submissions as we get and any photos you can send will also be appreciated.
Now that we've covered all of the PrairieMod Principles, this column will appear from time to time to cover specific Principles or if anyone has any specific questions about specific Principles, we'll answer those, too. In the meantime, send in you're own "Uniquely You" testimonials and we'll have fun exploring all the different ways you live PrairieMod everyday!
I had been thinking over the week about how to approach the discussion on the last of the PrairieMod Principles, "Uniquely You" and I realized that best way to cover this Principle is to open it up to the people that live PrairieMod everyday! So I'm asking you, the readers of this blog, to send in your own personal insights as to how you're living PrairieMod--how are you living the PrairieMod lifestyle in your own unique way? We'll showcase as many submissions as we get and any photos you can send will also be appreciated.
Now that we've covered all of the PrairieMod Principles, this column will appear from time to time to cover specific Principles or if anyone has any specific questions about specific Principles, we'll answer those, too. In the meantime, send in you're own "Uniquely You" testimonials and we'll have fun exploring all the different ways you live PrairieMod everyday!
Well, we're in the home stretch! Over the last 10 months we've been looking at the 10 different principles that make up the ideas behind PrairieMod. The last Principle of the PrairieMod Lifestyle is its most important one: The Principle of "Uniquely You". One of the greatest strengths of the PrairieMod Lifestyle is its acknowledgment that everyone is uniquely individual.
For the last entry this month on the PrairieMod Principle of "Go Green," I thought I would share an article that was sent to us by a faithful reader that summed up an important observation on how our modern lives have lost focus from the knowledge learned from the past. Written on May 20th for the New York Times, Adam Goodheart wrote an article titled This Old, Organic House. What he discusses is the fact that "Green" living and architecture is not a new phenomenon--it goes way back into human history, and even our own American history. Sadly, what's happened is that our growth as an industrial powerhouse and consumer-based culture has turned us into a "live-for-today" society that has lost touch with its original values and the link to the "organic" knowledge of the past.
Now we find ourselves at the crossroads of change and we have the opportunity to alter our self-destructive course by listening to the sage "organic" voices of the past: Thomas Jefferson, Henry David Thoreau, Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright and a host of others. These people realized the value of nature and our place as apart of it. It's not that we can't have a modern lifestyle, no one is advocating a regression to 1776. Instead, we need to utilize the knowledge that's come before us and recognize its value in our lives for today.
Learn from the past. Live in the present. Consider the future.
Enjoy the article and let us know what you think. Next month we reach the home stretch in our principled exploration with a look at the 10th PrairieMod Principle of "Uniquely You."
All this month we've been looking at the PrairieMod Principle of "Go Green!" We've been exploring how making small, smart changes in our attitudes and actions can yield giant impacts in the long run. For this week's installment, we're going to look at another example of how sustainability can take root in our lives by very small "degrees."
I recently stumbled across a wonderful little book that encapsulates the essence of the PrairieMod Principle of “Go Green!” It’s called Living Green: A Practical Guide To Simple Sustainability by Greg Horn. For this month’s series of PrairieMod Monday posts exploring the principle of “Go Green,” I’m going to be referring a lot to this great primer on an approachable path to everyday sustainability for everyone.
Last month we explored the PrairieMod Principle of "Think Natural." This principle leads us directly into one of the ultimate step in thinking naturally, which is to consider how every one of our lifestyle choices affects our planet. We live in a time when the pressures of energy consumption are only going to become more pronounced and extreme. With our society held captive by the rising costs of fossil fuels, it is only a matter of time when our current lifestyle choices will no longer be feasible. Gas-guzzling SUVs, over-sized homes with enormous utility bills, and product purchases that waste valuable resources are all choices that are in conflict with a natural way of living. These type of choices are based on instant gratification, vanity or excess. The only way to break this self-destructive cycle is to focus on sustainability in what we build, what we buy and how we think. Thus, this month we'll be exploring why the PrairieMod Principle of "Go Green" must be at the very center of every decision we make.
For the last PrairieMod Monday post this month on the principle of "Think Natural,” we felt we would use a recent experience the PrairieMod Squad had as an example of how a special group of people enjoy this idea in their everyday lives.
"Thinking Natural" about our homes doesn't mean focusing only on the inside. The exterior of our living spaces are just as important to consider as the interiors. For this week's installment of PrairieMod Monday, we'll take a look at one aspect of "Think Natural" for the outside--landscaping.
We’ve been exploring the PrairieMod Principle of “Think Natural” all this month for PrairieMod Monday. It’s this principle that teaches us how to appreciate the natural state of materials: either for building, remodeling or decorating our homes. Today we’ll examine how to “Think Natural” when it comes to one specific aspect of our homes—walls.
"A stone building will no more be nor will it look like a steel
building. A pottery, or terra-cotta building, will not be nor should it
look like a stone building. A wood building will look like none other,
for it will glorify the stick. A steel and glass building could not
possibly look like anything but itself. It will glorify steel and
glass. And so on all the way down the long list of available riches in
materials: Stone, Wood, Concrete, Metals, Glass, Textiles, Pulp and
Plastics; riches so great to our hand today that no comparison with
Ancient Architecture is at all sensible or anything but obstruction to
our Modern Architecture."
Frank Lloyd Wright wrote these words on the nature of materials as he
felt they should be used in his landmark 1954 book, The Natural House.
He was tired of “dishonesty” in American buildings and residences. The
dishonest use of materials to mimic other materials or used in place of
another, more appropriate material was a crime that we were all paying
for. The only salvation from this glass and steel web of lies being
perpetrated across the nation was an acknowledgement and correct use of
the inherent and true nature of these building blocks of architecture.
For this week’s post on the PrairieMod Principle of “Think Natural”,
we’ll take a look at what it means to be true to “The Nature of
Materials.”
Last month we explored the PrairieMod principle of "Bring The Outside In." This principle is actually very closely aligned to this month's principle,"Think Natural." Both rely heavily on the natural world for inspiration, but the principle of "Think Natural" goes beyond just the obvious inspirations of Mother Nature. Once we start bringing the outside world into our lives, it opens us up to more possibilities in designing and decorating “organically.”
All this month we have been talking about the PrairieMod Principle of "Bring The Outside In." We've looked at several ways in which the beauty and inspiration of the natural world can be woven into the fabric of our everyday lives. The final post on this topic for the month will examine how to blur the line between "outside" and "inside" with windows.
One of the most invigorating ways you can apply the PrairieMod Principle of "Bring The Outside In," is to consider the decorating power of sunlight. The Sun has been a vital part of human existence since the dawn of time. But very rarely do us modern folks stop to consider it (other than to bathe in it on our vacations). So what does sunlight have to do with decorating a house?
I was recently reminiscing about all the amazing things I saw during my visit to the spectacular "House Beautiful" exhibit in Midland, Michigan earlier this month. It made me remember Dianne Maddex's book published a few years ago titled, Frank Lloyd Wright's House Beautiful and so I decided to check it out of the PrairieMod library. As I was perusing, one particular excerpt spoke perfectly to the principle of "Bring the Outside In" for this week's installment of PrairieMod Monday.
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