A 1960s MCM Home Goes from Bland to Bold!

A bank-owned, 1960s MCM home in Altadena, California, went from bland to bold with only a few updates.

As a professional designer, it can be difficult to pinpoint which home style suits you best. “I love all styles. They all have something unique that speaks to me,” says homeowner Goli Karimi, director of design at Home Front Build. When she and her wife, Deb Smith, moved into a 1960s MCM home in Altadena, California, they embraced its history and let its mid-century architecture dictate how they would renovate.

MCM furniture and artwork in 1960s home — The original post-and-beam ceiling remained intact and had not suffered any unwanted updates. After putting in the new cork flooring, Goli and Deb filled the family room with their collected vintage furniture and artwork. “We have a large and varied art collection,” Deb says. “It includes several Shag pieces, two Nat Reed pieces, a George Perrou and a Glenn Barr.” The piece above the sofa is by Shag and the piece beside it was painted in the 1960s by a childhood friend.

exterior patio and walkway to 1960s Altadena home — The home was designed and built by a woman named gisela meier, who studied under famed furniture designer kem weber. it’s on a narrow site with a 20-foot slope, but Gisela was able to build on it without altering the landscape. Part of the location’s appeal is the stunning view of the San Gabriel Mountains.

“When we got this house, it really amped up our love for mid-century style,” Goli says. “We were both jumping up and down because of the view. We felt lucky to be able to purchase this home.”

Tricky Topography

It was only recently that the homeowners looked into who built the home back in 1960. “I’d been wondering for years,” Deb says. After doing some research at the Altadena heritage office, she found the name and, eventually, the phone number of the original owner and called him. “He told me the story about the woman who built our house,” she says. “She was a Swiss-born artist named Gisela Meier who had studied under Kem Weber.”

MCM 1960s home office in open living area — In lieu of an official office, Goli and Deb set up a vintage desk in their living room. Now they can work next to the cozy fireplace and enjoy the view of the mountains from the living room windows.

Gisela was an inventive builder who had the challenge of working around the steep slope of the home’s landscape. Most of the rooms are long and narrow to accommodate the slope. “It was brilliant how she dealt with this lot,” Deb says. “The bedrooms are in the back, where it’s darker, and the common areas have the view. You can sit at the dining room table and see the San Gabriel Mountains.”

Respectful Renovation of the 1960s MCM Home

The renovation team at Home Front Build wanted to make as few changes as possible, only renovating when necessary and preserving as many original features as they could. “Our company is all about sustainability and likes to use reclaimed wood and salvaged products as much as possible,” Goli says. “We understand the needs of the client while honoring the original architecture of the home.”

MCM 1960s home with sectional sofa and view — Large windows that span most of the walls allow the outside view to become the backdrop of the living room. A curved sectional, rare pole lamp and vintage tables provide function and comfort.

Luckily, the home was clean and functional, but it had been stripped of most of its character. “It was bank-owned when we bought it,” Goli explains. “It wasn’t in bad condition, but they had painted everything white and put new beige carpet everywhere.” After replacing the floors and repainting the walls, most of the work left was designing each space to fit the mid-century aesthetic.

While most of the home updates occurred in the ’90s when they moved in, Goli and Deb recently renovated their kitchen for better function. The footprint of the galley kitchen remained the same, but they relocated the washer, dryer and refrigerator to create more walking space. They also updated the cabinetry to match the material of their family room built-in and added personal touches, such as the turquoise paneling and the custom backsplash. “Inspiration for the kitchen came from our family room,” Goli says.Goli and Deb opted for a classic retro color palette: turquoise and orange with white and wood tones. “We’re not afraid of color,” Goli says. “Deb and I both like blue, and it pops against the wood. Plus, it was a popular color in the 60s.” These colors can be found in prominent pieces of furniture and smaller décor items, making a bold statement that keeps the home vibrant and fun.

MCM 1960s home renovated kitchen with sapele wood cabinetry — To make sure their new cabinets blended in with the rest of the home, Goli and Deb chose a material that was popular in the 1960s: sapele wood. “It has the same characteristics of mahogany,” Goli says. “It has a beautiful wood grain, and we love the color. It reminds us of our teak furniture.”

As for furnishings, they had to start from scratch, since this was their first experience living in a Mid Century Modern home. Rather than buy everything new, they decided to put in the work and go authentic. “After we moved, we started replacing our furniture with vintage mid-century furniture, which isn’t something a lot of people were doing in the 90s,” Deb says.

While Goli’s experience with the style came from her schooling and work life, Deb’s came from personal experience. “This home harkened me back to when I was a kid,” she says. “My uncle built his own midcentury-style house, and I always loved it.” This familiarity helped them both when they were on the hunt for unique vintage pieces to make the house their home.

1960s MCM Home Original Features

Most mid-century renovations are approached with the goal of transporting homeowners and guests back to that time period. That’s easier when original features of the home are preserved and accentuated, honoring the home’s history. In this project, they kept the home’s footprint. Most of the changes were material or paint-based; they didn’t enlarge any rooms or knock down walls, deciding that the original layout suited the homeowners’ needs.

dining area with blue upholstered chairs in 1960s MCM home — Pops of turquoise make a statement in the dining room, where a vintage table and sideboard needed a bit of color. “We bought the dining chairs from Hollace and reupholstered them,” Goli says. A mixture of blue dishes fills the hanging cabinet for use and décor.

record player and sapele wood storage cabinetry in 1960s home — To maximize storage in the narrow family room, the homeowners had built-in cabinetry made in sapele wood that almost spans the entire wall. The piece provides both open and hidden storage for their TV, books and anything they want out of sight.

“Thank goodness they didn’t paint the ceiling,” Goli says. The stained post-and-beam structure was untouched in any previous renovations of the 1960s MCM home, preserving its original beauty. “And we hardly touched the bathrooms,” she says. “It’s all original cabinetry, tile and hardware, and I was able to find the original hardware for what was missing in the blue bathroom.”

powder pink and blue 1960s bathroom — When you have original tile in a mid-century bathroom, you do what you can to preserve it—even if the color isn’t what you would have picked. “I’ve learned to love pink,” Goli says. “We brought in the blue as we had in the rest of the house, chose a darker blue paint for the cabinet and found the perfect shower curtain with all those colors in it.”

mid century modern yellow bathroom — The master bath has fun yellow cabinets and multicolored marmoleum flooring. “We picked a color to match and emphasize the original tile color,” Goli says. “All the tilework is excellent.”

Their experience showed that while it’s important to find your style, sometimes your style finds you. “Now we’re huge Mid Century Modern enthusiasts,” Deb says.

For more sensitive and inspiring Mid Century Modern renovations, see A Mod Renovation in Newport Beach and Restored to Glory: A Mid Century Renovation in North Carolina. And of course, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest for more Mid Century Modern inspiration!