You can't. Unless you tear it down and rebuild it. It's a cute cottage. Celebrate that!

For future commenters, I understand that the best way to get a MCM house is to build/buy one. I am not looking to demolish this house. I know that it is not MCM, nor will I blow fairy dust on it and have it magically reshape itself. This house looks like the rest of the thousands of them in my city. I am only looking to cosmetically update it so that it takes on some MCM/Modern/Contemporary qualities. Comments like the one above, however realistic, are not conducive to my goals of altering the appearance of the house. Yes, it is a cottage or some other style. Read the post. Let's see what we can do to make it a Mid-Century Cottage!

Please post a pic of your entire house from straight on. We will be able to manipulate your pic to give you some ideas.

Green designs was simply stating the obvious. You left the open ended comment saying “maybe I underappreciate it’s style”. So, What’s your budget? There’s no mention of that. Anything is possible if your throw 50k minimum...at JUST a porch addition! If you need someone to gently hold your hand and agree with your ideas hire a pro who will be accommodating of both your vision and ego.

You really out to start by removing all the landscaping and also the shutters. Then maybe start to envision structural changes.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrE1.EFKydbPSAADBtXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyb3ZxOTE0BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjQwMzdfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=elements+of+mid-century+exterior&fr=mcafee

Pick out of these images the elements you want to add to your cottage. Plate glass windows would be a sure-fire MCM look, as would a minimal landscape and citrus colored MCM doors. The fence will have to be replaced, and you'll have to revise everything about the two entries. Kind of like putting lipstick on a pig, but yours is a cute pig. I hope it doen't bite back when you start to make these changes! Google for "mid-century cottage" and see what you come up with. Your better option might be to furnish the interior in the MCM style, and continue with the traditional look of the cottage on the exterior. Here is an article to spur on your efforts.

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/roots-of-style-midcentury-modern-design-stsetivw-vs~15709218

This is from google street view a few years back. Nothing much different from how it is now.

I'll post a more recent one with better resolution tomorrow morning.

Drop 50K into a remuddle and lose all of that and then some in home value. Don’t ruin the house by trying to give it plastic surgery. It’s a cottage, and will always be a cottage.A camel ain’t a horse with two bushel baskets strapped to it.

Sophie, would mind going into more detail behind your statement? What makes a cottage incompatible with modern? Unless you substantiate your claim with something more than a camel-hump graphic, I can't do much but disregard it. I hope you understand. At this point I am learning and exploring options.

I bet a lot of people have done some goofy stuff to their houses. Everyday, I drive by houses that make me cringe. So, I understand the apprehension from the few of you. I've got a vested interest in not forcing some awful misfit design onto my house. It has not been lost on me that this road may lead to a dead-end, but I want to at least explore the possibility of making some changes. Who knows, I might just end up with a blue-ribbon-bushel-totin stallion.

Someone I know remodeled her 1930s cottage (successfully) to mcm. She sold in a hot market so was able to make up her investment and then some. But it was pretty expensive and involved changing her entry roof and extensive construction on the entire front of the house. She also replaced all her windows to aluminum. It basically looked a lot like yours at the beginning. But she’s also an architect so there’s that...

Knock it down or buy another. It's a cottage. It will always be a cottage. By the time you alter the roof line, windows, entry, landscaping etc? You could have knocked it down. But it could be a lovely cottage. Begin with the entry door, stoop/porch and overgrown landscaping and paint. It provably needs a new roof anyway. Call an architect and make it one, as a good architect will tell you exactly as Sophie and me. . Make the interior decor as MCM as you like.

Remove the shutters.

Remove the current roof and replace with a raised beamed roof with much larger overhangs.

Open the ceilings up to the new beamed roof, and add clerestory windows between the old walls and new roof.

Replace the windows with casements.

It's pointless spitting in the wind until you get an architect. You would need drawings and permits, budget, and contractor.. Note: I said architect, not draftsman.

This is definitely not a DYI remodel. You'd certainly want an architect and experienced professionals on site to pull this off in a way that has a good end result. The Pros are suggesting to knock it down not to be rude but because the cost of a huge remodel to achieve the look you want in a good way that you're very happy with & adds house value will be so expensive that the cost to knock down (cheap-ish) & rebuild from scratch is probably cheaper or similar cost. You're probably talking a $100k+ remodel to achieve what you want.

That said, there are probably changes that you'd still be happy with & would add house value. Larger windows, a new entry/porch, new paint/siding, landscaping. These will still be expensive all together (probably way less than a huge remodel like MCM) but can achieve a lovely more modern-cottage result you'll be happy with.

That MCM cottage posted is a travesty. It’s sad and horrible. And completely inauthentic. Someone will be wanting to add a Pringles can next to turn a MCM into a pseudo Victorian.

All the plastic surgery in the world does not make a human into a cat.

http://mcmansionhell.com/101

Cute cottage on the outside, fab MCM on the inside. No?

Modern cottage

If you want to go MCM, do so with your furnishings and such inside. Let the exterior remain more true to its nature. I have also seen houses like yours “redone” to MCM and there is always a disconnect to them. Unlike another member, I have seen them languish on market as people who want a resale MCM are not looking for a cottage/cute bungalow turned Franken-MCM - they are looking for a true MCM. And people looking for a cute cottage or bungalow don’t want something that has been turned Franken-MCM either.

I know there are probably many houses like yours where you are. They are also common over hundreds of city blocks here. Here, these types of homes were tract builds that l provided affordable housing to returning veterans and so on. Maybe similar for yours. Update it in a way that honours its history and its own personal style. I promise that updating it with new paint, new stairs/railings, well maintained landscaping, even fencing etc will help it still stand out in a sea of other homes that look the same.

Remove landscaping, replace with rock bed and low plants. Paint the exterior a dark gray/blue/green (like the last picture pictured). Remove the metal door, replace with cedar. Paint the back door yellow. Replace the windows with black ones. Add mcm light fixtures under the podch. Then stop.
Stop at the point where you've added some flair but not ruined the integrity of the house or made extremely expensive modifications that can't be undone.

Oh yeah, and remove the shutters. Remove the porch altogether, or change the roof material to copper. Change the railings out to cable or wrought iron.

"MCM" is sexy right now. Even just saying the acronym is sexy. Like, dropped casually into conversations. That's right now. A couple years ago, your same post would have been written except asking that the house could be converted into an "industrial vibe". In 5 years it might be something else. But in the meanwhile you've gone and adulterated your house to try to force it into what is hot right now. As others have said, if you like MCM, make your interior design in that style. Go nuts at West Elm, dwr, and Etsy. Then in a few years, you can make interior changes again if need be without spending minimum (minimum!) $50k to frankenstein your home.

my vacation house is 80s contemporary. i spent a lot of time wishing it was more like the full on nantucket shingle style next door. then enough years went by that i loved the 80s again and decided to embrace the contemporary.

after looking at a lot of photos, i decided what i really liked was a more palm springs look. we were redoing the pool area anyway, instead of going to pavers we had the concrete deck redone, and horizontal board fences around the a/c and pool filter. planted some yucca. turns out yucca can grow anywhere, even in RI.

anyway i advise horizontal open board fencing, clean lines not curves on landscape, with grasses and yucca.

Does the house/neighbourhood warrant pouring 50K+ in it? Because to make it look MCM that is what it would take. Maybe you love the location and plan on never moving and so a major re-muddle is what you want? If so,get an architect on board. IME,you better served financially making it the best cottage it can be and keeping your MCM love indoors....a 'tactic' you see all over Europe.

Getting some valuable input here, however critical or affirming. Both are helpful. As I mentioned, I'm not looking to transform my house into something it isn't, so maybe I shouldn't be saying MCM since it is such a distinct style from just about everything else. Instead, let's steal some qualities and go for clean lines, natural materials, and better indoor/outdoor connection.

Remove shutters, add some stark color contrast- maybe the trim goes almost black, new door, new lights. Get a professional on this to test some ideas. Gl! :)

Head on over to RetroRenovation where you'll find lots of us MCM fans and lot of great advice about transforming the interior to MCM. Some of us have houses that are more conducive to what Pam Kuebler call "Mid-century Modest". That's my house -not classically MCM, just a 3 bed, 2 bath brick ranch built in the mid-60s.

Pro's please don't attack me for this, but what about a just little less of a cottage feel? LOL!

Nope. Just no. (Sorry Phun )

Jordan with that generous front yard go nuts on landscaping! It will reap dividends and make your home the jewel of the neighborhood. A general rule of thumb is 10 percent min of your homes value. And you will see almost immediate results (in the right hands that is). Build an idea book of MCM/contemporary front yards (so yes to decorative grasses and sculptural lines) and get inspired. Start only there first, then see how the results feel. No remuddle necessary.

Spencer, I understand the want for MCM. (Trust me, I have it too!).

What everyone else is saying I have to agree with. Don't shoot for a full transformation, it just won't be right.

That being said, I do think there are some things you can do that borrow from the MCM line of thinking, that won't necessarily make it look like an MCM, but would clean it up and give you some of those design cues.

For me the key would be stripping back anything that looks dated or ornate. Regarding the exterior the first two things that immediately jump out at me are to get rid of that storm door, and get rid of the vines. You could replace the door itself, too, but I wouldn't go with something so contemporary that it's polarizing to the rest of the house. You could paint it an interesting color, though. Tone back the landscaping. Consider updating the shutters to something less cottag-y. The big shrubs up against the house make it look small. Get some landscaping that's more minimal, and utilize the rest of your yard space.

Inside the house, think simple squared-off unadorned trim for doors and baseboard. No wainscoting, no crown moulding, etc. Hardwood floors of a light natural color, and other natural materials like stone, combined with a light and bright paint scheme. And accent with modern or MCM furniture and art.

I have a 1941 post-war Craftsman 1.5 story and I love all things MCM. The approach I've been taking is similar to that of the above. Not trying to change what the house is, but just little details. Details can go a long way.

Using my own house as an example (which is a work in progress!), to give you an example I started out with this hideous door and outdated light fixtures / address numbers:

Forgive the landscaping. I actually do have gardens... these pics were taken in early spring before stuff started growing. Anyways, some clean light fixtures, modern address, and classic 6-lite craftsman door in a pleasing color go a long way (in my opinion). This is a photoshop but you get the idea:

I also replaced the front walk that was old and beat up. I think a nice sidewalk or entry path would help your place, too.

Inside I've restored oak flooring, painted everything white, and replaced all baseboard and door casing with a minimalistic style (still working on this).

Not trying to toot my own horn, but just giving some ideas on what a "modern" cottage or craftsman could look like thats not too modern, since we seem to have similar style houses and goals. I'll hopefully be sprinkling in some more true classic MCM furniture (chairs in particular) as money allows.

Nick, you hit the nail on the head.. thank you for the thoughtful input!

That black roof looks like ap-cray on that cottage. Whatever you do, don't do that.

Nick, great ideas. We are about to remodel a quirky house that was built in the 80’s. We love MCM, and I like some Scandinavian modern, but we know that a full-on MCM look won’t work. There’s a sunken living room, which I kind of like. We’ll have light wood flooring, flat from cabinets, clean lines, kind of some funky tile in the kitchen and baths. And a new front door. We’ve already cut down the overgrown shrubs and will be replacing the deck and landscaping. The entry is very narrow and closed in, so we are thinking of taking down the wall and replacing it with a slatted “wall.” It’s overwhelming but kind of fun.

@mjd, your house is lovely! A slatted wall is very MCM.