This was our house in 2009 when we moved in. A very modest midcentury modern ranch in a superb neighborhood in Ann Arbor, MI. We bought it because of the proximity to downtown, the walk to the three schools our kids would attend and the apparent friendliness of the neighbors. We were confident we could make this little box into something special!
Through the years, it has transformed. We knew at the onset that we wanted to pull the porch off and start over, but we also knew we had hundreds of projects to work on. Where to start in the interim?! A fresh coat of paint and a few orange accents. We found an original midcentury, diamond cut-out, door at the ReUse Center in town and immediately took the metal door off. That door was later replaced with an all glass door, as we were aching for more light in the main living area. We were sad to say goodbye to the diamond, but the glass has been even better!
In 2016, we had a huge incentive to finally get to the porch. The magazine Atomic Ranch liked what was going on in the inside of our house and requested a photo shoot. First thought ‘but the porch’!
Let me walk you through the process. We made the porch work for a while, replacing the rotting deck. We were not crazy about the shoddy built railing, but it served as a perch for the kids to sit and it gave us a little privacy.
We improved the landscaping and built a cement board clad planter, keeping with the clean lines of the midcentury aesthetic, while adding a modern touch.
When the magazine contacted us in the Fall of 2016, we asked if we could push back the photo shoot date until we could rework the porch. Sarah Jane Stone, the editor at Atomic Ranch, was happy to wait, so we got to work designing.
Work began. The windows were brought back to their original state. A few years back, the son of the original owner stopped by our house while attending a garage sale next door and came in for a tour. He said, “Oh yeah, my parents took the original windows out and made them smaller when they thought we would fall through the glass as kids”. We were not as fearful, so out they came. The light that streams in is amazing and in true midcentury modern style, the outdoors have come inside- we love feeling like the plants are creeping inside.
Off came the roof and the deck.
A new concrete pad was poured, expanding the original footprint of the stoop simply because we use the front porch SO MUCH and wanted a bit more space for additional seating.
We wanted the porch to have the appearance of floating, so designed the 4-inch pad to cantilever a bit.
Winter set in. The photo shoot was to take place at the end of January. We had to keep working.
The winter months made it impossible for us to build the entire porch outside. If we could put it together like a kit, rather than from the ground up we (or my husband and stepdad, rather!) could keep out of the cold a little less while building.
Up drove my stepdad from Indiana with our entire porch in the back of his van! I joke that our porch was like a Sears Kit Home.
Record breaking temps set in. I am pretty sure 7 degrees was on the thermometer this day. Yikes! Poor family.
With lots of hot chocolate and tea, the porch took shape.
A neighbor asked, “Are those poles to hang plants from?” Me, “Well, I guess you could. We were intending for it to just be a design element. I don’t expect everyone to understand it”. 😉
You may notice that as we stand there, the planters have been ‘planted’. And how did we do that in the middle of winter you may ask? We drove around the neighborhood looking for used Christmas trees on the curb. We disassembled them and laid the branches in the planters. Magic- they are presentable and ready for the photographer!
And just this past week, we found this stone slab to serve as the step. Complete, that is until Spring when we get live plants!
