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    Welcome to all my stories about products and ideas to renovate the exterior of your home and add curb appeal -- in retro style.
    Whenever I see an exterior product -- paint colors, fencing, awning, etc. -- that may have good potential for your Retro Renovation exterior, I write about it. We also have idea and inspiration stories here from reader homes. This archive section shows all my curb appeal resources in reverse chronological order. Importantly, though: If you are looking for something specific, check out the SUB-CATEGORY pages shown in light blue, above. Good luck!

    1972 Solair chairs still made today — and 8 more retro style patio chairs

    Posted by: • May 21, 2013
    Innit-Acapulco-chair-mid-century

    With the promise of summer sun tantalizing us nationwide, we thought we’d take a look at authentic and retro style seating for patios and porches. To start: We were pleased to discover that the Solair chair, which has been around since it was designed in 1972 by Fabio Fabiano and Michelange Pazini in Quebec, Canada, is [...]

    Create a modern garage door with this easy DIY idea

    Posted by: • May 20, 2013
    Mid-century-garage-door-painted

    Are you looking for a cheap, cheerful and high impact way to add some instant curb appeal to the front of your house this season? We love this idea — reader MidCenturyThriftyGal shows us how she used our favorite mid century paint collection to transform her plain garage door into a cheery mid century modern garage door.

    New mid century doors available from Therma-Tru

    Posted by: • May 6, 2013
    mid century entry door

    Big news: A mass-market door manufacturer has finally introduced a line of mid century style doors. Yes, Therma-Tru has introduced a new line of retro style front doors.  The doors are made of fiberglass, and there are four styles in this new “Pulse” line: the Ari, Echo, Linea and Solei. The doors are made in [...]

    Terrific curb appeal ideas from Swift Homes 1957 house plans catalog

    Posted by: • April 2, 2013
    mid-century-ranch-house-exterior-Westbrooke

    Thanks to reader Cat, who spotted this terrific 1957 catalog of Swift Homes. This catalog is typical of others we see from many home manufacturers from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Yes, an old house catalog may help you identify your home — that’s how Cat found it, she owns a Swift. But most catalogs [...]

    Nita’s retro ranch “mini martini” house exterior design dilemma

    Posted by: • January 10, 2013
    mid-century-modest-house-alaska

    In this week’s Retro Design Dilemma, reader Nita tells us that she must add exterior insulation to her 1952 flat-roof ranch house in Alaska — and she wants ideas from us for siding. What to suggest? And as usual this week, Pam and I hosted a Live Google Hangout to reveal ideas for Nita’s room. [...]

    Retro Design Dilemma — Nicole’s 1953 Cape Cod Exterior

    Posted by: • December 13, 2012
    1953-Cape-cod-house-exterior

    Reader Nicole loves the history of her Cape Cod house — but she is torn between sticking with its current traditional look, versus giving it a more modern look that reflects her furnishings and decor insdie. In this story — our second Google live chat video — Pam and I ponder Nicole’s questions and suggest [...]

    14 fire pits with retro modern style — in a wide range of prices

    Posted by: • December 4, 2012
    retro-modern-fire-bowl

    When reader Darryl emailed Pam looking for good sources for a wok-like fire bowl — the search was on. There are plenty of modern retro looking fire bowls in a variety of shapes and sizes out there — but they don’t always come cheap.

    A groovy front porch makeover — on a budget — for Sarah’s 1964 round house

    Posted by: • November 5, 2012
    tile-on-front-of-mid-century-house

    A local metal shop made the fab escutcheons The mosaic tiles on the outside wall are from Home Depot Reader Sarah is one creative woman — in fact, it seems we have a lot in common. We are both homeowners (both bought our first home at age 23), both have tackled fixer upper type houses [...]