See how this mid-century modern new construction house came to life
Building a house from scratch is challenging but so rewarding! We built this mid-century modern new construction home using our knowledge of the construction industry, as well as my design background. To have the best experience building, check out my blog post How to avoid new construction pitfalls and read my eBook Amazon.com: How to Build a House from Scratch.
I’d love to give you a tour … come with me!
This is actually the back of the house. Usually people show the front first, but the back of this house is amazing! It’s a lake front design, but we don’t have a lake … just some beautiful mountain scenery. We purchased the plan HERE (Plan 135253GRA) and tweaked it very slightly.
We wanted a low maintenance house, so we chose to do vinyl board & batten siding in a deep gray. The soffits, gutters, and facia are all black. The ceiling of the back and front porch is tongue & groove pine, and the wood siding is LP Smart siding that I stained. LP doesn’t recommend staining their siding, but if you stain it while it’s down and flat, it works great. I used THIS stain (DEFY Ultra Semi-Transparent) and combined light walnut and butternut equally using a brush and not wiping it off. I did two coats. I used the same stain for the ceiling boards. The posts are cedar and stained. I stained the posts before they were installed as well as all of the ceiling boards. There’s no way I could have stained all that after it was installed (I personally did all the painting/staining for the entire project). All the windows are Anderson 100 series with black exterior and white interior. I paid a little extra to have a UV film installed by the manufacturer since this much light coming into your home will most definitely fade everything.
This is the front of the house. It has an oversized front porch. One thing we would have changed is we would have made that smaller (not as deep but keep the width). The front door has a lot of glass which is great to let light in. If your front door has the potential for people to see in, you could install a frosted film for more privacy. This home has a very long driveway and a lot of privacy. The garage doors are black. The ceiling of the front porch is the same material as on the back porch. The roof is black metal. An asphalt roof is not an option for the pitch of this roof … metal is the only option. We have oversized gutters since all the rain comes in one direction. The gutters have pipes connected to them to lead the water away from the house.
When you walk into the house you enter a large foyer with bedrooms to the left and right and a beautiful bank of windows and doors in front of you. We installed modern cable railing to keep the feeling light and airy. The beam across the space is structural (an engineered laminated beam) that we covered in ash wood. The wide plank floors are all LVP and you can find the link HERE (Malibu Wide Plank French Oak Montague).
You walk further and come into the great room – living space, dining area, and kitchen. We made some modifications to the blueprints here with the window configuration. We went with a large 8-foot-tall slider in the middle and a large glass window on either side with four windows above. This configuration worked best with the options we had using Anderson 100 windows, and it was the most economical. The electric fireplace only extends into the room 6 inches saving space. We used the same pine tongue & groove material to clad the fireplace but stained it with a much darker stain to add contrast. Power and cable are behind the artwork if a television is preferred. I chose not to put a chandelier over the dining table to allow for flexibility on where the table sits. In a space this big, it’s difficult to know where you would put a table and you would be limited to the size and shape of the table if you had a chandelier. There is plenty of recessed lighting, all on dimmers. I used the color Pale Oak (Ben Moore) in all of the main living areas.
This dreamy kitchen has all the practical things you need with so much beauty. I love the black & white classic feel. This kitchen will look amazing for many years. The 6 burner large cooktop and hood are from Zline. I have this same setup in my kitchen (Designing a classic kitchen – Living Inspired by Mom). Cabinetry is from Prime Cabinetry … this is where I buy all my cabinets. They are high quality without the high price. You can save thousands buying your cabinets from here (even without my dealer discount). I used white quartzite counters, the same ones that are in my house. These look like marble, which I love but would never use in a kitchen because they aren’t practical, and act like granite … very durable and heat resistant. Quartz is another counter option but can scorch if you put hot things on it. I prefer natural materials.
I love the mixture of gold hardware, nickel hardware (on the white cabinets), and black plumbing fixtures. You don’t have to use just one finish. Shaker cabinets are classic and simple.
This beautifully laid out pantry is to the right in the kitchen. We chose to put several outlets in the pantry and house the microwave in there. Lots of shelving make organizing your pantry a breeze.
This is the main bathroom, which also functions as the bathroom for the second bedroom on the first floor … it has 2 doors. The vanity really brings in the mid century modern look as well as the vertical stacked tile in the shower. I love this rich blue – Smokestack Gray – from Ben Moore. I also used this color on the exterior doors and laundry room
The laundry/mud room is a dream! I would love to do my laundry with those giant windows letting in so much light. This room is off the spacious garage, so we put a built-in bench and storage for coats and other necessities. We mixed in wood accents like the countertop and floating shelf to warm it up and add texture. Saturating the entire room in the Smokestack Gray makes it feel modern and cozy. A pocket door allows for unobstructed use.
The primary bedroom is spacious and filled with light. We chose to use a sliding door with a mid-century modern appeal to save space. Stonington Gray (Ben Moore) is used here and in the bathroom.
The primary bathroom is simple and classic. A white oak double vanity brings in a wood element to warm up the space. Simple textured subway tile placed on the vertical, makes the shower modern yet classic. I used gray penny tile on the floor … that makes for a great feeling on your bare feet! A shelf for holding shampoo and all the things (plus handy for shaving legs) is just a simple quartz piece that is normally used for thresholds. We opted for a glass panel to keep things simple. The closet doors and sliding door to enter all have frosted glass as we wanted as much light to flow through as possible.
The second bedroom on the main floor can also be set up as an office. It has a large walk in closet and access to the main bathroom. We opted to use the same flooring throughout to give it a cohesive look.
Let’s move to the lower level … or basement as some would call it. We wanted this space to feel like an extension of the upstairs, so we made sure there was plenty of light and large windows. Also, a 9′ ceiling makes it feel spacious and airy. This space was designed for a family with kids, an in-law suite, or a short-term rental unit. It has 2 bedrooms (one so large it easily fits 2 queen beds), a large bathroom, living space, dining space, and even room for a ping pong table! There is a kitchenette with sink, microwave, and retro fridge/freezer and a washer/dryer (making 2 sets of laundry areas in this house). The slider opens onto a large patio with party lights and an outlet for a hot tub.
Let’s circle back upstairs to the upper deck … This is an enormous deck – 680 square feet (which makes the lower patio the same)! I think it’s my favorite part of the house. We used composite decking for no maintenance and longevity and cable railing for the ultimate view. We have a propane drop for the gas grill, and a hose bib for easy watering … if you’re like me and like lots of potted plants on my deck in the warmer months. This house is situated to watch amazing sunsets from the rear deck in the evening, and amazing sunrises from the front porch in the morning … the best of both worlds!
Thanks for coming along on this tour! There are a lot of things to think about when you build a home from scratch. To really get into the nitty gritty when building, spend a few bucks and buy my ebook Amazon.com: How to Build a House from Scratch. You’ll learn everything from choosing property, installing a well, picking contractors, types of flooring … the whole process. I’ll give a few pointers here to think about …
Think about how you want your house positioned if you have options. We tilted this house on the property to have views in every direction.
Your electrical plan is so so important. Don’t rely on your electrician to know everything you want. It’s very difficult to add anything electrical after the fact … like the hot tub for example. Adding a wire for a hot tub after the walls are sealed up will be costly and messy. Put a lot of thought into this, and plumbing as well. Where do you want all of your outdoor hose bibs, do you want a pot filler, etc.
Put in as many windows as you can. Light is life. This is hard to add after the fact.
*** ALL PHOTOS AND VIDEO ARE CREDITED TO MULLINS MEDIA ***