Very cool house... Were those original terrazzo floors in your kitchen? What floors are you putting in throughout? Can't wait to see it all done!

Great job! It looks very bright and fresh now. I'm glad you kept some of the wood. What a job to tear out the tile. How will they repair the concrete now? And yowza! What a view!

thanks, joanie and marti8a. joanie, the flooring in the kitchen was black linoleum, not terrazzo. We found cork flooring underneath the carpet in the bedrooms. It was unfortunately too stained and faded to salvage. They'll have to lay another layer of concrete to level the floors in the entire house. The new flooring will look somewhat like this:

[Mediterranean Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/mediterranean-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2109) by Dallas Interior Designers & Decorators R Brant Design

For the new flooring, did you decide to go with wood or wood-look tile?

It's going to be very pretty...I love your inspiration picture!

Holy bananas, that view is amazing! I liked the wood ceiling before, but the painted is also really nice. Our previous house (not an MCM or anything special at all) had a wood ceiling on the first floor and painting it made a huge difference, so I know how nice it is to get that light, airy feeling.

Will you be keeping the wood closet doors and paneling?

I love it. Beautiful view and cool kitchen cabinets.

thanks, yillimuh. We're keeping all the other wood paneling, cabs (other than the kitchen) and all of the birch closet doors. Each room has wood paneling so we like how the white ceiling contrasts. The white looks a bit stark in the photos but the color is a creamy white in person (Swiss Coffee). Some may cringe at our decision to paint the ceiling white, but we carefully considered painting vs. staining and looked at several MCM homes with white post and beam ceilings in person. The three staining companies that we brought out for estimates told us just to paint it because the wood up there was cheap luan paneling, not high quality wood. It made a huge difference with the way the light and color of the ocean reflects in the home -- the dark wood didn't cast a pleasant hue on things.

msrose, we're picking out the floors this week. It will likely be wood, although we are still considering Porcelanosa tile. We're looking at it installed in a home nearby before making the decision.

thanks, karen and joanie.

I love the creamy white ceilings. Excellent choice. Your home/view are amazing!!

Your house is wonderful! It's so California, love it!

Wonderful house, everything is looking fabulous. Can't wait to see it finished!

It looks great pipdog! In your original thread, I was one who voted for staining the ceilings, but obviously couldn't see the quality of the wood. The white really does add a lot of airiness to the house. I can't wait to see how this progresses. Thanks for the update photos and please keep them coming.

I'm probably getting ahead of you, but are you planning on decorating with period appropriate MCM furnishings? I love them so, but don't have the appropriate house for it. We'll just live vicariously!

It's so "Don Draper opens the LA Office", n'est-ce pas? I have always liked your design choices, but I am afraid I won't notice a thing but the view each time you post.

thanks, sochi, lovestowalk, kellienoelle, mtn, and nancybee. Truth be told, I was very nervous about painting the ceilings and lost sleep over this decision. Someone brought up the word "remuddle" in a previous post and there were a lot of dissenting voices about keeping the dark wood, even in my own head. I didn't want to disrupt the integrity of the house. But ultimately we're happy with how it all turned out. It changed the house, for sure. But it still feels very mid century in there and the white feels more airy and light.

What do you guys think about the light trays/trim that is just above the paneling? Keep them white? Or paint them a contrasting color?

I forgot to mention that during the ceiling painting process it poured rain and the ceiling started leaking so now we need a new roof, which we pretty much knew when we bought the house (it was an "as is" trust sale), but now it's confirmed. And then, my contractor used our toilet on Friday (ugh!!) and it backed up in the shower. We tried to plunge it this weekend and raw sewage ended up all over our bathroom shower floor. That was fun. A plumber came today and told us we have a blocked sewer line. #moneypit

But the good news is that last week we saw the a sperm whale from our back porch spouting and fluking. It was quite a sight. So it's worth it, right?!? Right. (Keep repeating as I sign checks).

Oh pipdog, my chances of writing a check for ceiling repairs and backed up sewer lines are so much higher than a whale siting so I would say that definitely makes it worth it! Just write your checks while out on the deck to help you remember!

I think you could do a warm grey transitional band on the horizontal to relate the remaining stained wood to the white ceilings.

Something like this:

[Midcentury Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/midcentury-modern-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2115) by Seattle Architects & Designers ROM architecture studio

Hi Pipdog,

I absolutely love your house. Reading your post about the condition of the wood and brightening the house, I totally get painting the ceilings. I am also remodeling a 1950's mcm and I know what you are going through! I had to run a new water line to the house, rewire most of it, gut to studs, jackhammer out a 12 ft. long stone fireplace added in the 70's, tear off FOUR layers of roof to restore the roofline, etc. Your house will be worth it, with that amazing view and architecture. I am very jealous of your high celilings! Also, it took me awhile to realize, but you have to make the house work for you. I do think that there is a way to preserve the mcm architecture but update the house as well.

I hope you continue to post pics of your beautiful home!

This post was edited by rockybird on Wed, Dec 11, 13 at 13:51

I think the painted ceilings look great. I'd have done the same thing. It's your house; you gotta live there. It really infuses the space with light.

It's fabulous, pipdog. Great decision. Hope you're getting caught up on your sleep now ;)

(and I'm going to gloat a little because I was in the "paint it" camp!)

thanks awm03 and linelle! Glad you both like the white.

ineffablespace, thanks for posting that inspiration pic! I like those painted beams, but my only concern is that we intend to put black walnut cabs in the kitchen and dining room, so we may need to go a little lighter on the trim/light trays. We decided to wait until we add the floors and cabs to make a decision on the trim -- just seems premature now without everything else in place.

rockybird, I am in love with your house! It discovered it this weekend and showed it to my family members. From the photos you posted you've done an incredible job with your remodel, but it sounds like not without some great expense. Renovating these homes is certainly an exercise in patience and not freaking out about having to replace expensive systems (HVAC, plumbing, roof, electrical). We had hoped to try to get to a kitchen renovation in early 2014 -- our kitchen cabs are original and some are falling off the hinges and the oven doesn't work so well. But with all of our roof and plumbing woes, it's probably going to be another year before we can tackle a new kitchen. I have to realize that this is a labor of love and that it will take time, patience and energy (and probably more money than we initially budgeted!) This will likely be our forever home, so it's worth it to wait.

The peacock has been showing up again. The contractors are all feeding them so now I have a gaggle on my back porch just staring in the windows looking longingly at the lunch bags of the workers.

Lighter grey would work fine, just not a "wood" color and just enough for some articulation.

Pipdog, we must be remodel twins! I had a peacock show up in my backyard while remodeling also!!!! I also have a parakeet named Pip (found outside).

I thought the peacock was a girl and named it Ernestine. It turned out to be a young male. He would come when I called, cooing. Everyday before work, I made him a plate of food, and I would stop at the pet store and buy mealworms on my way home. He would do anything for a mealworm. I was stressed that a coyote would eat him. I found his owner after 3 wks. (who was also remodeling an AWESOME mcm home). I miss him!

He got into the house once. He was very well behaved:

Thank you for the compliments on the house. I totally know what you mean about doing the remodel in stages. I am still not done after over 2 yrs. I think you are better to wait until you live in the house for a period of time for some things (I say as I get ready to tear out a bath I remodeled). The kitchen cabs look great in the pics. Just wait until you are ready. I still have a master bath, master closet, new flooring (so expensive!), landscaping (expensive!), two baths, laundry room, and possibly more in the kitchen. I hope you post pics as you go, because I just love your house.