How to Make a 1950s Cookie Cutter Home Look Stylish

Many Costa Mesa homes are 1950s tract homes. Drive through the streets of Mesa Verde, Mesa Del Mar, Halecrest, Mesa North, College Park… The majority of Costa Mesa houses were built during the building boom of the 1950s. We recently saw a question & answer piece in Inman News where an anxious homeowner wrote in asking for tips about how to update the design of their 1950s home. Since this is a question our Costa Mesa Realtors are often asked, we’d like to suggest some ways to redesign a tract home and add major curb appeal.Costa Mesa home for sale for $505K. -Give your home a fresh coat of paint. What color, you ask? Drive around your neighborhood and pick out homes that fit your taste. Most of the homes around you are probably similar in style so this is a good way to see what looks right and what doesn’t look right (in your eyes). Take your time and make sure you are tied to the color since it’s going to be a big, fairly permanent change. Don’t forget to choose a trim color that complements the house color.-Play around with color swatches and even online photo programs. Some high end paint stores will have interactive tools where you can mix and match paint colors. You can even do this on the Internet or with some computer programs. (Just a head up, there may be a fee with some of these programs).-It’s ok to look at homes that aren’t the same age and style as your home to get ideas. Often times people vibe with more modern colors and designs that are common among homes in newer neighborhoods. The beauty of a 1950s tract home is that these homes tend to be pretty basic since they were built quickly. The same is true with many of the more recent tract homes and if you these colors on your older home, you can easily add a contemporary, sophisticated look to your home.Driving through the neighborhoods of Costa Mesa with homes from the 1950s, it’s interesting to see the various materials that builders used to jazz up the homes. For instance many homes have wood paneling on the exterior that you don’t see everyday. Some people enjoy the charm of the woodwork, others do not. We’ve seen many homes simply paint the wood to conceal it and it looks beautiful. This is such an easy fix that truly updates the look of our Costa Mesa homes.Many of these principals can be applied to landscaping updates as well. Our Costa Mesa Realtors are happy to assist you in making decisions about how to update your Costa Mesa home and maximize your home’s value. Our real estate agents have great professional service contacts as well. We know Costa Mesa real estate and all of its intricacies since we’ve been doing business here since 1984.