Atomic Ranch Midcentury Interiors

by Michelle Gringeri-Brown, Jim Brown (Photographer)

Atomic Ranch Midcentury Interiors showcases the virtues of the popular and ubiquitous ranch houses that sprang up across the country following World War II. It features the exceptional interiors of eight houses, discusses successes and challenges, and shows how to live stylishly. Tips are shared on color, flooring, window coverings, furniture arrangements, and how off-the-shelf components can be turned into custom features. The homeowners' stories explain why these rooms work, and provide you with resources and ideas for everything from garage doors to the art on the wall.

Writer Michelle Gringeri-Brown and photographer Jim Brown publish the quarterly magazine Atomic Ranch, which features ranch homes built all across America. They are the authors of Atomic Design Ideas for Stylish Ranch Homes and live in Portland, Oregon, in a 1952 brick ranch.

Inspiring midcentury ranch interiors

Genres: Nonfiction, Design, Architecture, Interior Design, History, Photography

271 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2012

About the author

Michelle Gringeri-Brown and Jim Brown publish Atomic Ranch magazine, a quarterly devoted to midcentury homes. Gringeri-Brown was the editor of American Bungalow magazine for nine years, and her freelance work has been published in Westways, the Los Angeles Times, Photographers' Forum,and Sunset magazine's View.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Michael Nesmith and I eventually get married, this is how we'll decorate our home. You're all invited over for some Harvey Wallbangers and Boggle.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Moderately rich people who live in midcentury ranch-style houses hire designers to make their places look like a cross between a vintage photo and a DWR catalog with moderate levels of success.

[Yvonne · Rating 2 out of 5]

It didn't feel real people lived in these houses; like I was reading a design magazine with all rooms staged rather than peeking in somebody's actual home. Some rooms are so overdone, overscreaming the fact that the owners bought the right period furniture or had it custom made. No. It didn't work for me.

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sigh . . .

I love the clean crisp look of all these homes. I want to wander barefoot across the flagstones before collapsing onto a fuchsia dog bone sofa with my grape Kool Pop.

The thing of it is - I actually live in a mid-century modern, but I've turned it into Melki's Junk Shoppe and Fleamarketeria with my maximalist decorating style.

Well, a girl can dream . . .

[Cleo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, informative and pleasantly readable. I didn't really want to bring it back to the library.

[Bridget · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some nice photos and stories about homes, but unlike blogs, I can't change the font size or some of the terrible white on green text.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much mid-century eye candy. And I love the narratives about how people renovated and redesigned the homes.

[Tracee · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed most of the book and appreciate the efforts put in by the owners to adhere to the original design element, I realized I don’t enjoy the overall ascetic as much as I thought I would.

[Kerry Pickens · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is visually interesting but I am at the age where the furniture looks terribly uncomfortable to me.

[Katie]

I hit the jackpot with this book after much flailing around online to build vocabulary and generate ideas for authentically renovating my own beloved atomic ranch. I instantly recognized some design features of my place in the sumptuous photos, which are captioned in glorious detail. I found all the text engaging and engrossing: the renovation narratives, the photo captions, the sidebars dedicated to particular interior elements. Not only do the authors offer specific leads on sourcing materials, but they also lay out overall approaches to interior design that helped me articulate my own. An awesome source of validation and inspiration.

[Dar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous photo book on restored American ranch homes of the 50s and 60s. This one was satisfying because it focused on just a few houses, but included the floor plans, and every room of the house, unlike deco magazines which will often show you just a couple of featured rooms. I also loved the promotional photos of the homes when they were new, compared to the recent restoration photos. Most of the homeowners collect period furniture. There is one jarring example where eccentric post-modern art is overlaid on an iconic “atomic era” home.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, I am a big fan of restoring closer to the original 1950's style rather than heavy remodeling. This book had some of both, so I skimmed some of the stories where the houses were extremely modernized and not much at all like my house. My favorite chapter was Retro Gem, about a 1955 traditional ranch. The style is very similar to my own house, so I was able to get the most ideas from this house.

Note to self: check out the Retro Gem section of this book at some point in the future for ideas!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why do I like home reference books with lots of pictures? Because it balances out all the serious texts and gosh do I like pretty interiors! I grew up in a tract ranch house, and if I still lived in one or ever do again, then I'm inspired how to stylishly update it with inspiration from this book.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally way cool interior design book. I never knew a purple wall could look that good!

[Jim Blessing · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was an unusual read for me and actually after the first few pages, I did not actually read much of it. Instead, I enjoyed the pictures.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of great home ideas

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE LOVE LOVE it.