Before & After: They Gave Their Portland Ranch House a "Midsommar Modern" Revamp

"We’re not cookie cutter—that’s why people come to Bright Designlab," says principal designer and firm founder Alissa Pulcrano. The owners of this midcentury ranch in Southwest Portland knew the drill, as they’d worked with Pulcrano for twelve years on three different homes. Their latest project was "a rare time capsule," says the owner, and it had not been touched for decades: "We saw so much potential. The vaulted ceilings, the backyard space...and the zigzag layout felt like the right flow for us."

The couple, a music-loving engineer and a nurse, wanted to update the home for better function and feeling while shaping it into a place where they could relax away from the world. "This home whispered vintage camp vibes to us from the start," says Pulcrano. "So, the story naturally became to create a highly curated and comfortable retreat for everyday life."

With its split-level layout and kitschy original finishes (like the orange counters in the kitchen), "it was also a little bit Brady Bunch," says Pulcrano. The new design would veer into a more playful domain: "One of the catchphrases we used to start the design language was ‘midsommar modern,’" she explains.

Their first area of focus was to rework the living areas by connecting the living room and kitchen and inserting a custom circular plaster fireplace to serve as a gathering spot between rooms. "We wanted a central place where you could actually sit," says Pulcrano. "People tend to gather in the kitchen at the island, but we also wanted to draw people to the hearth."

Before: Living Room 

After: Living Room