THE CRUX WITH THE SPLIT LEVEL - how to ease the pain

The 70s brought us a lot of things we are not that enchanted with anymore, one of them being the SPLIT LEVEL.

A lot of complains go with them, floor plans that do not work well, dark and dingy kitchens, small windows, tiny entrance.

They do not look great on pictures, monolithic and boring.

What can you do change things? Actually, quite a bit!

Here are some suggestions for enhancement that bring some swing into things:

1: Split Entrance: being one of the worst problems, these homes' doors open up to a tiny entrance floor that often is barely wide enough to accommodate two adults and a coat hanger. Solution: move the front door out and create a larger entrance foyer with a coat closet. This also breaks up the facade and creates some visual interest.

2: The Façade: add interest to a monolithic facade with fresh paint,

accent colors and architectural accents

3: The Kitchen: open up the kitchen, take a wall or two out and create a great room

4: Light: Every house benefits from more light. Light tubes help where there is no way for a window. Otherwise take the 70s windows out and insert larger windows with big panes

5: Colors: a lot of split levels suffer from boring paint colors. Brighten especially the entrance up with a cheery but not obnoxious color like a light yellow or green.

5: Update baths, kitchen and floors: prey the split level out of the 70s cold hands and update the kitchen and baths with modern colors and materials, invest in light colored wood floors, tiles and carpets.