50s style laminate countertops for your retro kitchen or bath - Formica, Pionite, Wilsonart
Mid Mod Pam on Feb 01 2006 at 2:49 am | Filed under: bathroom, countertops, kitchen, pink bathrooms, pink kitchens
The countertops I removed from the two vanities in my 1951 bathrooms were both laminate, edged in metal. One - a soft aqua tinged green - imitated a really beautifully, nubbly linen weave. I could not identify any current laminate to replicate it in either style or color. (Greens really differ in popularity by era, I’ve found.) In the other bathroom, there was a marbleized pink — and I found a good match for this one (see below).
Ultimately, these are the best choices I found for bathroom laminates:
- Wilsonart Bleu Windrift - a light, marbleized blue. Special order.
- Wilsonart Tearose Illusion - this is the pink marbleized laminate described above. Special order.
- Wilsonart Beige Illusion - also shown above. Special order.
Now, you can also get Formica 1950s replicas for the bath or kitchen. They all look terrific:
- Formica Boomerang - in four colors, shown above.
- Virrvarr - in two colors, light blue and white. This is a reproduction of a popular European pattern. I think it’s terrific, and may use it in my upcoming kitchen reno if the salvaged aqua-with-gold-fleck counters I’m hoping to use don’t work out.
Other details:
- I edged my bathroom countertops with the laminate, simple square edge. My husband the neat freak again begged me not to use the metal edge. I think this worked out fine, it certainly is ’softer’ than the metal. I’ll do a future post on where to find metal edging.
- The original countertops had a special piece of metal molding, a narrow T molding between the edge of the counter and the tile that ran up the wall alongside it. I saw at my local lumber store, this was still available. I skipped it.
- I ordered a high-gloss finish, although I think matte or a soft gloss would be fine and certainly less likely to scratch.
Finally — if you really don’t want laminate and prefer something more durable, I recommend you look at Caesarstone, a solid surface material. I thought their “Blizzard” was beautiful, a bit off white with some nubble but not overwhelming or a major contemporary statement. You could design around it.
[...] trim, although for the 40s you can also go with subway tiles. Make sure you also see the marbleized laminate I found (Wilsonart Tearose Illusion, Beige Illusion and Bleu Windrift [a 50s color]), as well. [...]
[...] Emily! For pink laminate, I like the Wilsonart Tearose Illusion - a marbleized soft pink. I used this exact pattern - but in soft blue — for a [...]
Hi,
A couple more suggestions are from Abet Laminate (a lovely Italian company who specialize in laminate surfaces-worth a look perhaps), some solid pinks are: Rosa Baby - 1103MATT, Rosso Stop - 1180MATT, Rosa Crazy Horse - 830SEI & others in darker or more intense pinks. There are some retro patterns designed by group were part of the memphis movement (a “for-real” retro inspired design group) such as Serigrafia - 1269SOFT. You can look on line and find a rep at: http://www.abetlaminati.com. They have charming iridescent pieces, not exactly like the gold speckled glitter but with the same sort of feeling. Hope this adds to the mix of choices!