This past weekend my kitchen was featured on ApartmentTherapy.com’s Guess the Decade. This feature shows a photo, then gives readers the whole weekend to ponder – then vote – to guess what decade the room/photo came from. The vast majority of readers were on the mark, detecting the modern clues. Take a look – and be sure to click through to the original post as it contains many amusing — often scathing — comments. Although, I must admit the jury is out on whether I am OCD or not – about retro reno details, at least!
Mid Mod Madness
Kitchens – Countertops

A few years ago I saw my first bathtub and shower surround tiled in with a “crazy quilt” of all different tiles, and it was love at first site. If you love color and pattern, heck, going crazy quilt means can have it all. Designer Amy Mescia — with her new company Oscar & Izzy – now [...]

I felt blog ego come upon me (horrors, ego!) when Ronn challenged my assessment that the countertop in this kitchen was original. Maybe yes, maybe no, but if his belief is that it’s 90s because of the integral backsplash and edge (rather than the pattern) – I did respond that I’ve spotted integral design for [...]

These are sure a blast from the past: Glass combination trivets and cutting boards that are installed directly into your kitchen countertop. Yes: with metal rim aka Hudee ring. I think that these built-in cutting boards were all the rage in the 1970s, because there was one in our 1975 countertop, to the left of the sink. I’m not sure [...]

I have da boomerang laminates covered one-by-one in other stories, but here, I pull them into one place for those renovators to compare and constrast. According to my research, there are three laminate boomerang designs — with a total of 14 possible colorways — available today. Updated January 2011: Wilsonart ads 11 more colors of [...]

Cracked ice laminate seems to have been a very popular choice for vintage dinette table tops, and I hear from readers fairly often asking where they can find it for kitchen counters. Crackle ice laminate is still available from a number of sources online. Like the other special-order boomerang laminates available, these crackle ice laminates [...]
MidCentury Marketplace Advertisers
-
I need speed and up-time — so I use WP Engine
Renovate Safe
Renovate Safe! Get informed about the environmental & safety issues in your vintage home. #1 RULE: Consult with pros. More info: EPA asbestos website ... EPA lead website ... Consumer Reports safety blog ... U.S.F.A. – electrical fire safety.






Welcome, Apartment Therapy voters
On our retro radar: Crane Kitchen Pride kitchen sink 














I love this. I had just done a post on my site about a modern kitchen with blue cabinets similar to these that looked like a photo in a 1956 Better Homes and Gardens decorating book when I ran across yours, so I added your kitchen photo to the post about blue cabinets and have pointed my readers here to read about it. (You can see the post here: http://hookedonhouses.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/then-now-retro-kitchens/)
I’m crazy about your site and added you to my blogroll, as well. Thanks! -Julia
Hi,
Very, VERY nice job! In my last home (of 15 years), which was a 1949, I used all that time to return it to a middle class Art Deco home… right down to the proper light switch plates, carpets, you name it… AND I had a 1949 Buick convertible. (Do you feel any better now about your O.C.D.?) Since my wife and I moved into our 1958 design split level (in 1995), it’s been a slower but steady “down-dating” there as well. One exception: no more antique cars. Talk about a love/hate relationship!
Ronn.
Hi again,
I got to thinking you might like to see a few shots of our home. Here’s the link to the first shot (then just click “next” to continue). As you can imagine, it would make perfect sense for me to steal your entire kitchen. Though my wife is a KITCHEN DESIGNER, it seems we’ll be last on the list of clients! Dang!!
http://futuresantiques.com/items/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=6909
Ronn.
Pam, very cool to have your kitchen featured on Apartment Therapy.
(I love my breadmaker, btw! I would miss all my conveniences if I were back in the real ’50s).
Pam, your kitchen is so amazing, who knows? Perhaps a slick magazine shoot will be in your future!
Ron, I loved looking at the photos of your house. I’ve been a fan of your online shop for years and go there to drool over the cool stuff you have. How neat it must be to be able to look through your warehouse and pick out the most amazing pieces for your house!
Femme 1,
Thanks for the thoughts. However, lots of people think that dealers do what you implied – go to their warehouse and pick the best for their own homes. Not so. Anyone who behaves that way is, or will be, out of business – AND has a house that looks like a hi-style Goodwill.
To survive, And make a home with some visual logic, I have perimeters for what comes into my home: certain years, designers, colors, shapes, materials, styles, etc. On top of that, I have a rule for myself: If I bring something IN to the home, something must go OUT to the shop.
I’m proud of FUTURES, and my home. Both are works-in-progress, have been for 17 years, and I see no aesthetic end to it. There’s only one thing that will stop me, hopefully… and it’s NOT going out of business.
Ronn.
You are an owner of my dream kitchen! This is exactly what I want! I’m filled with admiration and jealousy! Thanks!
Just lovely! I dream of when I finally get my own retro kitchen. I think I want baby blue!
where does one get those cabinets?!?!
Hi Jane, check out the FAQ about where to sell your vintage steel kitchen cabinets – but just do the reverse to buy them. FAQs are in the navigation bar along the top of the site, http://retrorenovation.com/tag/faq/
Nice Geneva cabinets. I have Geneva Cabinets with a light blue textured finish and rubber coated racks These cabinets hold alot of stuff and seem to last forever.
I wish I could find some replacement insert latches and drawer rollers.