What fun - my kitchen was featured on Apartment Therapy
Mid Mod Pam on Mar 05 2008 at 6:05 am | Filed under: Inspiration
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!

























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
[...] just in: Look at how Pam at RetroRenovation completely revamped her kitchen to look very 50s with the help of blue cabinets similar to those [...]
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!