Should Nancy paint her vintage wood cabinets?
Glamorlux Nancy in Fairfax, Virginia, is updating her 50s kitchen and has her inspiration photo all ready to go. The kitchen is already quite nice looking – the overall feel of the space is terrific, and the cabinets are well-made. Nancy’s chosen her countertop and has her hardware… but she still is pondering what color… or colors… to paint her original 50s cabinets…and the accent – or not – for her new Azrock Cortina floor tiles.
Nancy writes:
Hi Pam,
I’ve seen on your site where you and your readers provide ideas for “remodeling” vintage kitchens and baths… Well, here is our kitchen, pre-restoration.
As far as I can tell, a lot is original – cabinets, GE Textolite countertops (golden beige twilight), and plastic “copper” tile backsplash. However, it is very late 50’s, and we prefer a “prettier” early 50’s look. I want our new color scheme to include: aqua (turquoise), pale yellow, red and white.
The original Textolite counters are sort of beat up and lack the metal banding, so we are planning on replacing them. We’ve already purchased the aqua boomerang Formica laminate and stainless steel banding to make the new countertops. Since the copper tiles are only over the range, we are planning on removing them, and then making a taller backsplash on the countertops.
The flooring is obviously not original. I ordered some samples off of the Azrock website, and they came within a few days! My favorite is called Cirrus V-785… (and I want to use this) for the majority of the floor, with a diagonal or random pattern of Azrock’s “Spearmint”, “Honey” and “Coral Reef”…. But, my husband said that might be too much with the boomerang countertops. Our kitchen will have a Mexican theme, so we’re going for a festive look. …
As I mentioned in another email, we’ve been going back and forth on whether to paint our 1959 wood cabinets. I’m really not into the wood look, although I know it was very desirable in the 50’s. Do you think we’d regret painting them? They are worn and slightly water-damaged in areas, so if I kept the natural wood, I’d have to refinish them anyway (which I don’t particularly relish doing). We are now thinking about painting the cabinet “structure” white, but then having the doors and drawer fronts yellow and/or coral. I’ve seen this done in vintage magazines… Do you like that look? The original Amerock cabinet hardware is gold, so I found the same style in chrome on eBay. Oh well, one thing I’ve learned from pouring over vintage “Better Homes and Gardens” magazines is that really “anything goes” when it comes to decorating a 50’s kitchen!
And, thanks for the compliment about the kitchen. It is definitely not a “chef’s kitchen” and the counter space is practically nil. We’ll be adding some shelving on the wall where the Cosco cart and microwave are now. Ha, ha – I wonder how many potential buyers took one look at the kitchen (and the pink bathroom) and decided the house wasn’t for them! I’m including some “inspiration” pictures I’ve collected, to give you an idea of what feel we’re going for. Any ideas are welcome!
Thanks so much,
Nancy
First of all, Nancy, I am so impressed with all your hard, focused work. You are someone who Gets Things Done. You go, girl! My thoughts on your questions:
- Remember how Jerry Seinfeld used to joke that when you have a bad headache, you want to take just enough aspirin to kill you – but then back off a tad so that you don’t? That’s the way I tend to feel about decoration and color…. Lay it on, but then edit it back some and you will be happier. In that vein (if that makes sense): I vote with your husband. That Cirrus floor will look beautiful and has enough going on in its own right that you don’t need to add diagonals or other color punches. I also believe your eye needs somewhere to rest as it dances happily around your happy kitchen.
- Regarding the cabinets: Go ahead and paint ‘em and never look back! Another idea: Base cabinets one (darker) color, wall cabinets another (lighter) color.
- And Retro Renovation Peanut Gallery: Be sure to chime in with your ideas, too!
All that said — Nancy, you seem to have great instincts and have really thought a lot about this. So don’t get too stressed out and ultimately – trust your own heart. We can’t wait to see the finished job – thanks for sharing!
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Nancy,
Please think twice before painting over those lovely original cabinets. If they are in the shape they appear to be in your pic, it would be a real shame to coat them. I love the yellow, but maybe there are other ways to incorporate it into the kitchen, like in the countertop, flooring or wall color.
Hi Nancy,
I too would think twice about painting beautiful Beechwood cabinets. I have a 1959 kitchen with Beechwood cabinets and have kept the natural wood finish. Once restored they will be lighter and beautiful. I would suggest a satin finish so they arn’t glary.The rest of my kitchen is yellow walls and turquoise and red accents that really stand out against the neutral Beechwood cabinets.
Painting wood is like painting brick. It just seems silly when the natural look is so beautiful to begin with in my humble opinion. That said its important to do what will make you happy in the long run since you will be in that kitchen every day. Perhaps you could leave the cabinets till last to see how the other changes look first.
Good luck and its great to see another restoration in progress. If you’d like to see pics of my kitchen let me know.
Retroly yours,John Q.
The wood definitely makes it a warm, inviting space (wood always does.) I painted my cabinets white and I, too, have yellow walls with Turqoise and red accents. Without the wood tone it’s a constant battle to keep your kitchen from looking like a circus or a hospital room. I think John Q’s idea to leave them til last might be the way to go. I think you might find a light yellow makes those cabinets pop.
This excellent timing, as my wife and I are debating painting our VERY similar cabinets in our kitchen. our place is a 1961 contemporary ranch, and we like lots of color. the wood on ours is very similar tone wise, but…
Im very interested to hear the responses and see what you end up doing with yours…
Thanks for all the input! I think painted cabinets might look “cleaner”, but would lose the warmth and richness of the wood. Ahhh, I’m conflicted! And, I understand what kristinski is saying about the hospital look… That’s the reason I decided to add color to the floor, since the all white tiles might look a bit sterile. I painted the 80’s wood cabinets in my last house, and they turned out great (if I do say so myself)… So, to be on the safe side, I will take John Q’s advice and redo everything else in the kitchen first, then see how the cabinets fit in. Thanks again everyone!
i also like the wood and would keep it! i don’t think it would negatively impact your overall look, without white cabinets. your ideas are fabulous and i can’t wait to see it all come together. good luck!
John Q – I would love to see pics of your kitchen… Are they online anywhere?
Hi Nancyb,
As of yet my kitchen pics are not online BUT Pam did ask me to send them to her so maybe she can forward them to you. I could also e-mail them to you if I knew your e-mail address but not sure if its ok to ask for that on here.
John Q
Pam, can you post John Q’s photo on here? I would like yo see what he has done too!
Hi Nancy. I love that floor tile as well, and am considering it for my own kitchen. I have the same feelings about wanting more color, so I plan on using a darker color around the walls, extending inward just beyond the cabinets and appliances. This sort of “outlining” of the “inner floor” seems to have been done a lot in the 50’s. I’m also on the fence about painting the cabinets, and agree with the “wait until last” option. You have an awful lot of room to play with colors on walls and around windows. I would search for the absolute perfect fabric for that gorgeous bay window! Pinch pleats that incorporate all of your colors with a little “bark brown” would really tie it together. And one more “oh please don’t tear it out” idea… I really love the copper backsplash. Maybe what you use for the rest of your backsplash areas could have a little copper in it to pick up on it. I also look at those soffets and wonder how great they would look adorned with vintage copper molds. Have a great time, and, if you are drawn to it and love it, Buy it! Right Pam? lol
I’m in the ‘don’t paint ‘em’ camp…lol.
The house I’m in escrow on has painted kitchen cabinets and they look awful and I’m going to have my work cut out for me figuring out how to make them look better.
Here’s an idea: paint the carcasses, but refinish the doors and drawer fronts natural. My dad did that to a set of dark 1970s cabinets in our old house… they looked great after that treatment. He used a sort of salmon color for the paint. Just a thought.
BSEMet….thanks…good idea, I have been thinking about painting the base cabinets pale pink, but thought it might be ‘too much’. (the tile is pale yellow with robin’s egg blue trim) But, with the doors back to natural wood, it might look great. There is a product available for stripping paint that I was thinking of using. It’s a bit pricier than regular stripper, but far less messy. I thought I would get the small size and try it on the half bath vanity first.
Here’s the link:
http://www.paintremoval.com/
Since we’re on the subject of kitchens… I’m looking for some red linoleum or vinyl that comes in a 10 or 12 foot width. I like the marmoleum, but it only comes in 6 foot width. I’m not going to really install it, but use it like a 9×9 linoleum rug, that’s why I need it wider than 6 foot wide. Has anybody seen anything out there that might work?
Kristinski, somewhere on this blog is a post about sheet Congoleum (I think) that comes in pretty wide widths and has a nice streaky or marbleized finish. I think…
That sounds perfect. I looked around here and on Congoleum’s site, but didn’t see anything. If you run across anything, please let me know!
kristinski (and others) –
always be sure to check the Commercial sections as well. Here are some congoleums that are 12′ wide, as a start:
http://www.congoleum.com/com-sheet.html
Another place to check: Armstrong, which has linoleum…I’ll keep searching around myself.
Hi Nancy,
I have posted kitchen and livingroom pics on Flickr. My handle there is Atomichipster. The kitchen is not finished so the breakfest nook walls are not painted yet. Cabinets will be restored at some point. Tag for kitchen pics is Kitchen.
Enjoy, JohnQ aka AtomicHipster
Thanks for posting those, John Q. I love how you reconfigured the kitchen, but kept the original fixtures. Very creative! A great “before and after” comparison. Have you thought about how you’ll restore the cabinets? Do you think it is a DIY project? Just wondering if I can tackle mine myself. The rest of your house and decor is wonderful, too. It motivates me to get moving on my renovations, so that I can get to the fun part of decorating!
Hi Nancyb,
I haven’t looked into how to restore the cabinets yet. They look like they have been coated with a clear preservative of some kind. It has worn off in heavy use areas so it might be shelac? I want to do as little as possible besides making the surface look more uniform. No heavy sanding or striping planned. Hopefully a DIY since I work retail and have limited funds.
Thanks for the compliments about kitchen and other room decor. I’ve been collecting for about 20 years now and finally have the perfect house to put it all in.
wah! I’m so excited! My kitchen has been frozen in time since i bought granny’s house. My pride and joy (and hers too) is the 1952 Tappan range, still in top notch working condition. I have these wood cabinets ALL over the kitchen. In the canning kitchen downstairs, I have the metal rimmed, steel cabinets with the boomerang (orange) formica. I feel hopeful now that I’ve found you. I’m also feeling guilty that I had granny’s couch recovered because the fabric weirded me out…it was RECOVERED in 1953. Original purchased date is 1937. eh
I’ll be watching.
megb
Megb – Sounds like you have a family treasure! Can’t wait to see pics!
Hi Nancy,
I think you inspiration photo is terrific. While leaving the cabinets in their natural wood tone is a safe and common choice for many, I think going for the more “kitchy” look of the white painted cabinets with brightly colored walls, retro countertop, cheerful curtains, and a resilent tile floor would totally look amazing!
You can walk into 90% of homes today and look at wood cabinets that are stained but how often does it make you smile and think retro?
I say go for it! Find a theme to incorporate like mexicana, cherries, tropical pattern, etc with fabrics, dishes, and colors. plus a cool old stove with character would really add to the charm of the kitchen. Look at old fiesta ware type ads for ideas or seek out old magazines and you’ll see lots of cool ideas.
No guts, no glory…
Best,
Kim
Hello,
May I make a suggestion? If it were me, I’d paint the cabinet frames in a high gloss enamel – a nice ivory works well – and leave the doors with their wood finish, although I’d probably lightly sand and give them a nice gloss coat of varnish.
By the way, I’m assuming you’ll remove the doors to do the work. Also, be sure to buy true enamel paint (not latex enamel). In fact, this is one of those jobs where if you do it yourself, be sure to “Ask Sherwin-Williams” (or some equivalent) as the application of true enamel requires a certain type of brush. (If you have someone else paint them, make sure the painter has experience and knows how to do real enamel). Anyway, well worth the end result!
Paint them!!! I love the pretty 50’s kitchens too, and painting was the very first thing I did. What a difference! Bright and clean and fresh and cheerful!!! There are a few reasons to preserve the wood, but I think you should follow your heart—to the nearest paint store! Do it, I say, do it!!!
Hi Kim, Rita and Darkgardyner – Thanks for your input! Yes, I think I am leaning towards painting them. I appreciate the rich tone and texture of the wood, but being a child of the 70’s I still think of wood cabinets and paneling as being of that era. The cabinets are also more worn than shows up in the pictures, and being a perfectionist, I can’t live with them in that condition. Refinishing the frames and doors seems like a daunting task!. However, as Rita suggested, I could just refinish the doors. Hmmm…
Kim – I’ve picked out a Mexican theme. When I finally get to that point, I’ll be incorporating vintage decals and cafe curtains. Can’t wait to get to the fun decorating part!
Hi,
I’d recommend painting the cabinets and going toward the picture you posted. Nice thing about wood is that you can always strip and refinish if you don’t like it. In fact, since you’d have to sand and refinish the cabinets anyway, even to keep as-is, why not paint them in the meantime to see if you like it?
In our 1943 house, we had the same wood cabinets, but with thick varnish on them (yours may not be so ugly). We painted the base cabinets white and the doors yellow, and have never looked back!
Joseph, thanks for your first comment and welcome. We’d love to see a photo of your kitchen some time – email me at pam at retrorenovation dot com!
Nancy, I too have the 1970’s kitchen cabinets (same wood but a tad darker than yours). My home however was built in 1868 and the kitchen floor is wide heart pine with hand forged nails. I can’t afford to get new the kitchen cabinets but the wood cabinets with the wood floors is a bit too much (the cabinets go to height of the 9 foot ceilings so it really is a wall of brown). I’ve painted mine an antiqued white and redid the hardware to avoid the 70’s “modern” and more in keeping with the vintage look of the house. I am so pleased to take that step. It wasn’t easy sanding down the cabinets and doors and the antiquing took a good deal of time but in the end it was worth it. Best of luck in your project.
Country Life – Welcome!
Pam,
We have a 1947 “cottage” that we have just decided to do a 40s kitchen remodel. We are having trouble with the countertops and flooring. Would it be correct to go with Formica and steel edged counters? Or is that mostly 1950s? We were thinking of all stainles steel and maybe one section in butcher block. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Welcome, Neil. I have a post coming tomorrow that will provide a little help. But why don’t you send me some pics and I’ll let you know what I think specifically, and we can all see your cottage? email images to: pam at retrorenovation dot com
Hi Nancy,
I agree with those who believe you should steer toward your inspiration kitchens…but also in a cautious way by painting the frames and then deciding what to do about the doors. I also like a different color on the doors than the frames.
On the floor…I say keep it simple but add some interest. Maybe not ALL of the accent colors you like but just one or two and maybe just a simple frame instead of diagonals. Just a thought.
I probably shouldn’t even be weighing in since instead of keeping my black and yellow 1950 bathroom I’m “Updating” it. Keeping the yellow tile (why I stumbled on this site…trying to find some replacement tiles (going to check out B&W)) but the black has GOT to go! Anyway, sounds like your kitchen is going to be beautiful! Have Fun!
Nancy and Pam have a lot of festive ideas. Personally, I’d leave the cabinets unpainted, but there are a lot of appealing paint ideas brought up since the thread started. Our cabinets by DelMar started out stark white, and have since been repainted a yellowish tone, (which I don’t remember) and finally white. They certainly need repainting now. I would like to strip and stain or just strip and put a poly varnish (?) on them. The 1962 model I’ve seen of my house had or has Formica woodgrain cabinets that go to the ceiling on the upper ones. Next door and behind me had turquoise DelMars, the one next door’s I believe are still that color. Mom painted ours, and always pulled the doors and all the metal fittings off when she did them. Kitchen had white Formica with gold speckles and threads, rolled front and back edges, sandalwood walls, white with brown terrazzo floor, and a black baseboard under the long bank of cabinets. A riot of color! LOL
I painted my wood cabinets and couldn’t be happier! They were knotty pine and made the kitchen so dark. I filled the knots and painted them multiple coats of white and a gloss on top and finished them with silver knobs and I love it. My kitchen is bright and sunny and warm now.
If you aren’t fond of the wood, paint them.
Neil, did you see the 40s post on Monday? Also – take a look at the new Galleries! A bunch of pics are up from 40s kitchens, and I will add more over time. I would say for sure, yes, laminate with edging is appropriate, and stainless steel is fine, too. Note, stainless steel is “cold”, laminate would be softer, warmer. And I definitely like mixing up the surfaces. Be sure to see my kitchen photos … and also read the posts (Fast and Easy: Countertops and Edging section) showing countertop design ideas. Hope this helps! Send pics if you like! pam at retrorenovation dot com
I have the exact style of cabinets in my 1955 built home and I have no intention of painting them. They are in excellent condition and a little wood cleaner has done wonders. Even the countertops, which are the original white laminate are in excellent condition as well. You know the old saying: if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it! The only thing I will change on the cabinets is the hardware. I found the brass concave, or dish, knobs from Atlas Hardware, which will look nice with the copper finish hinges (original). One question: those copper stick-on tiles; do they look realistic on the wall?
Glamorlux Nancy, How goes the kitchen? Did you decide to paint?
Those Cabinets are so beautiful. I do so love the look of them.
My Aunt and Uncle had those type of cabinets with the same type of hardware. Polish them up and get you some vintage kitchen Items and that Kitchen of yours will look absolutely FAB.
JT
We had the exact same kind of cabinets and decided to paint them. See the story and pics on my retro renovation home blog (inspired in great part by Pam’s blog!)
Kitchen re-do.
O my, those look like my cabinets and the exact same copper tile. I did take the tile off the wall…they sort of just fell off. I am considering painting the cabinets. They are not in that great of shape. I own a 1951 cape cod why on earth did they place the refrigerator right next to two doube wide windows….? the stove sits on a wall by itself. Very odd layout.
Guess everyone has their own opinions and you need to go with your own. But, I hate painting quality wood, unless it’s a cheap, scuzzy wood, then I say go for it. It is not fun stripping paint! Besides, to me wood is warm and inviting. But, that’s me!
Nancy, I found this photo for you on flickr – take a look: http://flickr.com/photos/amandawoodward/112214921/
Pat,
wood is inviting yes, but even cheap wood can look good.
Thanks everyone for your input! Pam – that kitchen looks so bright and sunny… I love it! I have yet to do anything… Here is a Formica ad I found, which shows what the aqua counters could look like with wood cabinets:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f13/starletstyle3/FormicaAd.jpg
We painted our Quaker Made cabinets white, they are circa 1969…a bit too colonial for our 1948 house. I had a professional spray painter take the fronts of the drawers and all of the cabinet doors. They then spent the day spraying the actual cabinets and tile with an oil based paint. (It was the second layer of tile that had been painted cream, sadly, the first layer was black & white…so my kitchen returned to its roots!) The little wall space that we have is painted mint green – to match the FiestaWare. We had an odd wall with a mushroom shaped counter that was replaced by a black Formica rolling table and a narrow set of shelves/cabinets to match the cabinets with lights and plenty of space for cookbooks, telephone, etc.
i have been wondering what to do with my wooden cabinets as well… they are just a veneer which is chipped in a few spots (near the floor, so not too noticeable, but in no way are they perfect) i am tempted to do a green stain with the walls pale yellow and floor a warm gold with a darker border… also i fell in love with this fabric: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3589/3363475759_525f574de9_o.jpg which i’m making curtains out of. i am dying to see “before” and “after” photos of everyone’s kitchens!
We had 1950’s cabinets in our home as well. Someone had painted over the varnished cabinets and the paint was chipping and some places had food on it. I used a heat gun to take off the varnish and then sanded them down. It took a few months, but It was well worth it. We were able to re-stain our cabinets for about $200 and now they look brand new. Just took a little elbow grease. I would encourage you to stain them rather than paint. If you do paint, make sure you sand the varnish off, otherwise you will chip the paint off. Also, use high gloss paint as this is easier to wash.
Welcome, ktina. My husband taught me the aphorism: “Good…Fast…Cheap: Pick Any Two.” One of my favorites of all time. And remember DIY readers to use appropriate safety and environmental precautions such as testing paint for lead.
Hi Pam and All,
I was so inspired by the “1964 Split-Level Time Capsule” kitchen profiled here on retroren, that it has changed my kitchen remodeling plans completely! We are now keeping the original countertops, but ‘knocking’ off the backsplash and putting in aqua tile. We will also attempt to keep the wood finish of the cabinets. That being said, we no longer need our unused metal banding (from NY metal) and sheet of aqua boomerang Formica laminate. Any ideas on passing these items along at a cheap price? Anyone interested? We live in Northern, Va.
Well, I’m off to start painting the kitchen walls. Thanks everyone for your input on my project!!!
=) Nancy