I first heard from Bryan and Alex on Dec. 10. These two cuties from Warren, Mich., explained that family was coming for Christmas on Dec. 23 — driving them to complete their kitchen renovation in under two weeks. Would this ambitious duo be up to the task?
Here is Bryan’s first note to me explaining the challenge:
DEC. 10:
Hello, We love the site, it has been so helpful with the remod of our 1949 1,200 sq ft home in Warren, Mich. Last winter we tore out the carpet in the front room to find original hardwood floors. We refinished those in a dark cherry and finished it off with all new trim and some paint. This year’s project is the kitchen. We had painted it pink and white when we first moved just to have something a little more our style. But the time has come to do it right. We just picked up a 1954 GE stove in perfect condition off craigslist for $70! And back in the summer we scored a perfect working 1953 Kelvinator fridge for free from the original owner. It had been painted at one time but I started getting the paint off with a power washer, and now I need to go back and strip it all down and respray it. The inside is all complete and in perfect condition.
So based around these two finds we have decided to “restore” our kitchen to what we can only assume it once looked like. We have purchased the Formica blue boomerang counter top. I have torn out the tile floor that was added some time in the 80′s. I can see the orig Armstrong tile under the sub floor. We are tearing out the sub floor and I’m sure the original tiles are bad, so we plan to replace it with the Armstrong VCT’s in white and gray. Then, paint the cabinets (once I make new doors) to match the bright blue boomerang on the counter tops…white brick 3×6 tile back splash (I wanted 4×4′s, she wanted the brick..she wins) We are having our first family X-mas here this year, and the plan is to have it done by than. Wish me luck… Back to work, the clock is ticking. Bryan and Alex
“Woah!” I tell Bryan. He is one ambitious renovator. This is gonna be like a TV home design show — but without the $10,000 or $15,000 worth of carpenters and electricians that somehow never seem to get counted in the episode’s design-on-a-nickel budget. I also mention that I lived for many years in Michigan, where I worked for Ford. Mind you, it’s still Dec. 10, and Brian writes right back:
Oh no Ford, you’re the enemy haha. I grew up in a GM household and have four Chevys, two new and two vintage cars. I’ve worked in the past doing remods and updating. In fact, the past summer I worked with my brother-in-law to ruin this perfect time capsule of a house in Grosse Pointe. It was a huge 2,200 sq. ft. ranch from 1954. I did manage to snag the vanity out of the powder room so that will be going into my bathroom at some point. Sorry kind of drifted off there. I will include some pics of what it looks like right now.
I just got the sub floor out to reveal some nasty yellow linoleum that they glued to the pink asbestoes tiles. So I’m stopping at this point with removal and I’m putting down new 1/8″ plywood and then my floor. I just got a exciting call from Lowe’s this afternoon. Turns out my 10′ x 4′ piece of laminate is in. So I need to pick that up in the morning!
Sorry for the poor picture of the fridge, it’s kind tucked away in the garage behind all the dirt bikes. But if it gets back up above freezing I’m pulling it out and getting it ready for paint. I’m including a few bonus pics from our house as well. Thanks, Bryan & Alex
Michigan is full of great mid-century stuff – and Bryan and Alex are smart to snatch it up. I tell Bryan that will be truly impressed if they get that kitchen done in time. That is my pretend-to-encouraging-Pam way of saying, are you nuts!? He writes:
We have no choice but to get it done, it helps that I work from home and have no work so this is my full time job right now. Well right after I finish my last job on this Honda tomorrow haha. Thank for the compliment on our things, we have bought everything at a resale shop or a garage sale. Alex has a in with the guy at the antique shop down the street and he calls her when ever a new mid-century piece comes in. Thats how we got the fridge for free. We will keep you updated. Bryan
DEC. 12. I get a second set of notes from Bryan, proving that he really is serious about the fast-moving project. He writes:
Well got a few things done this weekend. The fridge got pulled out of the corner, and Alex and I got to stripping the paint off. That worked well, but we still ended up having to wet sand the whole fridge to get the stubborn spots cleaned up. That whole deal took us late into the night Saturday, I was able to prime it around 2:30 a.m.
I still have a whole day painting and wet sanding the fridge but its turning out so nice.
Today after getting a late start we were able to get the new sub floor laid, I hung the new light we bought from Lowe’s. We are ending our night with one coat of gloss white done and hopefully one more to go. Tomorrow evening my brother in-law is swinging by to give me a hand laying the new laminate on the counter top. So far so good, Hopefully we will meet our deadline. Family shows up the 23rd!
DEC. 17. Another note:
Hello again, Bryan and Alex here with another update on our kitchen remod. With our deadline fast approaching, it’s time to kick it into high gear.
The other night my brother-in-law came by and we were able to get the counter top installed. Then yesterday I had my friend come by who owed me some tile work for work I did on his car. We went with 4-1/4″ gloss white from Daltile and added a stripe in a new color from Daltile called “Waterfall” — it matches the counter top so well. Hope you like it, we’re off the flooring store to order our VCT. We are going with Armstrong tiles in Carribean blue and a silver white.
My brother in-law laid all the VCT for just about every Borders Books from Flordia to Alaska, so I think we are in good hands. Our vintage fridge is all but done now, too. I need to do one more coat and sand on it. I don’t want this project to end, I’m having so much fun. I wish I could do this for a living, it’s just like what I do to customize cars, but it’s nice working in a new medium. p.s. Look past the pink cabinets they will be blue by this weekend. I’m going to have them scan a blue tile and match it. Thanks for all you do with the site. Bryan & Alexandra
Dec. 21: 10 days into it and my goodness, the kitchen is looking great. I notice, Bryan and Alex, that you went from gray to blue — I like it! Perkier, but still very classic. And Bryan got the 4×4 tiles rather than Alex’s brick/subway tiles. Hey, what happened? (I tend to favor 4x4s – they are more “authentic” to this period, but subways are nice, too.) Bryan writes:
Hello again, just me this time she is sleeping. I on the other hand have not been to bed yet and its 7:30 a.m. The kitchen will be done tomorrow… well I guess later today after I nap. So any rate the floor is in, the paint is done, I just finished putting the base molding on and mocking up the shelves above the fridge. All the cabinet doors are made and only need one more coat of paint. We’re going to wait till after the holidays to finish a few more items like soffit wall paper and a can light above the stove. As it is, we may not have the cabinet doors for x-mas unless the chrome hinges I bought come in the mail. Well, I need to hit the bed, enjoy the pics, we couldn’t be happier with the way it’s turning out. It’s cute but classic, like a Corvair. Thank, Bryan/Alex.
Yes, classic. (Like a Mustang, too.) Of course, I had suggested to Bryan wallpaper for the soffits. But then he sends me photos of their new dishes — oh la la. He writes:
I’m sorry I keep bugging you but you’re the only person I “know” that’s into the retro life like me and Alex. With that being said, I had to send you this email with yesterday’s find. Yesterday was Alex’s birthday and she wanted to spend the day going around to the vintage shops. We are lucky enough to have three or four stores with in a few miles that cater to mid-century modern collectors. Well at our third stop yesterday, she found the greatest set of dishes that we didn’t know we needed to have, haha.
The set is missing a few items, but i believe we got 64 pieces of this great collection from North Star.
The shop owner said they were circa 61-62. I just had to share some pics. We got the whole set for $125 approx. $2 per piece. Thanks, Bryan & Alex
Woah, that’s the kinda birthday present all the readers here love to get. Clearly, the retro decorating gods are on your side, you two. I recommended to Bryan that they take the starburst and replicated it on the soffit — no need for wallpaper!
And on Dec. 23 — deadline day, I hear from Bryan:
It’s done! I stayed up for 30 hours straight with only 4 hours of sleep. I’m sending you a few final pics of the house all ready for X-mas. I will do a quick write up with more pics if you would like, but I have to sleep more, I’m a bit out of it so I’m keeping this short. Enjoy. We worked very hard to make our first hosting of X-mas special, so now I’m going to sleep till 2010!
The pic of us was taken at 3am Monday night, we look a little worse for wear. Have a Merry Christmas. We want to thank you for all you have done with the site.There is no way this project would have turned out so nice with out all your info and pictures. It’s so nice having one place with all the info needed to do it right. Bryan and Alex.
Bryan & Alex's kitchen: Before and After
Bryan and Alex: Well done, you get lots of exclamation points!!!! Yes, among all of this, Bryan, it would be great if you could fill us in on how you ended up in this house. (I didn’t want to bug you for this, though — you were busy!) Are you “accidental modernists” (another term that I have coined) or has mid-century been a longtime interest that led you to this house. Oh, and what’s your dog’s name. AND: How was your Christmas! Many thanks for sharing all of this. It was great fun for me to follow and to feature. You two are retro renovation rock stars! Thanks so much for sharing.
Did I achieve my goal to renovate Mom’s bathroom in 7-10 days? Nope — it definitely took longer 
Let’s help Catherine retro-renovate her 1948 Ohio ranch 
Found Objects…Found Art Contest: Entry blitz for the next 10 days 
Become a fan
Just amazing!!!!
Now sleep for 3 days!!!
John
Wow, that is just fantastic. I don’t live too far from Warren, and we are a mixed GM and Chrysler (formerly AMC) family. Congratulations on those renovations and meeting that deadline. It looks great. Love the tiles. I hope you are getting some well earned rest now. As for doing this for a living, there are possibilities there. Lots of people would if they could, but they need a little design help and a lot of technical hands on help.
Wow! Just amazing! I live in Kazoo..and am trying bit by bit to do my house. You’re right-Michigan has a lot of mid mod houses to choose from.
Thanks for posting our little project Pam. We started our all things vintage life with cars. .I got into them at a early age and built my first custom right when me and Alex first got together 10 years ago. So we kind of grew more into vintage things together.I think the big turning point was when i went to work at this body shop a few years ago. The painter was a huge mcm collector. he took me to his house and i fell in love with the style. He has a very nice ranch from 61 that is all decked out in designer furniture from the era. And the best part is after we bought this house i found out he lives just down the street!
We got this house because it had a 3 car garage a new roof and a big yard. We wanted a big ranch but when i bought our house our budget was 130k and there was no way a nice ranch was in our budget. So we just have to “love the home your in”
Bryan & Alex & Scrappy (the pit bull, we have two more dogs to)
Hi Bryan — thanks for that additional info. I have certainly found, over two+ years of doing the blog, that lots of men get into retro/vintage homes via vintage cars. Again – GREAT job with that kitchen, and thanks so much for sharing! What was the family’s reaction?
Great work, fellow Michiganders! I live in Benton Harbor and have 2 MCM homes. I have that same paneling in my sun room and love it!
Dude that’s awesome! I wish I could decide on kitchen colors. Wish I knew people who could do the things I can’t.Can’t afford to hire someone, so I gotta do it myself
Nice Job!!! I love reading about great home DIY projects.
Nice work! I have North Star dishes and they are great for everyday!
Wow! I am so impressed! And what a beautiful job. I can’t even imagine that you had the energy to entertain the family after this!
Great job on the refrigerator and congratulations on the dishes! Everything seems to be coming together for you so perfectly.
p.s. I love Scrappy’s decorations.
Bryan, please clone yourself – would that all men had your skills! The kitchen looks incredible and I hope you and Alex had a great Christmas with everyone ooh-ing and aah-ing at the beauty.
Bryan, you are my hero! If I could afford to fly you to SoCal and pay you to work on my house, it would be done in a heartbeat. You and Alex have great taste, your house looks amazing, and now you need to start a blog! You’ve already done the work, with all the photos and text you sent to Pam. Then, we could all see all your mid-century goodies and your upcoming projects…and your cars!
Oh, well done!!! I’m SO impressed with what you’ve accomplished in such a short time. I love your choices (and your work-style!) It’s always great to see a retro renovation that doesn’t go over the top, so I really appreciate your restrained-but-pulled-together design decisions. And the tile is the perfect accent!
I think Elaine is right: you obviously have the background and skills to turn this into a career if you want to. The design tide is turning toward mid-century, so it’s the perfect time to make the change. I’m sure lots of people in your area would be thrilled to have your assistance. And you can use your kitchen as your first portfolio piece! Congrats on doing such a nice job!
Amazing job you guys! It looks fantastic!!!! I agree with Jane (AKA Elvis) you should use your kitchen as the portfolio! Im a senior in college with a major in set and interior design and I wanting to make this my dream job! Congrats guys!
Wonderful Job!!!! I live in Warren, Michigan too!! I love the blue and white, it’s very cute and goes so well with their vintage appliances!!
Congratulations! You did such an excellent job and such a service to your retro home!
Jean
Wow, wow and WOW! Like everyone else here, I want to clone Bryan so I can have a Bryan of my very own. But most of all, I want you to start your own blog so we can follow along with your house AND car projects!
Great project, great results, and great post!
Great job! I want those bar glasses.
Your kitchen turned out amazing! I love the appliances and the refrigerator seems like quite a job to tackle! I love how your floor turned out as well. And Alex’s birthday excursion sounds like the kind of day I’d like to do on my birthday…and those dishes are awesome! All around great job and thanks for all the pictures. It’s always fun to see what others have done.
Fellow Michigander here. I’m in Ford country: Dearborn.
Bryan & Alex – y’all did an awesome job! That kitchen looks spectacular. I really like the tile wall as well as the VCT color choice for the floor. And the new cabinet doors & hardware look perfect! But I absolutely love your fridge & stove! I’m totally into vintage appliances because they help complete the look. BTW, another one-time Michigander here. I had a sweet little ranch in Southfield for 11 months in 2001-2002 when I worked for GM.
we have that EXACT plate set, only partially complete though.
What a great job! (I thought I was doing well by finishing my Christmas shopping on time!) I’m extremely impressed by the quality of the work and how well put together it looks. I’m now encouraged to go forward with my house project (I’m now convinced to keep the cherry paneling above the fireplace, and 1/2 wall w/chair rail in the dining room (besides it matches the ceiling beams)). Thanks for a great post.
Another Michigander: farther north in Saginaw.
Wow! Looks great. Nice to see it taken back to it’s former glory. Lived up that way for a couple of years and I always admired the many retro brick ranches in the area.
Thanks every one for all the nice comments. your going to make my head bigger than a early 60′s Cadillac! I would love to do a blog but I’m not very computer savy. But i will look into it. My little brother just moved in last month and he is a certified geek so im sure he can help.
Our Christmas went off with out a hitch. Alex’s first turkey turned out great! She used a tried and true 50′s recipe and it was yummy! things just taste better in the 54 GE stove, It just seems to have more heart, just think about all the chirstmas dinners that were cooked in that oven.
Have a happy new year every one, im off to search for things for the up comming bathroom remod. now i just need a stupid deadline so it will get done. lol
I am late here but WOW that’s amazing you did it so fast and it looks incredible I love it!
Oh I so want that north star starburst set, sigh.
I adore your kitchen!!!! You all did a gret job. I hope to have a Mid Century of my own one day. I have all my kistchy kiten stuff ready to go!
Bravo! Bravo!
Just HAD to post to say, YAY michigan spirit and yay you guys!
I left 5 years ago and am now west coast but all our families are back in MI still. Way to go on this great reno, the fridge especially is VERY impressive. Thank god for handy friends and the skilled trades, right?
I’m in manufacturing (we make planes, not cars out here in Seattle) but my coworkers are some of the greatest for advice and help on my house.
I would second, PLEASE put your lil bro to work and get a blog going. Michigan desperately needs a mid-mod crusader. So many homes to save and no value being put on preservation or resurrection. I think you guys have great style, and a work ethic to match. Go get ‘em!
Wow, the kitchen looks great! I love the dishes! As a fellow Michigander, I am curious where all these great shops are located? Warren would be a hike for me, but I’d like to check them out some day.
I must chime in too on what a great job you did (as I sit in my hacienda kitchen that definitely has potetial, but a long ways to go!) – perhaps Bryan has a TV show in his future, where they film him as he travels across the country Retro Renovating peoples’ kitchens. I want to be the Pennsylvania episode! We could tie it in to Blobfest here in Phoenixville, you guys would dig the vintage cars that come out to celebrate that.
Holy cow! That kitchen looks awesome, and now it has a great story to go with it! You guys should be proud of yourselves!
I think you’re on to something about that stove. My grandmother had that exact same GE stove for years. She always cooked Thanksgiving dinner in it. However, it never really tasted the same after she got a new one…
Sorry, just noticed something else:
Do you know anything about your set of chrome bins next to the sink? I picked up a similar set at a garage sale a few years back, and I’m trying to find out who made them.
next time we go up to the antique shop around the block ill ask him about them.We bought them from him about 6 months ago. I believe he told me who made them but I cant remember for the life of me, We have the complete set including the paper towel/aluminum foil holder.
I Love your house guys…it is the kind of house I aspire to have…just one piece of info though…your Kelvinator is not from 1953 it is actually from 1947.
really! i ran the serial numbers off the back and had a hard time finding much info out. but i saw a few other listed on vintage appliance web sites as a 53. But i was noticing very subtle changes from year to year so it got a bit confusing. Thanks for the info! I just had to pull the fridge off the wall yesterday it was rattling the dishes on the shelves above it. It has a nice subtle tone to it when it runs and that was just ruining the whole thing for me.
Thanks again for the info!
Those chrome canisters look like Lincoln Beautyware – if they are, they will be marked on the bottom.
ha who would have thought about flipping them over… but you are right sir they are lincoln beautyware
Thanks! Mine are green with white letters in an Art Moderne font.
Brian I found an ad that has a 1953 Kelvinator Fridge in it go here to see what it looks like
http://cgi.ebay.com/LETTERS-TO-HUSBANDS-IN-1953-KELVINATOR-APPLIANCES-AD_W0QQitemZ140356934124QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item20adecd9ec
and here is what a more deluxe version of your 1947 Kelvinator looks like
http://cgi.ebay.com/1947-OLD-VINTAGE-AD-KELVINATOR-REFRIGERATOR-OF-COURSE_W0QQitemZ300380900023QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item45f018cab7
I believe you Kelvinator Fridge is middle of the line for 1947 because if it were the top of the line it would look just like the one in the ad and if it were bottom of the line it would have a tiny liitle freezer chest that could only hold two Ice cube trays and two boxes of frozen food….Oh and one last bit of info you might like to have….I looked through my GE 1954 Dealers catalog and found your range. Your stove is an Airliner Model J-363 . It was the 5th in the line of 7 40 inch ranges GE made in 1954 and was preceeded by the Stratoliner, the Liberator, The Mainliner, and the Speedster models and proceeded the Stewardess and the Leader models (the last two are your stove without the clock and automatic timer feature). Just thought you might enjoy the info…..Also please share more pics of your gourgeous house please
Wow, Patrick, that is awesome research. Thank you!!!!
Awesome awesome!!! Loved this story!!! The kitchen looks fabulous!!!!!
Pam,
That is very nice of you to say….all things 20th century vintage are my passion
Bryan, Alex, congrats on a super renovation! I’m also a neighbor- have an atomic ranch in Southfield, currently under renovation. Love that you used vintage appliances and managed to get rid of the routed door fronts on the cabinets- now it looks like it’s suppose to!
Wish my kitchen was original, unfortunately I’m still looking for a vintage replacement. Please, someone, save me from IKEA!
Thanks for all the great info Patrick! I’m glad ui could clear up the info on the fridge and stove. I love the fact that every thing even stoves had cool names. Now its all just numbers, even with the newer cars.
Jeff Thanks for the props. There are some real cool homes in southfield, that was one of the places we house shopped. The door making was not that hard if you have a basic understanding of wood working tool’s and the time any thing can be made. This was only my second time working with wood. the first time i tried to make a wall mounted tv stand for my garage tv. I felt great staring at my creation while drinking a celbatory beer with my buddy. only to have the whole deal including the tv fall to the ground as i took another swig from my beer. I felt like Clark W Grizwald, haha
But i learned that i need to slow down and think a little more when working with wood. Just take your time and learn about what needs to happen. .
Hey I think your kitchen turn out great. I love you Melamine dinning set. What was the make of your vintage refrigerator, I think my mom had one just like it.
Shirley
Hello! I like your kitchen update. But, where is the hood for the stove? Curious because I’m trying to deal with a hood situation.
Thanks!
Wow! I just love your North Star china. My parent’s had a set just like it when I was growing up.
Love your kitchen, especially the cabinets – My husband and I are replacing cabinets in our 1950 ranch and are using MDF. We want to paint white/off white, and are wondering what type of paint you used on your cabinets. They look fantastic! Thanks.