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Janice’s “Retro Renovation Inspired Kitchen”

Posted by: • July 12, 2010


Today, Janice shares the story of her wonderful kitchen renovation, which includes avocado (yes) colored Formica countertops, new MDF cabinet doors, Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze floors — and , well, every detail carefully considered. :) Janice writes:

Pam, here are the pictures to what I like to call my Retro Renovation Inspired Kitchen. I look around the room and can relate nearly everything to some piece of advice learned, a tip heard, or a resource discovered through the blog – a blog that I religiously read every….single…..day.

Here’s a little about the kitchen…..

My husband, Greg, and I bought our 1954 ranch house in Wichita, Kansas in 2008. We were downsizing from a much newer and much bigger house that we no longer needed since we’re empty nesters. I wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic as my husband about downsizing as I wasn’t ready to give up all my “stuff” that filled a 3 story home. That is, until I latched onto an Atomic Ranch magazine in a bookstore one day. I was inspired by the very unique, simpler concept of these homes and now I was completely on board with downsizing….so long as I could have a 1950’s ranch home in the right neighborhood. We were lucky to find our house after only looking at two houses and bam! Suddenly we were owners of a mid-century ranch. Now what the heck do I do? Heck yeah there is more →

Upload photos of your weekend thrifting finds

Posted by: • July 11, 2010

What did you find thrifting this weekend? There was a pretty darn good estate sale in Pittsfield. I went up at the end and nabbed a ridiculous bunch of stuff at half-price… really, better even, money-wise…  because I always just fill big boxes full of dinky strange old mostly useless things… so the dealers always just give my piles a glance and then give me one (almost always super low) price… because they know they also have to clean out the house after, and they know the stuff I buy would likely just go to the dumpster. They all know me, by now. I save them the trouble. Like, who in the world but me would get all grabby about 39 vintage spatulas that were Fuller Brush customer thank-you giveaways. Clear plastic spat’s still separated from blue plastic ula’s, in their separate original boxes… just sitting there, patiently waiting for me to arrive and to save them from a cruel end.
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What did you find thrifting this weekend? Upload your own weekend finds … Terms of Use apply:


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4¼” ceramic field tile in 70 colors from Waterworks

Posted by: • July 10, 2010

My tile mini-series launched by EarthaKitsch’s quest for vintage gray and pink tiles continues with more ceramic field tile choices from Waterworks. Waterworks is high-end company with gorgeous faucets and sinks, too, although nothing that really makes my mid-century modern or modest list. If you are on a quest to find Just The Right Color for your basic 4¼” x 4¼” bathroom field tiles, and can’t find what you want in the more obvious and less spendy places like Daltile, American-Olean or B&W, check these out. Heck yeah there is more →

Ceramic tile in 147 colors and 26 sizes from Ann Sacks Elements Ceramic Basics

Posted by: • July 9, 2010

Because mid-century bathrooms often featured modest (albeit colorful) ceramic tile finishes, my research to date has mostly focused on relatively inexpensive mainstream solutions … of which there are quite a few … Heck yeah there is more →

Royal Barry’s Wills home, 1920, Melrose, Mass.

Posted by: • July 8, 2010

Oh my goodness, I’m having palpitations, this is the sweetheart Cape Cod home that architect Royal Barry Wills built for himself and his family in 1920 in Melrose, Mass. Before he went and got all famous and became the #1 influence (in my view) on mid-century homes all across America. This house should go into historic preservation. And – they should restore it inside and out to look just like it did on the magazine cover shown in the listing information — I assume it’s the same house. For sale as of July 2010.

Can we help EarthaKitsch find tile to fill in the gap in her pink and gray bathroom floor?

Posted by: • July 8, 2010

The lovely pink and gray bathroom in EarthaKitsch’s 1956 house has a gaping hole in the vintage mosaic ceramic floor tile, courtesy of a previous owner’s need to get to pipes underneath. Eartha K is a longtime reader… remember when I wrote about her delicious knotty pine kitchen? Now, she and DH putting finishing touches ont he bathroom but Drats! They need to fins some tile to match. I volunteered to marshall the Retro Renovation readership forces (and the retro decorating gods) on their behalf. Read on for Eartha K’s story… Heck yeah there is more →

Vintage style hooked rugs for your 1930s or 1940s home

Posted by: • July 7, 2010

Thanks to reader Stacey, who emailed a tip that reminded me about a great source for vintage-style hooked rugs for a prewar home: Dash & Albert Rug Company. This company, which is part of the Annie Selke / Pine Cone Hill empire, is based in Pittsfield, Mass. – the next town over from me. And, the Pine Cone Hill outlet is about a mile from my house, here in Lenox. So, I’ve seen these rugs in person — and assure you, they are quite luscious. Even if you are totally devout about mid-century, these make you wish you had a house built in the 1930s or 1940s so you could put them in every room. Heck yeah there is more →

A mint-in-box vintage stove finds its home sweet home in Lawrence Bill’s knotty pine kitchen

Posted by: • July 6, 2010

Last September, reader Tina sent me a tip that there was a mint-in-box Welbilt stove at the Re-Store in Alexandria, Virginia. I immediately did a post, but never found out what happened. Well… nearly nine months later, I hear from longtime reader Lawrence Bill — he snapped it up … relocated it to his home in Kansas … and shares the whole story with us today. Goodness, I sure do love hearing the end of these stories! :)   Bill writes: Heck yeah there is more →

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