Orange kitchen cabinets — yes! I call this vintage color “bittersweet”, and it makes me want to repaint my vintage kitchen orange! The lovely Mitzi of Vintage Goodness fame picked up this 13-page catalog of Youngstown steel kitchen cabinets at a tag sale, and before she resold it, she scanned it to share with other Retro Renovators. We don’t have a date from the catalog, but I’m guessing late 1950s, based on the inclusion of this bittersweet orange color, and from the look of the appliances. 52PostnBeam, what do you think? Note from the image above: The mix of totally mid mod groovy orange and yellow with a classic country farm table and Windsor chairs. Don’t be afraid to mix it up, it’ll be all the more interesting. Thanks, Mitzi! xoxox
Vintage Youngstown metal kitchen cabinets – a picture perfect 1950s kitchen 
Painting metal kitchen cabinets: Jay and Jamie’s Nashville condo with retro renovated Youngstown cabinets 
Mid-century Lightolier lighting catalog – 73 pages 
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The orange kitchen makes me start dreaming of turquoise fiesta ware!
Snazzy!
These are the absolute living end. Love ‘em.
That is a picture of the dream house in my head, and what I am talking about when I rant about the unimaginative homes built today.
Beautiful.
Any idea what the “BEFORE” means in the second to last photo?
These photos are great – “modern” kitchens of today pale in comparison to these colorful kitchens.
It looks like a vintage photo, so… maybe it was replaced with a more modern kitchen setup in the 50′s or 60′s. The “before” photo looks very 40′s (maybe very early 50′s) to me. The old tube type am radio above the sink is definitely an indicator that either this is a vintage photo, or someone made quite an effort to replicate a scene from the late 40′s.
I think it was the before photo of the last picture. If you notice, there’s a triple window above the sink. The soffets along with the steel cabinets and modern built in cook top go a long way to change the entire feel of the room.
How lovely! I recently picked up several 50′s and 60′s Better Homes and House and Garden Magazines and I am fawning over all of the fabulous kitchens like this one. My goal now is to convince hubby to start moving in this direction with our kitchen re-do.
The model holding the samples looks very late ’50′s….Just before Jackie Kennedy came along and caused everyone to dump their petticoats in the trash.
Freakin’ awesome! I can’t wait to get my YK stuff soda blasted so I can repaint them. I was lucky enough to find the cupboard mounted lazy susan too. Their original color is that light yellow, but I may be boring and go with white, which is the original color of the ones that were in my house.
I don’t know….maybe the light yellow would be great with the seafoam green walls??
Shane, I think that yellow with seafoam green is great… Look at the California Paints 20th century mid mod yellows – as I recall at least one of them might have been “just right” in that sense that it did not have a greenish tint.
Good idea! I’ll look into that and keep as a reference. I trty to imagine all these things when I go to bed, but I’m so pooped all the time, I end up konking out to fast!
Hi Diana, the Before image is an old kitchen – the next image is the updated After kitchen. Hope that helps!
It’s funny, because the old kitchen is rather nice and cozy. I guess even back then we were willing to rip out the old and replace with the new. Though the new in the 50s was still pretty awesome. I wonder if in 50 years we’ll feel the same way about the kitchen designs of the early 2000s (that is, will they have a retro feel to them). I guess our perceptions about style are all relative.
In the 5th picture, the red chair looks like a knock-off of the Egg chair, designed in 1958….but the rounded refrigerators look earlier 50s to me. All the images are definitely solidly 50s style, though.
I love the two-tone look, especially the last image with the light blue uppers and creamy yellow lowers. That’s what I’ve been dreaming of painting my boring 70s wood cabinets!
Beautiful! But I kinda like the “before” kitchen on page 12 for my circa 1914 Arts and Crafts style house too.
Oh I LOVE the rotary corner cabinet in image 4! How handy is that and no wasted space!! I sure wish my kitchen had those… beautiful collection of kitchen inspiration!
My wife & I visited Farnsworth house a few weeks ago in Plano, IL [open to the public], a much-heralded “glass house” in the international style. It was designed by Mies van der Rohe in the late 1940s. At first I was surprised to find a “St. Charles” metal kitchen [complete with the St. Charles medallion] in the Farnsworth house, as I associate the metal kitchens with “mid-century modest” ranch & bungalow homes. But on second thought, the clean utilitarian lines of the metal kitchens fit-in beautifully with the international style. Mies van der Rohe designed this house and its furnishings down to the very last detail with imported stone, specially fabricated glass, etc., and yet selected mass market metal cabinets for the kitchen- very impressive endorsement for St. Charles!
James, one of the things that is interesting about this era is something you’ve hit on: While houses may have been very different outside, inside they were often very very similar. High falutin mid century modern homes usually had the same features inside as did simple mid century modest homes. That said: The St. Charles cabinets were the creme de la creme – heavier duty and I assume, pricier. Midcentury modests had Youngstowns and Genevas and other less expensive, more accessible brands.
Pam, I didn’t realize that St. Charles cabinets were the best of the metal cabinetry- of course Mies van der Rohe would pick it for his residential masterpiece!
I think it might be earlier than the late 50s, because I have a fridge like the rounded one in the 7th picture and it’s a 1949.
Image 10 — Wallpaper on the ceiling!?!?!?!?! Freaky-deeky!
These were the cabinets in the house I grew up in! We had the brown, “wood grain” look with copper-ish colored handles (don’t you love those pointed shapes?).
I sadly left some of these in the basement when we sold my parents’ home a few years ago. They had moved them as a unit to the basement for extra storage when they remodeled the kitchen in the 1980s.
Oh.. and the white laminate countertops with green boomerangs completed the look.
Maybe I just realized why I love this stuff so much! :–)
We just put an offer in on a 1950′s ranch style bungalow today. The kitchen was done in awful 70′s wood cabinets, but in the basement they had these Youngstown metal cabinets, complete with boomerang handles and formica counter top, that they were using a extra storage. I loved them! I’m sure they were originally up in the kitchen!
Oh how I wish they had kept the original kitchen! If we get the house, this website will help me to either put the cabinets back up in the kitchen or do an updated version! Thanks!
Lisa
We just purchase a 1960′s lake home with Youngstone cabinets and Turquoise formica counters. I am trying to convince my husband to keep the early 60′s integrity and preserve the cabinets and counters. Are they valuable? My husband will be more easily swayed if there is a monitary value to the cabinets.
Help!
Sue
Sue, see the Forum to assess the market: http://retrorenovation.com/forum … I also have a post “how much are my steel cabinets worth” – accessible via the Kitchen/Steel cabinets category, FAQs or search bar
Does anyone have advice on getting a couple replacement parts for my Youngstwon cabinets? I need a couple pulls, the dampers (little rubber inserts), and several of those little brass things that screw in to keep the cabinet shut. Thanks for your help.
i have a bunch of youngstown cabinits and a frigidiare flair stove for sale
john, you can post them on our forum: http://retrorenovation.com/forum
I am looking for the handles for the 1948 Geneva custom kitchen that is in my home. We two styles now, one with the plastic back and the half covered metal handle and one with a simple plastic back and a metal handle. Anyone out there have any of these?
In 2009, I purchased a ranch style home in Southfield, Mi. The house was built in 1952-53. I am the second owner of the home. The kitchen still has the original cream colored Youngstown metal kitchen cabinets with boomerang handles and red linoleum countertops. I can’t decide whether or not to take them down and have them painted at an autobody shop, or simply replace them. The finish in the double sink is slightly stained and no amount of bleach will brighten them. Any suggestions?
i have one of these original 1956 cabinets and was wondering the value of it
susan: See our Forum, which is all about buying/selling vintage steel kitchen cabinets http://retrorenovation.com/forums. There is also a category on pricing history.