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Retro Renovation TV: Laminate countertops for your mid century kitchen

Posted by: • September 7, 2010

Retro Renovation’s Countertop & Metal Edging Design Tips from pam kueber on Vimeo.

Laminate countertops with metal edging are among the most popular choices for homeowners updating the kitchens in their mid century homes. In this video, I show you the Formica Skylark boomerang countertops in my aquamarine kitchen… We take a look at the stainless steel edging that we found at the last place that makes it in New York… there are design tips for adding diversity to your countertop materials… tips for shelves… and, I show you some problems I encountered but worked my way through. I have to tell you, I sure do love writing the blog, but there’s nothing like video to make the tips that much… easier.

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Upload your thrifty weekend finds

Posted by: • September 6, 2010

figurines

I was very happy that there was a good estate sale in Pittsfield this weekend. There were a lot of pretty vintage figurines, and I bought a whole bunch of sets of 78 records – the kind that include like 4 records in a binder-cover, pretty cool. I told myself they are for DH, who likes Rumbas and the such, but I wanted them, too. Heck yeah there is more →

Let’s help Eartha Kitsch win the Kozy Shack contest – it’s Super Easy to vote

Posted by: • September 4, 2010

I’m taking the last blast of summer Labor Day weekend off (gasp! yes!) If you land here anyway — be sure to vote for reader Eartha Kitsch to win the Kozy Shack contest:

–> Click here to Vote Daily through Sept. 15 — it just take 10 seconds (no registration required).

Why am I supporting Eartha? See her fabulous knotty pine kitschen! And she has a pink bathroom, too. And — I love to see us flex our Retro Renovation Community Muscle in support of fellow readers – just like we helped Leslie & Aaron get win #1 midcentury house in Los Angeles. :)


Quinnipiac Terrace, New Haven, Connecticut, 1942

Posted by: • September 3, 2010

1942 — Quinnipiac Terrace, New Haven, Connecticut. What an absolutely gorgeous photo… a picture perfect life moment, don’t you think? This photo makes me So Happy. Heck yeah there is more →

75 sets of MIB NOS ceramic towel bars, soap dishes & toilet paper holders, in 7 vintage colors

Posted by: • September 2, 2010

Vintage bathroom towel bars, soap dishes, toothbrush and toilet paper holders — here is quite a stash: 75 sets of mint-in-box new-old-stock bathroom accessory sets that had been boarded up in a garage attic for decades — and were rescued out the the 2nd story window. If you’re planning a bathroom renovation and need a vintage color for your ceramic accessories, this just-uncovered inventory might be the treasure just for you. Read on for the story on how they were lost — and found. Heck yeah there is more →

Linen laminate from Arborite

Posted by: • September 1, 2010

The most popular laminate design in mid century America? Boomerang Formica? Nope, guess again. According to materials expert Grace Jeffers, the most popular design was actually linen. You know what I’m talking about — that kind of tight-to-medium-weave with nubblies stuff. I had it both my bathrooms with vanities. In pistachio green = absolutely iconic. Now, it’s great to add this new laminate to our Retro Renovation laminate countertop arsenal: A close-enough proxy to vintage linen laminate, three shades of Hemp, from Arborite. Heck yeah there is more →

Citra Solv art contest grand prize winner: Our own Mel Bushner

Posted by: • September 1, 2010

Congratulations to our Mel Bushner, our collage artist laureate / creator of our famous Love The House You’re In collages: She created a new work for CitraSolv’s “Freedom of Expression” contest — and won Grand Prize. I love collage, so know about CitraSolv — it’s a cleaner that, in its concentrated form, can be used to create wonderful effects on substrates (old National Geographics, in particular, I was told.) The contest asked artists to create an original work of art using Citra Solv that conveyed their pride, optimism and hope for our country. Here is Mel wrote about her work, submitted with her winning entry: Heck yeah there is more →

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