“We moved to Nashville… looking for a better
quality of life and a little house to love…”
When Brian and Keri moved into this Nashville house two years ago, they embraced their home’s heritage — and instead of gutting to granitize, they planned modest updates to the existing galley style kitchen to make the working and eating space even more fun to spend time in.
They did a lot of work themselves, spending just $7,000 to create a super-happy, pretty much “all new” kitchen — that looks like it’s been there 60 years. What’s old was repainted or otherwise freshened… what’s new is authentically suitable to the kitchen’s original era and design. Lots of great ideas, resources — and 17 great photos – all credited Brian McHugh — here. Brian writes:
Hi Pam,We moved to Nashville two years ago from Los Angeles, looking for a better quality of life and a little house to love.We fell in love with our 1953 cottage-style ranch at first sight, in part because of the mint green and black bathroom, but also because of the super cool red amazon logo on the front of the vintage Youngstown sink cabinet.
[Pam says: Brian calls the badge an "amazon," but in fact, that's the logo for Youngstown Diana kitchen cabinets, as in the Roman goddess Diana the Archer. That's a Diana sink base above and here --
You can also identify Diana sink bases from the unique rounded apron (which holds the logo) and the stepped-back door design just below. Pretty. - Pam]
We even have a knotty pine den, complete with patterned wall paper ceiling. The house was somewhat neglected, badly painted, and decorated in a very utilitarian way. We decided we wanted to bring this neglected little house back with loving appreciation and a modern midcentury aesthetic.
Notice the original countertop and the old style, heavy duty, integrated edging — that’s pretty hard to find. Way cool. – Pam
The kitchen was our last big project. We wanted to double the size of what we already had, moving the washer and dryer, adding a dishwasher and microwave, and moving the old girl into the twenty first century. The original kitchen had a small set of original Youngstown steel cabinets with only two uppers and two lowers. It took almost a year to find another set of Youngstown cabinets to add to our existing set, in part because we were looking for a set with the chrome countertop bumpers and trim. We found a set in Knoxville, drove four hours one way to check them out and rented a trailer to bring them home.We gutted the kitchen, removing the existing cabinets, and had them painted with the electrostatic paint process.To save money, we prepped (the cabinets) ourselves, sanding eleven cabinets down to the bare metal. [Precautionary Pam reminds everyone: Consult with a licensed professional regarding lead in old paint so you can take the right steps to Renovate Safe.]
The original countertops were formica cracked ice. We replaced them with formica aqua boomerang laminate. We saved the original sink, got it refinished instead of replacing. It goes beautifully with logo on the front of the sink cabinet. The whole house needed the electrical updated, and the kitchen need plumbing moved to support our changes to the appliances. The washer and dryer (had originally) lived in the kitchen, which was the first thing to go…. We gave up our pantry and had water lines and power run to the pantry so we could install stackable units.
I wanted to save the original chrome “Fleur O Ray” flourescent fixture in the kitchen, so I found 4 replacement ballasts and installed them, making the fixture useable again.We had to ditch all the original brass door hardware with polished chrome, which complements the kitchen chrome well. Finally, We replaced the flooring with AZROCK laminate, which we found out about on your site. It’s Azrock VL-130 Classic Blue Gray vinyl tile. Tons of work, but totally worth it.
Max and Mitzi are nonchalant
about The RetroSuggestions for refinishing the cabinets, Formica boomerang counter top laminate, and flooring came from the Retro Renovation website. We managed to keep the entire kitchen remodel, including new appliances, plumbing, electrical, and flooring for under $7,000.We both work in the visual arts, and collect art avidly. The walls of the kitchen are hung with some of our favorite artists: the typography under the clock is a collection of little “ass-ham” painting characters by Arizona artist Lesli Englert, the large print on the back wall and two small prints are by San Diego artist Scott Saw. There are also vintage valentines framed and hanging near the 1950s dinette.Thanks again for the website! It was a wonderful resource while we were renovating the kitchen, and we couldn’t have done it without you.Best,Keri and Brian
Thank you, Keri and Brian, for sharing your story and all these wonderful photos. FANTASTIC kitchen. I love it, and suspect it will be one of our favorites of the year. Even a contender for 2012 Hard Way Award, methinks..
Readers, Brian and I chatted about some other things in our back-and-forth. In particular, I wanted to share that he and Keri chose professional electrostatic painting over powder-coating because they were told that (1) the high heat necessary for powder coating could warp the doors and that (2) the material used to stiffen and sound-insulate the doors might even catch fire under the high heat of powder-coat baking. Be forewarned and moreover: Consult with professionals.
.
Also, stay tuned for some more photos from their home. Knotty pine den with wallpapered ceiling, you say? You know I’m onto that.
Beautiful! I wish I were sitting in that kitchen right now with Brian and Keri, enjoying a cup of coffee.
I imagine the neighbors are always coming to that great back door!
Pam… doesn’t it make you feel so good knowing you’re making other people’s homes so comfy?
Nice job. The ceiling light fixture is great. If I’m not mistaken that’s a GE ‘fridge. We are looking at that or a similar model. The bottom freezer and the slight arch in the door make it work well for a retro kitchen.
Love the sink! Love the counter tops! Love the kitchen! Great job guys!
Nashville peeps! Whoot! Whoot! I just love this kitchen. Everything about it is beautiful and happy. Good on them for working so hard and paying such attention to details. It really shows. On a side note, those dinette chairs are ah-mazing! And yes, can we see more of their home? I can tell it’s great.
Very sweet. Where did you all get the diner table and chairs from?
I LOVE the countertop and wall color combination! The floors look lovely as well. You really found a nice balance of original and new elements, while putting your personal mark on things in the process. Great job!!
Beautiful. A very “gay” kitchen as they would have once said. LOVE LOVE that table and the kitty.
Love love love! So pretty and cheerful and such a great job keeping the spirit of the house and era while making it work for you! And hooray for having original artwork to really make it yours. Can’t wait for more pictures of your lovely home.
Love it!!!
Fabulous! so inspiring – just a beautiful remodel that shows what can be done on a small budget!
OMG! I LOVE it! Absolutely perfectly done. We also live in Nashville & are totally into these sort of restorations : ) We may even be neighbors, LOL! We live in the Hillsboro-West End part of Nash : ) Are you the ones selling the laminate on CL?
Pam
Absolutely indisputably adorable.
I agree with above comments on your “sparkle-y” new kitchen. And chairs…Yes, those CHAIRS! The red really “pops”! Oh, my word! I LOVE it! Tell me, tell me where one can get that red, vinyl pattern for the chairs, please ? I can only imagine how much you must be pleased with how it all turned out! Thanks for sharing your photos & story!
Oh, Brian and Keri – THANK YOU for a lot of things here! Sharing your beautiful kitchen first and foremost, thank you for driving 8 hours round trip to get cabinets with the chrome bumpers – they are so fabulous! And, my vintage lighting obsession thanks you for saving that over the top awesome Fleur O Ray light fixture! Nothing could be more perfect on your ceiling.
What a great place to live, and it surely beats any $25k or $50k kitchen redo these days. Take THAT HGTV!
Hi RR Peeps-
Thanks so much for the kind words. To answer some of the questions:
1. All the appliances are new Kenmore appliances (I think all made by Whirlpool for Sears).
2. We found the chrome table @ the Nashville Flea market & the chairs with original vinyl (sorry, Betsy) for I think 20 bucks each.
3. Yes, we are the same people selling (2) sheets of 4 X8 Aqua Boomerang Formica left over from our remodel. Interested?
http://nashville.craigslist.org/mat/2918816817.html
4. Max & Mitzie are our two beloved Siamese cats. Mitzie is a Balinese and Max is a blue Point.
It would be impossible to have a bad day in this kitchen! Love, Love Love it. The cats are as stunning as the kitchen. Beautiful job you guys!!
Wow, Brian & Keri, you are people after my own heart! Falling in love with a house for the Youngstown Kitchen logo on the sink and the mint & green bathroom. That’s me, too!
I love just about everything, but most especially those amazing starburst chairs.
Pam, I’m so happy to hear that you’ll feature more of this house. I’m dying to see it!
Well, I guess some people need to go back to the homepage before posting. More pix are already up. Thanks, Pam.
4:30 a.m. and 11:50 a.m. (all times Eastern) is my new publishing schedule!
Hi Brian,
I already have the aqua boomerang or I’d snatch it up. I’m the one who posted your Craigslist link on the RR facebook page, LOL! I was just curious if it was you ; )
Pam
Great job! Love everything you did in the kitchen.
Great job. I hope that every thing else about your move to a new city has been as rewarding as your home has been.
I have the same kitchen, except we had ours painted a metallic flake apple green high gloss. Nothing beats that logo on the sink cabinets!!!
Those red dining chairs are killing me! So awesome.
I love your kitchen! I have a 1952 galley kitchen and have been looking for inspiration to refresh it, so your post comes at a very good time. Love the wall color – what is it?
I’d love more info on that flooring.
I’m looking forward to seeing those mint-and-black bathroom photos. I have one too — black with green trim tile. Alas, I don’t have any of the original green fixtures other than the tub, they were replaced by the previous owner of the house. So I’m going with mostly black-and-white and letting the green trim and tub add color.
Jill, the info on the flooring is in the story. But come back Tuesday — I’ll have another story just on it!
Hi Brian,
I tried contacting you via craigslist to see if your two sheets of aqua boomerang Formica was still available, but I don’t think think it went through. Anyway, if it is, my who husband works in Nashville (we live in FL), can pay you and your aqua boomerang will soon be residing in sunny FL! For the life of me I can’t figure out why Formica discontinued this color but kept the charcoal version. Your kitchen is awesome!
Hi Amy,
Thanks for the compliments on the kitchen. We still have the Formica available, and would love to see it go to a good home. I checked the link, and it hasn’t changed. Can you resend? Maybe we can connect email addresses through Pam? Thanks for writing. Hope to talk soon.
Brian
Just talked to my husband! He got it — your amazing aqua boomerang formica and will be putting it on a truck to its new home here in Florida!
Yay! The search is over and I just can’t wait to get it installed in our ’62 ranch house! Thanks so much.
This makes me so happy and I don’t even know any of you! I love stories like this. It’s more proof that all that silly nonsense about Friday the 13th is just that … silly nonsense!
Hey All-
Thanks again for all the great compliments on our kitchen. You know the remodel must be finished when you see it on RR. We sold our extra formica on craigslist. May have got a job lead as well. Thanks, Pam!
Brian & Keri
A job lead! Yay! Good luck!
Love it! So cheery! We also have our W/D in the kitchen would love to get them out.
Love the kitchen set. Great way to get the rust off the metal chrome and looking like new again is to use something like Never-dull wadding polish. You just tear off a small wad and start rubbing on the metal. Soon it looks like brand new. You will be amazed how well it works but be warned it will take some time and effort but well worth it.
Hi Scott-
Thanks. For the chrome backsplash on the countertops, we used goof off with ultra fine steel wool to get paint off, and the chrome table & chairs had a decent amount of rust on them so we first used bartenders friend w/ultra fine steel wool, followed by never dull and ultra fine steel wool. Took a weekend, but they all look like new.
Thank you so much for sharing these pictures and your story. I grew up in a house that was brand new in 1955 and had Youngstown cabinets exactly like yours. I loved that red logo on the sink! I would take a 1950s kitchen over today’s “modern” kitchens any day of the week!
I have recently purchased a 1938 home in its original state. There is a Kelvinator stove/oven 3drs in the kitchen. I am trying to find out what is worth it works and if I want to keep or sell it. I need help!
Hi Denise, We have a story on this with some reader suggestions about where to delve for info: http://retrorenovation.com/2011/08/29/parts-service-and-advice-to-fix-old-stoves-and-other-vintage-appliances-a-list-of-9-online-resources/ Good luck!
This kitchen is incredible! The paint is beautiful as well. What is the color and paint code? I want to paint my kitchen with this color. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
Hey Brian-
Thanks for the comments. So, I got the paint from Home Depot. It is a sample from Glidden, but I had them use Behr, as it is a better paint. The coor is Robin’s egg. The color code is GLB08. Any questions? Let me know
Brian
Hello,
Thanks for getting back with me so quickly. My wife and I really appreciate it. Thanks for the info and the paint code. Once again this kitchen is amazing and thus gives me ideas for my Cape Cod kitchen as well.
Thank You,
Brian
Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen metal cabinets here with the same chrome bumper trim (now I know what to call it!). I have Youngstown cabinet in my house in Los Angeles, and I need to replace the countertops SOON! (they’re warped) I would love to know how exactly you did that, Keri & Brian. Did you just use elbow grease and loving care to pop them off? Any special tools?
Hi Allison-
Thanks for for responding. My wife and I moved to Nashville from Venice Beach, CA. and are missing the amazing weather. As for removing the old laminate, We have the original laminate countertops. Under the laminate. The countertop is stainless steel, which we kept to adhere the new laminate to. I bought Klean Strip mineral spirits from Home Depot. I also bought a sharp, wide painter’s putty knife. I lifted off the corners and removed whatever laminate I could. I then brushed the mineral spirits around the edges, lifting the laminate up as much as I could to get the mineral spirits under the stubborn laminate. Give it 15-30 minutes to break down the glue. It lifts right off after that. I used the putty knife to remove as much excess glue as I could. I used an orbital hand sander with a 80 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining glue, which also roughs up the metal surface to allow the new adhesive and laminate to make a good contact. Wash off the metal surface to make sure the surface is very clean. I applied a coat of Dap Contact cement to the clean surface, dropped the new laminate on, and clamped clamps all round the edges. I placed cardboard over the laminate, placing bricks (you could use any flat, heavy object) in the center to apply weight so the laminate makes good contact and adheres to the countertop. Let it dry overnight, and the countertops are ready to go back on. You could do it all in a weekend. Any more questions? Let us know
Brian & Keri