“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.
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: Please always remember, there can be safety and environmental hazards in the surfaces, layers, materials and products in our homes. When working with old materials and products like this, be sure to get with your own properly licensed professionals to determine what you are working with so that you can make informed decisions how to handle, become familiar with and use recommended best practices, and also learn about the proper disposal of debris, etc. Be Safe / 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
.
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.
brian mchugh says
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.
Scott says
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.
gsciencechick says
Love it! So cheery! We also have our W/D in the kitchen would love to get them out.
Brian McHugh says
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
pam kueber says
A job lead! Yay! Good luck!
Amy Patterson says
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!
Brian says
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
Amy Patterson says
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.
Lauryn says
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!
Jill says
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.
pam kueber says
Jill, the info on the flooring is in the story. But come back Tuesday — I’ll have another story just on it!
Susan says
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?
Annette says
Those red dining chairs are killing me! So awesome.
Glynis says
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!!!
JKaye says
Great job. I hope that every thing else about your move to a new city has been as rewarding as your home has been.