On Saturday, I went trolling around for treasures. I stopped at the new Re-Store in Pittsfield. Usual story: I found a light for $10, a 4-switch vintage wallplate for 25 cents, and just as I was about wrap it up, I spotted the real treasure: 80 inches of gold sparkle laminate, kind of hidden under a pile of wall cabinets among a used kitchen cabinet set. Happy dance. It’s in excellent shape, barely needs a cleaning. It’s 20″ deep — perfect for what I have in mind for the window wall in my office remodel. It cost just $8, and it even fit in the car once we put the seats down, no return trip with the Ranger required.
I actually had a run-in with sparkle laminate just an hour earlier. During my troll, I had first stopped at Scott’s on East Street, to see what was new in flooring and tile. Yes, you can see kitchen and bathroom tile and flooring on the internet, but it’s not like seeing the actual product samples in person.
As the very last minute, I wandered back to the kitchen section at Scott’s, for a quick look at the laminate. Crikey, I got really excited when I saw the White Sequin Formica on a ring. DID FORMICA RE-INTRODUCE IT WITHOUT TELLING ME? Alas. No. The kitchen designer said that the ring was old. And she gave it to me. I think it might be from around 1994, there’s a patent or copyright date on one of the chips.
Added: Here is a close up of MY gold sparkle laminate.
Note, though, my counter top from the ReStore is not Formica White Sequin. I compared the two, and my laminate has additional colors of sparkles. I am going to guess Textolite — because Pittsfield was a GE town and Textolite was made by GE. But who knows.
READ THIS, gold sparkle laminate-wanters:
No, you cannot buy gold sparkle laminate new anywhere from anyone. Not in the western world, as far as I know.
But if you go trolling regularly… and you keep your eyes peeled… you can still find it vintage, maybe.
Na na na na na na. I have a gold sparkle laminate kitchen counter.
P.S. Sparkly dress worthy of sparkly counter top is NOS vintage from an estate sale at a nearby Lenox mansion. It has the original $125 sales tag still hanging from the sleeve (can you see it) — Truly Expensive way back when. I think I paid $5 or so. I am pretty proud of my treasure-hunting skills, these days, can’t ya tell.
Congrats. Pam, That’s what my folks chose in their first new home built in 1961. Pink kitchen and that white, gold fleck Formica®.
Hey, Pam, that is what is in my hosue too! I don’t have alot of counter space, it being a late forties cape, but not only do I have it for the counters, but all the backsplashes are the same for twenty inches up to the cabinets! By the way, when we were in our first house that we bought in 1978, Phil had to take the furnace apart to repair it. Inside and wrapped around the fan, he found a complete ring of formica samples dating back to when the house was built by his grandfather in 1958! I can’t believe that the fan ran all that time and that it didn’t clatter something terrible. I saved it but moved in 1991 and have no idea where it went since then but I do remember it was neat with alot of boomerang samples.
JEALOUS.
i have sparkle counter tops in both the kitchen (white/gold) and the bathroom (PINK/gold) but they are so worn out/stained/warped. the ones in the kitchen are coming up off the counter in places and they are so worn the there isn’t any flecks in the most used spots.
the sparkles in the bathroom look green because it’s worn down so much. and somebody left a shaving cream can on the counter for approximately ever and there’s a nice rust ring. 
anyway.
get a close up pic! i can’t see the sparkles!
Natalie, I just added a close up of my sparkles for you!
Pam, from close-up, I can see that is definitely the same formica in my kitchen. Textolite hmm. Never even heard of it.
Here is my Textolite story — I have chips! http://retrorenovation.com/2009/05/12/vintage-countertop-laminate-from-ge-textolite/
Try a little ZUD on that rust ring. It should take it off. Just don’t rub too hard or you will scratch the counter. It comes in a powder or a liquid. It is online, but you should be able to find it in your local stores.
I find it so funny that you are donning that beautiful sparkly gold dress…barefoot!
Do you have a cleaning tiara that you wear while vacuuming? If not, I’ll have to find you one! Love it!
Well, golly, yes, I think I need a tiara. But only if you find it in a Dumpster Dive, okay?
And when you have your tiara, you will have to dance while you do all of your projects, just like the woman in the Westinghouse film you posted the other day!
I thought exactly the same thing when I first saw the photo, Nate. You know it’s a truly stellar find when formal wear is required for the presentation. Too bad Pam wasn’t pregnant and standing in the kitchen, that would be retro ;o)
If you should ever wonder why I call you “Pamazing”………….
Tell me you didn’t get the sparkle countertop and that stunning dress on the same day?? My feeble heart couldn’t stand the excitement.
No, got the dress a few years ago. I love your nickname for me, of course.
Oooh, if I found that I probably would have keeled over from excitement on the spot. It is wonderful! The dress, too. I am still fussing over what to put on my countertops in the time capsule and that sparkle would just float my boat perfectly.
That wonderful dress is upstaging the countertop! OK, how many retro outfits do you have? Have you shown these on your blog yet? (You could work it in with a post on closets – the small closets in most mid-century home fascinate me – so small!)
Nice find Pam! I recently found a section of white laminate countertop with gold starbursts on it at my local restore for $5, I almost bought it, but it was pretty beat up. Someone wrote on it with pen, broke a bunch of pieces off the edge, gouged the middle of it…if there had been a 24 -36 section in good condition, I would have brought it home with me, but alas, there was not.
Congrats on your great find, Pam! I love that feeling! (Nice to know the countertop has found the right owner, too.)
It’s all so sparkle-tastic, so sparkle-tacular- I love it! Thank you for the smile this morning!
First off, I apologize for hijacking this topic to promote something of great interest to me on the formica subject we are discussing this morning. I have a turquoise vinyl sided buffet that I found in Maine years ago, currently buried/stored out in the garage. I have never seen one other than a couple similar ones at the same shop in Maine. Imagine my amazement to find a similar one in gray formica on craigslist this morning for Niagara/Toronto area. I think you would all be really interested in seeing it so check it out. This one is mostly formica whereas mine is vinyl wrapped on the sides but it does have similar etched glass sliding doors. I would guess it is the same company and possibly Canadian made? Has anyone seen one or does anyone have one? I think it is SO retro fifties with that gray formica. Pam, if you find this to be inappropriate, I understand if you feel the need to remove this post.
http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/atq/3160884286.html
np, Janet. I have seen a few of these in my time. Very cool.
I’ve seen them in grey, white, red, black and be still my heart…barely looking to have been used…..pink….the table, 8 chairs, the cabinet and the d@mn you fate….sold sign. To some evil tourist from Hog Town (Toronto) just to make it sting a little more. Saw one in red and grey once with the matching rocking chair….too cute.
Never turquoise though but I know they made them so maybe yours is from Canada or, not for the first time, both our countries were making them.
Pam and Pam, I have never thought to search under “formica” and did so in the Toronto area and found several of them! I now think they may be made by a different company from the one that I have. Mine has tall swing-out sections on each side with shelves on them and are more rounded/contoured with fancy feet. Kind of the same idea but a more sophisticated modern look. Love them though! The turquoise vinyl on mine has silver quilted looking threads through it and is really cool!
Hi Janet – I’M IN MAINE!
Question: Which shop is it that you’ve seen these? Please tell me it’s in the Portland area!
Comment: LUCKY YOU!
Hannah, sorry – I found it at the Big Chicken Barn up in Ellsworth. Because my husband metal detects and takes two or three detectors on vacation, we go up in a pick-up truck. We also found a gorgeous Heywood-Wakefield modern bedroom set and a set of six rush seat ladderback chairs up there that we hauled back. He keeps saying we should take the car so he isn’t always hauling stuff back down here! We saw THREE more buffets on subsequent trips in maybe a four month period, which appeared one at a time. One was that dark teal green and off white, one was a weird light limey green and pale yellow and the third and last one we saw was gray and red and was a western looking saddle style look with the tack trim all around it! I like mine the best of them all. The same dealer had all four and I can’t help but wonder if they got them from the estate of someone who sold or collected them. I really need to unearth mine and take some photos of it. It sits buried in the garage with alot of the furniture I couldn’t fit in this smaller house when we moved, filled with turquoise dishes, Pyrex and glasses.
One of the reasons I bought my house (among many) was that I loved the g9old sparkle laminate in the kitchen. Did I say i LOVE it??
Congrats on your fabulous find!
Yay! Nothing like finding treasure. I love the sparkles. When I did my final walkthru for the house I bought, there were still many items from the owner that her son did not yet haul away. I asked him what he was going to do with them. He said, give to Goodwill. I told him that I would take anything he did not find any sentimental value in. There were 4 maple chairs, a padded rocker (also in maple), maple buffet, hutch and writing desk, plus tons of dishware & glasses. He could not believe I loved them…along with the old wallpaper. I sure hope he doesn’t change his mind and decided there is value in his mother’s old pieces.
Pam,
great job finding your treasure. I don’t think any of us would have thought the Formica gold sparkle would 1 day be rare and hard to find. My grandma’s kitchen counters/backsplash and table (seated 12) were gold sparkle. Her kitchen was remodeled in about 1945 and she got her first stainless steel sink and gray and burgandy tile floor.
She still had the wood stove for cooking and heat. Electric stove came in the late 50′s.
rick
Pam: First of all, the dress is fabulous! Second, glad you got your sparkle countertop. A few weeks back, I posted some photos of the mid-century bathroom in the apartment I’m renting. The countertop and cabinetry are all sparkle laminate. Yummy!
As if I didn’t adore you enough already, you found that amazing gold laminate counter AND wore a matching spectacular gold ensemble! Well played, lady–well played!
Great score Pam! Note to Formica Co. Lurkers: give us this stuff again! There is a market for it.
Great find! How perfect that it was found by someone who will cherish it!
My house has an original still installed. With full backsplash….
it is worn a tad but I still love it!
So now when somebody says, “Pam, if you love gold-flecked Formica so much, why don’t you marry it,” you can show them this picture of the happy couple and say “I DID.”
That’s what’s in my house from 1952! That stuff is tough!
great picture! It made my afternoon. My restore is pretty sad, never the good stuff like you find in yours.
This is what the kitchen counter in our 1962 New Hampshire ranch house has, too! The backsplash with the same formica goes up 14 inches or so. Like others have mentioned, parts of my counter are in perfect shape, and other parts are starting to peel up (where two sheets meet) and/or are stained where hot pots were put down. Our overhead kitchen light kind of matches the sparkle in the countertop, frosted glass. I would love to find an extra piece so that we could extend the end to create a breakfast bar. However, that would mean covering up our little shelves at the end of the kitchen counter.
The gold fleck is pretty easy to live with. We purchased a ’58 storybook ranch in ’89 and are only just now in 2012 renovating the cramped kitchen(85 sq.ft). That old formica top had the preformed drip edge and really cleaned up well,nothing ever came unglued(like newer laminates do), the corner splice had some warping (I assume from careless,previous occupants letting water stand on the counter for too long). Our’s had more gold starbursts scattered on the white background.It will be cute used in PK’s patchwork room.
There is NEVER anything that cool around my ReStores. It’s all junk! Oh, you find the small stuff, but never cool doors, light fixtures, toilets/sinks, etc……NEVER in a million years would I find something like this!
That is my EXACT counter top in my kitchen, which is actually in decent shape. Several stains and a cigarette burn though makes me want to replace them soon…
I have some similar looking sparkle laminate in my blue bathroom. And I also have a vintage kitchen table with sparkle laminate. Overall, the laminate is in OK shape. But do you have any suggestions on ways to restore or seal it? Right now the laminate finish is somewhat matte and you can see when light hits it at certain angles that there are some areas where whatever sealer has come off. Can I use just any old sealer or is there something special I should be using?
Perfect wardrobe for the occasion
suh-weet! xo, suzy
I grew up with this Formica in the knotty pine kitchen of my parents’ 1964 raised ranch! The only bummer is it’s not heat resistant. It’s beautiful though, and to this day I’d love to have this on my counters.
Oh my goodness! Congratulations! When we moved into our first house there was a single (homemade) cabinet next to the stove that had gold sparkle laminate on the top of it. The rest of the kitchen was steel and it was the only wood piece (plus it was extra-extra-deep) so I am pretty sure the homeowner built it. It was my FAVORITE place to cook. So cheerful, elegant, and practical (when do you get all three of those things at once?). I miss that countertop so much!
Congratulations Pam! Lucky You! I looooove thee gold sparkle counter top and I looooove your Beautiful dress. You look soooo pretty! Love it.
I have a very large turquoise blue with gold sparkle counter top in my main bathroom! I didn’t know this type of counter top was so desired! I find it very retro in my mid-century house!
yup: lucky you!!!
It goes beautifully with the gold glitter popcorn ceiling, turquoise tub and sinks, and wall to wall yellow tiles!!!
I have a gold sparkle countertop in the bathroom of our 1969 ranch..LOVE it!! When we bought the house, the bathroom had all original features, including white tile with gold accents and white wallpaper with gold starbursts. Sadly, the wallpaper did not make it, 40 years of humidity did it in. But the rest of the sparkles will stay! Enjoy your new find!
Yay for you, Beth!
Moved back into the family home which still has the gold sparkle Formica counter and backsplash. Still holding up well even with lots of dinners, parties, coloring Easter eggs, making sauces that stained, and accidently leaving jars with sticky inky price labels on the bottom which would stain the Formica, but luckily could remove the stains. Would never ever trade it for the the overdone, pedestrian and soon to be passe granite. Love the sparkle!
I have a bathroom with gold sparkly laminate walls just like your countertop. I wanted to decorate to complement this, but of course when I look up anything like this, what I find is that people want to get rid of the stuff. Since it reminds me of my childhood kitchen table, and is water resistant, I’m reluctant to change it, even though it looks like almost like an old ship cabin. Any ideas on how to complement the sparkle?
This was probably the single, most-popular laminate for counter tops back then. I think we all must have it in one of our houses at some point. But when they started putting sparkles in the acoustic-ciling spray, it got to be a bit much.
“No, you cannot buy gold sparkle laminate new anywhere from anyone. Not in the western world, as far as I know.”
Does anyone know why this is the case? There seems to be a decent level of demand for this product. You can get laminate in thousands of colors and designs, some companies have or are reintroducing retro designs.. but not the gold sparkle. Is there something about the production process or price? I mean it isn’t real gold. Although if it is this hard to find…
I may be updating shortly. I have more info on the “why”. And I think I may have found some in the western world. But not in the U.S.
can the gold be extracted from textolite with gold flecks
I recently bought a house with a vintage kitchen that is covered in paint, including the counters (Rustoleum countertop paint). The paint started to peel in a spot and it turns out that underneath is an aqua/blue Formica counter with gold flecks.
Do you have any advice for removing the rustoleum without damaging the original counter?
I will ask Rustoleum — I have good contacts there!
Thanks! After being inspired by your site and spending all afternoon looking at your posts, I also pulled up a corner of the carpet and discovered a (very yellowed) blue/white/aqua mosaic linoleum too. I am going to have to do before/after pics. Thanks for the inspiration!!
Wow, what treasures your house holds!
Hey Pam.I need some of your expertise! My kitchen flooded. (Water heater was in attic!). All kitchen is now gone. I have some pics of my great 50′s kitchen. We’re about to begin the redo and I want it just like it was. I need to know what kind of countertop I had. Again: I have pictures. Can you help me, please? Thank you so very much!
We had this in my childhood home, and I WANT IT, WANT IT, WANT IT.
I remember my dad had even fixed a board to match (maybe with matching contact paper if that exists) that my mom put over the stove for more counterspace at parties, and I just thought he was so smart for it.
I am renovating a 1966 rancher in south Carolina and while I’m a fan of keeping some of the original details I don’t want the place to look like a time capsule. I am probably going to pull out a small piece of this from the master bath ith a white sink with th metal rim and it out. Not sure if anyone might be interested in it when the time comes!