Do you love the sleek look of vintage steel kitchen cabinets — but don’t want to undertake the rocky journey to find a set to fit your kitchen, then restore the cabinets, etc.? That was reader Ann’s dilemma. She recently purchased a 1965 condo apartment, and the original kitchen was failing. She loved the look of vintage, but did not want her kitchen to be an epic. So, instead of hunting down the vintage, she found a clever and patient cabinet maker who recreated the look of vintage steel to a tee using wood, and then finished them with special high gloss paint.
Ann did use a New Old Stock vintage tile — both the floor and backsplash tiles are from World of Tile, of course. And there’s even another twist — Ann used a *famous* historic kitchen featured here as inspiration for her redesign. What a spectacular story — and kitchen. Read on for the complete story, more photos, and all of Ann’s resources.
Ann and I had several email exchanges. I edited her responses, for flow. She writes:
I didn’t have the time/resources to find a vintage steel kitchen, but wanted the look. So I found a custom cabinet maker here in Bucks County PA to create one in wood — Millworks LLC. Boy, did they come through!
My kitchen design is a replica of one I found through you — (the time capsule Koravos kitchen rescued by Preservation Massachusetts for historic purposes[shown above]. Millworks LLC researched every minute detail and with impeccable, high end, old world craftsmanship, delivered precisely what was requested. It occurred to me that a portion of your readership might be interested in doing this as well, especially with the resurgence of mid century architectural plans.
Both the floor and backsplash tile came from World of Tile. I was dazzled by World of Tile, as I know you were too. It’s an amazing place. Can I offer some advice? I will anyway heehee. If you go with vintage tile, do yourself a HUGE favor and glue the sheets to new fiberglass mesh before you begin. The old mesh/paper/whatever-they-used will disintegrate when it hits the wet adhesive and you’ll be crying for the entire installation. It took us three weeks to lay the kitchen floor. If we had replaced the mesh it would’ve taken but a few days.
It’s taken eight months to get to this point! My boyfriend Ron and I did most of the work ourselves. But it’s finally coming together.
I was born with the retro in my DNA, and in my attic! My dad was a bomber pilot in WWII, and my Mom was a glamour girl. ALL Dad’s war gear and many of Mom’s best dresses, skirts, seamed stockings, hair rats etc were up in our attic. As a teen, I wore them to school. I also combed thrift shops back in the 70s and acquired an impressive collection of bubble dresses, swing jackets, clam diggers, you name it! I loved anything and everything 40s, but 50s mid mod — hated it! It was a slow seduction that began with my sister sharing links to your photos of Time Capsule houses. Within those photos I began seeing styles that went far beyond kitschy diner. I began to collect pieces here and there, and found it went beautifully with my (then) obsession with Middle Eastern/West Indian decor. Finally, when I bought a 1965 Condo last year, my appreciation of mid-mod blossomed into love!
The condo had its original kitchen and bath. I was prepared to love the kitchen, but it had a long, hard, sad life, and was unsalvageable. The kitchen had the much desired gold-flecked laminate counter tops, and I did my very best to save them. ( Alas, black mold infiltrating the substrate defeated me. Badly neglected, cheap-to-begin-with cabinets also needed replacing. The bathroom, however, with its cast iron tub, console sink, and mud-set mosaic tile floor were saved. Yay! Now there’s a retro kitchen to match!
Thanks so much for creating your website. Without it, I would never have found my dream kitchen!!
Ann shares the products she used for her Retro Renovation kitchen remodel:
- Kitchen cabinets: Millwork LLC, Trubauersville, PA. The cabinets faces and doors are solid maple, and the boxes are lumber core veneer plywood, she says.
- Paint for the kitchen cabinets: Benjamin Moore Tropicana Cabana in a special catalyzed paint with a high gloss finish coat.
- Cabinet pulls: Top Knobs M390 Nouveau Pierced Pull Chrome (*affiliate link)
- Counter tops: Pionite, Primary Yellow
- Faucet: Chicago Faucet, same as Pam’s. “I was reading your archives,” Ann said, “saw you had that Chicago Faucet and asked you about it in comments. We absolutely love it. Talk about quality and worth every red cent!”
- Refrigerator, dishwasher and microwave: Frigidaire Gallery from H H Gregg.
- Oven: Brand new Kenmore Pro snagged on ebay for 1/4 the price. A closeout — picked up at a Sears in NJ.
- Stovetop: GE, gently used from Craigslist for 1/3 the price of new.
- Kitchen light: “… My crown jewel — a group effort!,” Ann explains. “I found it on ebay. It’s a Lightolier, and had been salvaged from a movie theater demolition. It was white enameled metal. Ron, my boyfriend, suggested we have Millwork LLC paint it Tropicana Cabana. Then they suggested we add the yellow to the trim parts.”
Ann, there is not much more for me to say than: This is a really ingenious kitchen — you did an amazing job — and yes, when Ron gets his second wind and the back splash is finished, you know we’d love to see the finished kitchen. Thank you so much sharing!
Ashly says
This is AMAZING!! Great job, great eye, great sense of style! I am so impressed!
Wendy M. says
Fantastic! I love the color combination and the light is just perfect. Great job!!
Vicki says
Oh my I’m totally inspired now!
Rebecca@MidCenturyModernRemodel says
A lot to love here, including the clever use of paint to create an effect. The compact size is something I truly admire. Making the most of space with an the efficient layout. The light fixture is very clever as well.
Nate says
I’m assuming that the paint was sprayed on the cabinets? Such a beautiful, smooth finish with a great color. Something I might have to look into for the future.
Ann WesleyHardin says
Hi Nate, Thanks! Yes the paint was sprayed. Because the cabinets are solid maple instead of MDF, a teensy bit of grain does peek through — something that can’t be helped. But I don’t mind that at all. They ARE wood after all! I figured it was better to pay a tad more (and I do mean “a tad” MDF is not that much cheaper) to get solid wood that a future owner could refinish to their own taste.
Ryan Hart says
Going retro but thinking about the future at the same time – brilliant. Even though steel cabinets would have been awesome, using wood and paint is the smart long term choice.
db says
Brava! That kitchen is just perfect in every way possible.
Jay says
Heck! When I saw the first photo, I immediately thought of Pam’s kitchen and thought it was the inspiration. Seriously!
Anyway, great job at recreating the actual inspration kitchen. Thanks for the resource list. There were some serious layout changes. I was surprised you could remove the exhaust fan and the high soffit w/light over the sink.
Because of the slavish devotion these days to granite and stainless, many don’t realize stainless wall ovens and cook tops were “big” in the 50’s readily supplied by the builders of subdivisions.
You have one very efficient layout / work triangle. Congrats!
Ann WesleyHardin says
Jay, it broke my little baby heart to remove the original Miami Carey fan. It just wasn’t going to work with the design. We simply stuffed the hole with insulation and drywalled over it. I still have the fan, though, and someday, somehow, will find a way to display it!
The soffits were just empty, framed drywall. A complete waste of precious space. You don’t want to know what was up there behind them. Eeek!!
ChrisH says
Beautiful color choice.
Clever idea to shape the doors like they were metal cabinets.
Chris says
Oh wow! I love this! I like it even better than the inspiration kitchen — the bolder brighter tones of blue and yellow are wonderful. And that counter with the color of the cabinets? Yes, yes, yes!
Very lovely!
lynda says
Super clever and nice job! I love the light fixture too. I think the Winslow by Hudson Valley has a nice retro look.
http://www.hudsonvalleylighting.com/ProductDetails.aspx?item=3815-SN
I think it is interesting how the stainless looks just right in the mix. We forget that there were stainless appliances back in the 50’s.