Reader Catherine and her husband Jonathan loved the original steel kitchen cabinets and tiled walls in their 1950 Cape Cod kitchen, but the room was feeling tired and needed some freshening up. After seeing Pam’s story recommending Azrock flooring as an authentic 1950s style floor choice, Catherine knew it was the right fit for her kitchen. After installing the new floor, painting their original Geneva cabinets, and adding new butcher block counter tops and a stainless steel sink — Catherine and Jonathan’s kitchen is ready for its close up.
Hi! A while back I saw a recommendation on your website for Azrock flooring for authentic 50s kitchen rehabs. You also stated that you’d like photos of completed renovations using this kind of flooring.
Our kitchen renovation, using Azrock Raw Silk (update: Azrock now owned by Tarkett, composite tile here), is complete– and it looks great! We also spray painted our original Geneva cabinets in the kitchen to coordinate, and added a butcher block counter top plus drainboard sink (both from IKEA), to complete that 50s feel.The house was built in 1950 (a Cape Cod, probably what you might call “colonial-revival”), and I believe all the tile in the kitchen and the bathroom is original to the house. The walls are all plaster, so it would be an incredible feat to even try and rip the tile out to recreate it.
The tile in the kitchen is pure white, and the 4×4 backsplash extends throughout the room. The man we hired to spray paint the cabinets said that the cabinets were originally white in color.
There were one or two broken tiles in the kitchen when we moved in. We weren’t able to find a 4×4 tile the exact same shade of white in the store, but when we moved the cabinets out to paint them, we just carefully removed one of the intact tiles behind the where the cabinetry had been and used that as our replacement.
Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions on rehabbing we’ve received from your site. It’s been an incredible resource of ideas for us!
(Also, we live in a St. Louis suburb, so finding missing hardware for our Geneva cabinets online locally here hasn’t been a problem either…)
Thanks,
Catherine
Catherine and Jonathan — you did a great job breathing new life into your kitchen. Everything looks terrific — including vintage Geneva kitchen cabinets, the counter tops, the floors…. and it is very cool to see those original, ceramic tiled walls — we don’t showcase those often enough. Thanks for sharing your results with all of us.
Pat Wieneke says
What a cute little kitchen!
I am not sure if it is because I am getting vintage, myself, but I have found that all the kitchen crap THEY say we need we do not….and I cook a lot, too, This little kitchen is perfect. There is a nice prep area and good work triangle. You did a great job of saving it from being remuddled some day.
Mary Elizabeth says
The way the sunlight shines on the counter, you have to look twice to see the sink is stainless steel, with two basins, and the stainless drainboard is to the right of those.
Sherree says
What a great job. I love that you kept your cabinets and the wall tile. I am so tired of seeing complete gut jobs where they think everything has to be brand new.
I also admire your restraint with clutter; I am afraid I fail at that!
One question: the story says there is a drainboard sink from IKEA? I don’t see it.
lynda says
I think the glare from the window makes it hard to see. Looks like it is this sink from Ikea:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S99847467/
If you look carefully at the pictures, you do see the double sink with the drainboard on the right side.
Allie says
Hi–your kitchen is gorgeous! Wonderful job. 🙂 Could you give some information about your exhaust fan? Original? New? Brand? Thanks so much.
Catherine says
Thank you!! The exhaust fan came with the house. It says “Ilgette” on the front. It has always been in good working order, so we haven’t done much with it, except try to polish up the front. My husband also cut a filter down to fit the inside.
Jay says
I love it when folks love the vintage features in their old kitchens and incorporate them into new modern kitchens. I like how the fridge is recessed in the alcove between the two doors. The white all tiled walls give me an impression of a kitchen older then the 1950 date of the house but admirably fit your modern aesthetic.Very nice indeed!
Robin, NV says
That was my thought too, that the kitchen looked older than 1950. The white tile says “1940s” to me. Almost a throw back to when kitchens were meant to look “sanitary.” But it makes sense that some of the 1940s aesthetic carried over to 1950.
Dawn says
Our house was built in 1959 and we have white wall tile in our kitchen as well…
Jennifer Kepesh says
What I love about the kitchen is that it looks fresh but also timeless, and usually that means “cold,” especially with white and stainless, but here, it comes off as warmer. I don’t know why that is–perhaps it’s a combination of the rounded/recessed handles and the wood countertops, the fridge tucked in…whatever it is, you balanced everything perfectly.
lynda says
I too think you did a perfect remodel job. You kept the great old stuff and added the new stuff to make the new kitchen just right. I like the clean look, but I enjoy looking at the clutter in other kitchens too. If a kitchen is “done right” it just looks right no matter what style is used.
Good job in not getting rid of the wonderful things in the kitchen! I too like the exhaust fan. Azrock really looks great in the room.
Andi says
This is beautiful. It manages to both suit the 1950 Cape Cod perfectly, maintaining a period feel, and yet is as “modern” as anyone could want their kitchen to be in 2013!
Nothing seems out of place—not talking about the admirable lack of clutter!—everything balances, stainless appliances with vintage cabinets with retro floor with original tile, it all works together seamlessly. I especially like the warmth of the butcher block countertop, again providing balance.
I love it!!
Catherine says
Thanks so much! Gray is a cool color, metal a cool material. The warmer butcher block does help balance it out. I was somewhat concerned about how butcher block would hold up (we had granite in our last kitchen). After over a year, though, the butcher block has done just great. IKEA sells a glaze for the butcher block, to help maintain it’s appearance, which we’ve used only once.
Chris says
This is lovely! I am very impressed with how clean and sleek it all is. Where is all your cra — oh! I mean, “stuff?” I think part of the reason your kitchen has such impact is the minimal decoration. There’s nothing to detract from all the perfect choices you made. Now my kitchen, on the other hand, is retro in the sense that it looks like a pack-rat grandma decorated it. I have lots of clutter and I can’t seem to make it disappear!
Applause, applause to you and your kitchen!
Catherine says
Thanks, Chris! We’ve moved about five times in ten years– which is a great way to get rid of excess stuff! 🙂
Chad says
I’d like to think when I see spotless kitchens like this that they put all their crap in the dining room to take the photos.
Robin, NV says
That’s what I do. I’m always torn when I declutter the kitchen. On the one hand, it looks so nice. But on the other, the fridge looks so forlorn without my magnet collection. I’ll take the clutter. I don’t want my house to look like a generic showroom.
Great job Catherine! I like that you preserved the original features but also brought in modern elements that work for you. I’m going for the “retro modern” look in my kitchen too.
Mary Elizabeth says
This kitchen looks so lovely in cool white with the warmth of the butcher block counters and dark table and chairs. I wonder why they put tile behind some of the cabinets? Maybe there were freestanding cabinets there at first, and the Genevas came in after the family saved up for them. No matter, a lucky and skillful save on your part to find the tile back there and reuse it. I hope you saved a few more, just in case.
As for tchochkes/memorabilia/clutter, yes Chad and Robin, when we post photos of our renovations on our web page, you have to picture my husband Bruce behind the camera and me just one step ahead of him scooping up whole piles of stuff and sticking it elsewhere. After each project, our room has looked like Better Homes and Gardens 1959 for, oh, about one day after completion.
You can see in some places I wasn’t fast enough. To get stuff out of the way. See http://www.condoman.us/142GLB.html for a slide show.
Lisa Compo says
I was nosey and looked at your pictures. You have a very cozy and inviting home. I have the same bed as in your guest room but it’s at my Mom’s, she uses it. Your kitchen cabinets are very pretty. Just so you know..I only saw one pair of shoes laying out so you aren’t as cluttered as you think. 🙂 Love your cats.
Pat Wieneke says
Wait! There’s more? How can I snoop around in your house too? If the kitchen is this cute, the rest must be also.
Wendy in St. Louis says
It looks great! Love the wall tile, and that exhaust fan is fantastic!! I have been obsessing over what floor I want to put in – did you lay and finish the tile yourselves? Who did the cabinets? I live in Glendale and need to have mine painted too.
Catherine says
Hi Wendy! We ripped out the old flooring ourselves, and then (because of time constraints– we were living in my parent’s house while remodeling!) we hired a handyman to lay the Azrock flooring. My husband then rented equipment to wax and finish the flooring. The cabinets were painted by Mark’s Spray Painting. They did a great job!