As we like to say here, “There’s more than one way to retro.” This circa-1974 St. Charles Kitchens catalog — just added to my personal collection — proves it, yet again. St. Charles trots out their interior design experts and shows one harvest gold kitchen … decorated in six different styles of the day. From Early American to Mediterranean to 70s Contemporary — and more — they show us how to get our 70s style cookin’.
1. 1970s country style kitchen:
Use checkboard wallpaper, delft backsplash tile and butcher block cabinets to create a Dutch “Country Charm” kitchen.
- Viewing tip: Click on the photos – they will double in size on screen.
2. Contemporary 1970s style kitchen:
Dig the stainless steel backsplash and appliances, the woven wood shade, smoked glass table and oh my, the fabulous floor in this kitchen that St. Charles anointed “Contemporary Sophistication.”
- Note: There is no date anywhere on my catalog. I’m guestimating 1974 based on… the clothing.
3. 1970s Early American kitchen:
There’s an ox yoke in one of the other photos that goes with this kitchen design. Did I ever mention: I have an ox yoke. It has a mirror in it. It came from Grandpa. I think he made it. From an old implement used on the farm. Shoot me. I am sure I will never be able to throw it out. St. Charles officially called the style “American Heritage.”
4. 1970s flower power kitchen:
Of course, the flower power kitchen is my favorite. The cabinetry in this design is painted Dover White, St. Charles says. The design is “The Now Look.”
Note: Harvest Gold was introduced to kitchen appliances in Spring 1968. It was one of the longest enduring color trends — popular through at least 1984. Above: Other colors available from St. Charles this year. And YO: The cabinets are textured steel, “St. Charles DURALON finish” with a “soft-to-the-touch feeling of fine-grained leather.” Why did steel kitchen cabinets introduce texture to their cabinetry? I hypothesize: To better mask fingerprints and better hide dings. There also may have been a desire to make them appear more organic, less… antiseptic. I’ve also talked about steel cabinet maker’s introduction of wood door fronts, too.
- See my History of Steel Kitchen Cabinets — 70+ designs identified so far!
5. 1970s Mediterranean style kitchen:
And of course, we have the “Spanish Villa,” or as we have been known to call it, the “Casa de Torquemada” kitchen style. Ya gotta love the creativity.
6. 1970s Asian style kitchen:
I feel like this “Oriental Influence” kitchen concept is something you’d have seen in Florida. Don’t forget the electric wok!
dkzody says
The contemporary 70s looks much like my kitchen, except I have dark walnut cabinets. I still have the woven wood blind over the kitchen window that I installed in 1980. Still works great. Just wish I still had the harvest gold dishwasher and fridge.
Kaze says
The 70s are the new 50s.
pam kueber says
The 70s were rockin’ awesome, in terms of design!
Markus Kobi says
This entire concept is rockin awesome!
St. Charles. . . The Distinctive Elegance of The ‘Fashhhion Kitchenn…’
Awww…Can’t we all just go back to this…? Everything was a style opportunity…brimming with such exciting choices and inspired expressions of flair!
pam kueber says
Yes, I love the ’70s!
Laura says
I happily decorated my first home in a combination of all those styles with the avocado green being my appliance color choice. Fond memories.
tammyCA says
I remember in the ’70s a friend’s mom putting in the kitchen carpet in plaid brown/harvest gold and another friend’s mom putting the same kind of brown/harvest gold plain wallpaper in their kitchen & faux brick. The mom had one if those “learn to be a decorator at home” kits from a magazine ad..remember those?
I can’t say the ’70s decor is my fave but a lot of the above I’d take any day over today’s cold, clinical white/grey/taupe ad naseum.
Mike says
Am all about Early American mid mod kitchen. It’s the coolest. Am biased because our ’62 ranch was decorated in the style. Anyone could choose whichever style and do up a kitchen just like one of the above examples today.
Brian says
We have the EXACT SAME woven curtain over our kitchen sink that is shown in the No. 2 Contemporary Kitchen. We were going to get rid of it when we first bought our house, but it still works wonderfully and we’ve just grown accustomed to it being there.
pam kueber says
I loooooovvvvvvveeeee woven wood shades! Keep it FOR SURE! See — https://retrorenovation.com/2009/02/25/1960s-vintage-woven-wood-shades-and-an-amazing-hollywood-regency-time-capsule/
Kaze says
Blinds shopping last week, I was thrilled to see several woven wood options on the shelf at Home Depot. Lots more on special order. Almost bought some for my 70s inspired spare bedroom.
dkzody says
This comment makes me so happy. Perhaps I need to go to Home Depot as my pinch pleat drapes in the master bedroom are looking the worse for wear (also installed in 1980) and a woven wood might just be the answer. They last forever.
Janice says
I graduated from high school in 1974 and I wore most of those clothes, or my friends did. What an era!
Karin says
“Casa de Torquemada” ! That IS hilarious. It actually made me like the style. So much more evocative than “Spanish Mission”, don’t you think ? I recall that there was a 70s trend for all things Spanish. There were movies like “El Cid” and “The Naked Maja”, “Zorro”, and flamenco music. My parents had the ubiquitous bullfight souvenir poster too. Thanks for the flashback. I actually like the Flower Power kitchen best because it’s surprisingly timeless. And yeah, I did wonder why those cabinets were textured.
pam kueber says
Someone else on the blog, in the yee olden days of it, came up with that! hehehehe
David says
“El Cid” came out in 1961, “The Naked Maja” in 1958. “Zorro”? in the movies, it was a hit in the 1920’s, and on TV in the 50’s. I remember most of them (NOT the 1920’s “Zorro”), since I am a product of 1949.
Robin, NV says
Ooh I know! Let’s match the lovely ladies in the first photo with each kitchen. The second lady from the left definitely goes with #2. 🙂
Mary Elizabeth says
Robin, I agree that the lady with the groovy blouse (2nd from left) goes with the second kitchen. Her name is MaryBeth. She loves her Dansk Kobenstyle enamel cookware and her Arabia of Finland dishes, all of which were on her wedding registry. She is an early adopter of stainless steel wall ovens and canisters and is reading _The Feminine Mystique_ with her book club.
The first on the left is still called Rainbow, as she was in college. She has kitchen #1. She wears lace-trimmed dresses and peasant blouses with long dirndl skirts, and she goes barefoot at home whenever possible. She grows her own vegetables and makes her own fondue from scratch. She gives Tarot readings.
The 4th from the left (with the apron), goes in kitchen #3. Her name is Susie. She made the apron herself, as well as the window curtains and the quilts in all the bedrooms. She rides horses, keeps chickens out back and her heroine is Dale Evans.
There are still three more to identify! And one of them is looking through plans with DH, so we need to find out more about him also and what his involvement in the kitchen is. Is he just helping to plan it, or is he interested in doing some cooking himself?
Robin, NV says
I think the wife and husband pair go with #5, the Spanish Villa. They’re proto-yuppies with an eye for the latest trend – especially the ones that don’t last. In the 80s, they’ll swap the whole thing out for French Provencal and then go big for Tuscan in the 90s.
Mary Elizabeth says
Yes, I did think that Mitzie and Biff would like the Spanish look. One of the reasons they tore out that kitchen in the 80s was that Mitzie went back to work and didn’t have time to clean all the little dust-and-grease-catching spots (the chairs, the table legs, the huge chandelier).
They are already tired of the Tuscan kitchen, but they are retired now and can’t afford to keep ripping out their kitchen every 10 years. Also, they wished they hadn’t given away all their hand-thrown pots and Franciscan dishes, so now they go to Goodwill on Senior Wednesdays and hunt for pieces of it.
Mary Elizabeth says
As for the date, in 1969 I owned a blouse almost exactly like the one on the model second from left. The collar was very distinctive. Sorry I can’t remember the designer or manufacturer.
In the “Country Charm” kitchen, the china is Pfaltzgraff Yorktowne, which they started making in 1967. I actually owned the soup tureen pictured, but I sold it when I “downsized.”
So the kitchens pictured could be anywhere from the late 1960s to mid 1970s, I think.