We took a detailed look at Alan’s Vitralite kitchen “Before” yesterday. Now it’s time for our “After.” Our goal with this Retro Design Dilemma was to unify two key, original elements — the vintage Vitralite green wall tiles and the wood cabinets — while also making the room feel warmer and less sterile. Remember: Alan told us yesterday that with all the green glass tile, the kitchen sometimes felt like a combination of Betty Crocker and morgue. Ouch! Fortunately, we think that our design concept shows that, with with the careful addition of warm color and soft surfaces, it is totally possible to bring out the Betty and bye bye the laboratory — transforming this space into a home sweet retro home sweetheart of a space.
Job One: Bring warm color and softer surfaces into this deco-meets-the-1950s kitchen
First of all: If you touch one inch of those green Vitralite tiles — we do not want to hear about it! They are a treasure. Ditto-ish: Your original wood cabinets are beautiful. Keep ’em — we love the warm wood with the tile. If the varnish needs work, okay, restore them, but very very carefully. ‘Might be nothing to really compare with the original finish if it’s still in good shape.
In yesterday’s comments, reader ineffablespace said this:
In a general sense, the green Vitrolite is not something that can be “compensated for” or apologized for, in the re-design. It is *the* salient design feature of the kitchen, and as a relative rarity, I would want to highlight it, not downplay it. I don’t think you need to create a 1953 museum, but on the other hand there are very few common/popular 21st century finishes that will do this kitchen any favors.
We very much agree with this assessment, so our mood board doesn’t touch the tile. We’re going with the deco-retro flow.
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- Flooring: Sheet linoleum: The first order of the day: Bring in colors and softer surfaces and accessories that will help ensure the kitchen doesn’t feel like a laboratory. To start, we tried this cherry red Armstrong Marmorette sheet linoleum floor (update: not sure this is still available, check other manufacturers like Forbo Marmoleum) and loved how it looked. It instantly adds warmth to the space — and the red complements the green walls and looks like it will work well with the color of the cabinets too. And hey, it picks up the red in the clock hand! We chose linoleum rather than ceramic tile or wood, because it’s “resilient” — bouncy — countering the hardness of the wall tile. (Wood is a warm soft surface, too, but we wanted color and and even more softness, as possible.) We decided to use linoleum sheet rather than tiles in order to avoid repeating the grid design already in the wall tile.
- Countertops: Black soapstone-like laminate. When Pam and I discussed this kitchen on the phone, we agreed that the existing white countertops not only contributed to the overall feeling of sterility but also created an overall harsh contrast. Alan mentioned that he was thinking about a solid surface countertop like soapstone, but we caution about adding more laboratory-like hard surfaces. So we went to see what we could find in laminates. I fiddled with some other options in Photoshop — including a solid to match the wall tile and to create one clean line — but when I put in this Wilsonart Black Alicante, golly it just looked great. This makes sense because the kitchen has a fundamental deco feel to it — as you recall from the “before” story, there is black trim tile in the laundry room. That said, if Alan wants to try this laminate, he for sure should get a sample, we are not sure it is really dark enough. We do like the veining, which breaks up the mass; reminds us of Cusheen. Another option: Use black sheet lineoleum in a similar veined colorway. The addition of stainless steel metal edging, similar to what Pam used in her kitchen, helps mesh the countertops with the existing chrome cabinet pulls and add a bit of bling to the space. You also could go for ribbed aluminum edging in this kitchen — it would probably look really great given that this kitchen is streamlinefeel.
.In comments yesterday, reader Diane in CO was thinking alike and recommended Wilsonart Oiled Soapstone. She said: The smashing laminate is Wilsonart “Oiled Soapstone.” It reads “black” in the room but is much softer and has “shadowing” – hard to describe. I liked the look so much I used it for the vanity top in a small black-and-white bathroom redo. It’s so good-looking!
. - Exhaust fan: We suggest that Alan keep his vintage stove, but get a new vent hood in white to match. For our mood board purposes, I’ve just recolored his harvest gold range hood in white to match — yes, you could also likely just spray paint your exhaust fan white, if it’s still serviceable.
. - Stove: Alan had mentioned thinking about swapping out his white stove for stainless steel. We would say: No. Again, stay away from anything that says “laboratory” — and that includes stainless steel. Either keep what you have — that stove looks fine — or how about getting a vintage stove — talk about Betty Crocker — you will surely have the neighbors drooling over that! For vintage kitchens from this era, we usually suggest a Kohler Delafield sink with hudee ring instead of that stainless steel sink. Ditto the new fridge, we probably would have went with white.
. - Window treatments:
- Wood blinds: To continue to soften the space, we think that Alan could get some 2″ wood blinds like this style from Blinds.com in a shade that matches the original cabinetry and window trim. These will get more warm wood up onto the wall area and cover the glaring white vinyl replacement window frames. Covering the white window frames also reduces the number of grids that can be seen — at least when the shades are closed — further calming and softening the room’s hard edges. If and when you ever decide or need to replace those windows, well, you can guess what we have to say about the white vinyl. And remember, we now have good advice on whether and when to turn the blinds up or down 🙂
. - Patterned fabric valance: Adding the fabric valance over the wood blinds creates another layer of decor that helps to soften hard edges in this kitchen. Pam and I each searched for about an hour (we are power users of Google chat for sharing ideas in rapid fire succession) for a “just right” fabric with the right colors, right pattern and a retro-deco feel compatible with Alan’s kitchen wall tile and cabinetry until we found some coordinating vintage barkcloth fabric on Ebay (alas, sold a while ago) that could have been used to make fabric valances for the windows. The fabric picks up the red from the floor, black from the countertops, white from the range and adds another level of green to coordinate with the wall as well as inserting a pop of yellow. We were careful to find a pattern that was not grid-like to continue our efforts downplaying the strong gridlines found on the wall tiles.
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Reader Melinda agreed: With the abundance of tile I do feel like choosing a color opposite, such as red or pink will balance things out. Plenty of fabrics such as curtains, decorative towels and throw rugs will do a lot to soften this space.
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- Wood blinds: To continue to soften the space, we think that Alan could get some 2″ wood blinds like this style from Blinds.com in a shade that matches the original cabinetry and window trim. These will get more warm wood up onto the wall area and cover the glaring white vinyl replacement window frames. Covering the white window frames also reduces the number of grids that can be seen — at least when the shades are closed — further calming and softening the room’s hard edges. If and when you ever decide or need to replace those windows, well, you can guess what we have to say about the white vinyl. And remember, we now have good advice on whether and when to turn the blinds up or down 🙂
- Paint color for the ceiling: Next we turned our attention to the ceiling, which Pam thought she might paint a light beige to bring down the contrast.
- Ceiling fan: We presume you have a ceiling fan with a light for a reason, so we went and looked for one that could provide the functionality you need but that lookedTo continue adding warmth in the space, we found the Minka Aire F1000 ceiling fan — you can get it on Amazon (affiliate link) in three colors. We like the streamline look, and we liked it in bronze to coordinate with the wood tone of the cabinets. Note: There are a lot of reviews also on Amazon, which can be helpful to a degree. One commenter says you can also get this fan, $70 cheaper, at Home Depot, it’s the Petersford. But there’s only one brite metal finish, and the design is a bit different; nah.
- Ceiling and pendant lighting: Alan had mentioned wanting can lights, but Pam has become wary of this idea ever since reading Martin Holladay’s 10 Rules of Lighting. Holladay wrote, “The U.S. is cursed by a plague of senseless recessed can fixtures…. Recessed cans do a great job of illuminating the floor, but they keep your ceiling dark.” So, instead of cans, we went looking for a ceiling light fixture — ambient lighting — that would get the light out and about more successfully. Then we found a matched pair of Hudson Valley Lighting light fixtures from lightology — the Odessa flush mount style and coordinating Odessa pendant light — both in a warm, gold-tone which continues to add visual warmth (bringing the gold of the cabinets up to the ceiling) — and light — to the kitchen. We quite like these Odessa lights for a prewar or sweetheart 1950s kitchen or a kitchen with deco lines.Reader Robbie Kendall added this helpful tidbit about being mindful with the lighting: First things first, I would start with the ceiling kitchen and work my way down: rather than the two hanging fixtures and fan that are there now, I would replace these three items with three identical up-light fixtures that bounce the light off of the flat (or eggshell) white ceiling using spectrum corrected bulbs. And if these fixtures were copper, so much the better. Also, I know that Pearl Paint, in New York, used to carry a white paint imported from the Netherlands that had a very slight blue tint to it so that as it aged, the yellowing counteracted the blue and the white became purer over time. My point here is that with these, beautifully, overpowering walls, it is best to let the look be highlighted by pure spectrum lighting and not degraded by standard yellowed tungsten or too ‘clinical’ compact fluorescent bulbs.
. - Vintage dinette: ‘Most nothing makes a kitchen homier than a vintage dinette. There looks like there’s room so how about obsessing to find something like this deep green table and chairs from our uploader. Alternately, reader Heidi Swank chimed in with this tip: Kitchen Table: The one end of the kitchen with the cool radiator/vent cover calls out for a high kitchen table with two stools. A high table wouldn’t obstruct the heat flow but would give that end of the room something to do.
. - Accessories: Finally, adding homey accessories that repeat the main colors in the space — red, green and even the yellow pulled from the valances — will help finish off the look and create a cohesive space. We found delightful vintage fruit canisters on Ebay, classic FiestaWare in Scarlet Red and Sunflower Yellow and of course, everyone’s favorite — the red KitchenAid mixer.
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And reader Dan had these two good points regarding the decor in Alan’s kitchen: It looks like that sash window opens onto another room. Let’s fill it in with display shelving….I’d love to see the figures on the clock used somehow. Perhaps similar figures could be silk screened on fabric for window treatments!
Blondie7 says
Perfect Beautiful! Love, love the after photo! Even though the before is beautiful too.
Mag says
My first thought was, “What kinds of cabinets was vitrolite most commonly paired with?” I immediately think “metal”, and if that is true at all, I’d have no problem with the cabinets being painted, and painted well. No slapdash! Just on first glance, the cabinets look newer than the tiles, even if they are not, so I don’t have a problem with taking the cabinets back to the era of the tiles in their heyday, and would not try to push the tiles up to meet the cabinets. Are the tiles jadeite or more aqua coloured? On my monitor, they look like either, pending on the lighting of the shot.
The kitchen already has contrasting theme. The near Americana-styled figures used on the clock, for example, so I can see where the challenges arise. If I were to go red, I think I’d stick with something close to the red on the clock hand. I love the dark counters with the metal edging, but I think red or yellow would be cracking good fun, too, if the right surfaces and textures were chosen. I also like the wide blinds, but perhaps not in wood. Are metal ones, in 2″ or wider, still being made? I’d also get rid of the 6/6 window asap. What is beyond the 6/6 window anyway?
Oh, just looked up pics of vintage kitchens using this tile, and yellow is seen pretty regularly, which confirmed my gut feeling: that harvest gold absolutely has to go. My gut also says if I were to go 1950’s Americana, I’d go Penn Dutch, but in a minimalist way. It would be a great source for colorways, and not the folksy, decorative aspects of Penn Dutch (maybe basic tulips, things like that, no over-ornamented rosemaling). But what I really see is a fun, Art Deco diner-inspired kitchen. To me, that means no warm metal lighting figures. Stick with the colours of the metal around the soffit lighting. That said, can any of you tell me what the lights in the soffits look like close up? I’d love to see if I could find something to compliment those.
Treat the vitrolite as an asset, not something to be be softened or downplayed. Strong lines and glossy finishes don’t have to be sterile, austere, nor unwelcoming. <3
Might say more later, but this is what has come into my mind since the previous post you made about the kitchen. 8^)
LuAnn says
Love, love, love your vision for this kitchen, Pam & Kate! Frankly, I couldn’t quite visualize how you could warm it up, but you definitely did it. I love the dark red floors and the dark green touches. I don’t know how you do this…you make it look so easy. This kitchen looks like it should have always looked this way. 🙂
lynda says
Just checked on the Odessa fixture. It does come in other finishes. I think the look is just right for the kitchen.
lynda says
Have you ever thought of doing a like button feature for comments, sort of like Houzz does? It would be an easy way to sort of vote for the idea(s) you like best. I think it would be a nice feature. Love Hudson Valley Lighting. The brass trim might come in chrome.
I just see a lot of dust showing up on a dark red floor. Pretty, but may not be practical for kitchen.
Sheila says
I must say I really like what you two came up with! I enjoyed reading all the comments on the previous post and was more a fan of the green-black-white color scheme (would love to see someone mock that one up,too) but this one absolutely suits the space – nice job!
Ed says
Maybe just a smooth white ceiling with two chrome sputnik pendant lights. White tile or linoleum floors. I don’t think you’ll be able to avoid an “institutional” feel without totally replacing the tile walls, and I’d hate to see that.
Steve H says
I like some of the suggestions, others not so much. The counter ideas are spot-on. I’m having a hard time with the red floor. I would go with cork, which I think would compliment the cabinets. Some have mentioned painting the cabinets. I would only do that if they were really damaged, and these appear to be in great condition with a nice mellow finish. I think you really have to approach this room from the perspective that it has nothing to appologize for. It’s beyond fabulous! Anyone who says it looks like a mourge or a lab just doesn’t get it.
Tom says
I love cork floors too but this kitchen doesn’t appear to have a lot of natural light so that huge carpet of dark brown cork might make this a very dark space.
Diane in CO says
I just have to make a couple more observations and then will step off my soapbox – lol!
ELIMINATE THE DARK GREEN
That luscious jadite green of Vitrolite tile is so pretty! It should be the “star” of this kitchen. It should not have to compete with the darker green, such as used in the window shades and the dinette chairs. The two greens are not pleasing together, to my eye.
Why the need to “soften?” Nothing wrong with graphic, streamlined and stylish.
Many of us loved the black band of the laundry room! Couldn’t a similar detail be incorporated in the main kitchen?
Tom says
Also not sure where the gold/brass details in the lighting fit in here all metal surfaces should be chrome or brushed aluminum there shouldn’t be any gold/brass in this kitchen.
Diane in CO says
I concur! The original hardware is cool and therefore the gold trimmed pendant light makes no sense. Keep the chrome look. Anyway, the cabinets are not “gold” but rather a honey color.
I would paint all the wood white, with doorway doors black. Then black and white floor and the Wilsonart countertops. I don’t think the wooden cabinets work with the green Vitrolite.
So many cooks in the soup….poor Alan 🙂