Yesterday we took a look at two rockin’ 1970s-style bedrooms that Ben Sander designed for a client. Today: The apartment kitchen and bathroom, equally amazingly transformed — and glory be: using World of Tile tile scooped up before WOT closed. I repeat (and forewarn): “Statement interiors” are not for the faint of design heart, so prepare your eyeballs for some eye-popping style.
From 1980s blah to 1970s fabulous — the kitchen before and after
Ben Sander describes the project:
My client didn’t want to spend as much on the kitchen. To keep costs down, we reused the melamine cabinets, which were in perfectly good shape. We removed them, pulled up the old tile floor and put down sale tile from World of Tile. I found an amazing deal on enough vintage wallpaper to do over the entire room on Craigslist, then got the idea to paper the ceiling as well in a gingham pattern vinyl found on eBay. We put it up on the diagonal. The stove and dishwasher are the GE Artistry line that I discovered right here on RR. When we reinstalled the cabinets, we painted the honey colored oak edge pulls in a green enamel to match the laminate counters, which are Decotone Surfaces Verde Acido.
A granitized 80s bathroom — gone disco
Ben tells all:
The master bath was the single most expensive room in the remodel. It’s totally tricked out in World of Tile, top to toe. Chippy helped us collect the wall tiles and all the associated trim pieces for windows, bull nose, soap dishes and toothbrush holders, as well as the beautiful floor tiles that look like the inside of a blast furnace. I had the vanity custom made and clad in glossy laminate, with a top in the suede texture. We kept the existing bath tub to save money, but put in all new fixtures from Vola. The original bath faucet was designed in 1968 by Arne Jacobsen, and the line has subsequently been expanded to include both bath and kitchen fixtures in a variety of colors. That original faucet has been copied endlessly and is now somewhat ubiquitous in chrome. What makes the fixtures we used special is the color. You’ll notice we also used the black and white Chevron wallpaper in here.
We love the amazing creativity and design daring — thank you, Ben, for sharing!
Link Love:
Allison says
The bathroom reminds me of something out of the movie Die Hard, but the kitchen is fabulous. The boring white of the melamine cabinets become crisp and fresh in the presence of the gorgeous wallpaper and that lovely laminate!
I papered a kitchen much like this many, many years ago, but with an ivy pattern paper on the walls and a green gingham print on the ceiling of the breakfast alcove. Wish I’d ever thought to take pictures of our previous homes- only ever did it accidentally when taking pictures of the family 🙁
Sara of WA says
Love it! I would wander into the kitchen just to feel good if it were mine.
SebPDX says
Wow…I really wonder what the impetus behind this design is! I love it all but is it someone who lived in NY in the 70s but gave it up to move to the suburbs & raise a family? Now they’re empty nesters with a second place in the city. Or they joined the exodus of people gong back into the city to live full-time?
Or is it a collector of all things 70s?? I could so live in that master bedroom…watching Louis Buñel or Pier Paolo Pasolini films, drinking Reunite on ice!
pam kueber says
I will assume: Super stylin’ New Yorker – could be any age! Retro taste knows no demographic bounds, in my experience. The key: We are all “highly visual.” In the case of folks who can handle this much, we have a very high tolerance for visual stimulation — we thrive on it. Count me in on this — my office has 277 pieces of wallpaper on the walls, 18 different patterns! https://retrorenovation.com/2012/06/18/18-patterns-of-vintage-wallpaper-277-squares-for-my-big-fat-retro-office-remodel/
Rebecca says
Lord have mercy, that kitchen. I have died and gone to heaven! That is my dream kitchen, honestly – or the same thing done in Harvest Golds. I was a little girl in the 70’s and the colors make me feel like a carefree little girl and just make me so HAPPY. 🙂
Nic says
Ugh,I have those same boring cabinets and have been trying to figure out something to do to them. They match the perfectly awful MATTE white countertop. This gives me hope.
Retroski says
Yes. I don’t have those cabinets but I DO have that kind of countertop. Oh, how they absorb stains! And why are they so popular in old rentals? So the landlord knew of they had dirty tenants?
Down with the off white laminate! Crackle, gold fleck and linen, you can stay.
Nic says
Haha,yes!!^^^ any tips to get the stains out? I’ve tried everythin and now I pour straight concentrated bleach on them. It’s the only thing that works but I’m probably killing myself. Even water stains!
pam kueber says
I don’t know. I presume the melamine layer is worn out…
Retroski says
Dirty tenants because off white laminate absorbs stains and doesn’t release them unless it’s Ajaxed.
Vaseydaisy says
Beautiful! I love the green kitchen, especially the floor. I find the wallpaper a bit busy, takes attention away from that beautiful floor! Gorgeous remodel!
Retroski says
Funkee-ay! I never cared for those 80s melamine cabinets (even as a kid) but this is a great way to liven it up! I currently have a nondescript 70s kitchen and this inspires, especially showing how some color and pattern can refresh a blah kitchen. The red tile in the loo sizzles!
The granite itself in the previous conception is “fine” but it looks out of place and the fixtures are meh. Makes you wonder the previous owner spent so much on the bath but ignored the kitchen.
ineffablespace says
“Makes you wonder the previous owner spent so much on the bath but ignored the kitchen”
This looks like NYC, and many of the people I know in NYC do not cook all that much so the kitchen isn’t that important as long as it’s functional. I even know someone who emptied out the kitchen, leaving all the hook-ups, and turned it into a walk-in closet.
pam kueber says
I lived in NYC for three+ years. I never once used my convection oven. In fact, I did not know how to use it. I did use the range top burners and the mini-fridge though. And, I ate a lot of Indian takeout.
Retroski says
Pam and ineffable space:
Thanks for the insight. Makes sense given the pace of NYC. So that must make Deb of the Smitten Kitchen cooking blog all the more unique-she advertises it as coming out of a “tiny NYC kitchen”.
Kate in CT says
Yes! In my mind this is what kitchens in Manhattan looked like in the 70’s. Well, some of them. I love this. Love. I actually have those cabinets here in my condo in Connecticut. It was built in the early 1980’s. I grew up in California and the Mid-West and the first time I saw them was here in CT. I knew they were a late 70’s/early 80’s invention immediately.
I love the metallic wallpaper. My grandma put that in her bathrooms in the late 70’s/early 80’s. It always makes me so happy. And that tile floor. J’adore. I have a lamp that looks like that and a coffee table. We are buying a house in the spring and part of me wants a 70’s contemporary just so I can go nuts like that in a master bathroom.
midmichigan says
All that’s missing in that bathroom is a bottle of Hai Karate or Brut on the vanity. I was too poor at the time to afford either so I used Downy. (no joke)
pam kueber says
Hai Karate! Yes!
Ben says
I bought him a Massimo Vignelli ‘Nuts and Bolts’ bottle for the bath, but he’s chosen to keep it in the bedroom.
pam kueber says
hehe
k258 says
I used the same green-accented tile seen in the kitchen in my glam bathroom project. It came from World of Tile.
Kristen says
Cool kitchen!!!!!!! I’m trying to do something similar and had the 1970s reprint of envy daisy laminate installed. Slowly coming together but I’ve been stumped on a few parts and needed to let ideas percolate. Thank you for sharing!!! And I <3 RR. Actually look forward to Mondays after a weekend of no posts! Hehe.
pam kueber says
ahhhh, thanks
Can’t wait to see the Daisy installed
I actually woke up thinking of that laminate. what colorway did you use?
Kristen says
The green, it was a tough decision! I’ll email you a picture. I’m thinking a lot about Ben’s wallpaper. What a lucky find on Craigslist!