Here’s a timeless question: Readers Kate and Tom ask how to approach a Retro Renovation of their 1960s kitchen — which was updated by previous owners in another decade’s style — but, with an eye toward being thrifty and toward resale some day. What is your advice? Note: I’ll let readers comment for a while, then, I will follow up with my thoughts and what I learn from you!
Update: My followup story with my ideas is here.
Kate and Tom write (edited from two emails for flow):
Hiya,
This truly is a great resource! I’m pondering ways to re-vintage our 1960s house, which we bought a couple years ago from a couple who had done painstaking renovations of their own (not the original owners) in the 1990s. The house has their flesh-toned fingerprints all over it, and he was a master woodworker, so it’s a very professional 1990s vibe that we have to contend.
We have both lived in older homes that looked more true to their era, and we long for that midcentury look which seems to match the house’s soul. Here is a photo of the kitchen. We just added paint color but dislike hardware, granite, backsplash.
I’m still just in the visioning stages of trying to picture some remodeling, and need some input about our granite countertops/stainless steel/wood cabinets (cherry? oak) with their wrought iron pulls….Worried about resale value, and expenses just to create an aesthetic when what we’ve got functions well and is “up to date.”
What are your thoughts? How can we accentuate more of that 1960s vibe in a way that won’t detract from potential resale value?
–Kate and Tom in Minneapolis
Readers, what do you think?
How should Kate and Tom approach a Retro Renovation — also with an eye toward resale and unnecessary expenditures?
nutella says
I’d leave the cabinets as they are. It’s probably not worth replacing the appliances, unless you can re-home these and have lots of cash to drop on new vintage look ones. If you can find a home for the existing granite, and it’s in budget, replacing with a white quartz is a good investment with an eye towards resale. Maybe get a linoleum area rug, for a pop of color or B/W checkerboard. White ceramic hardware would be fun. Paint a bright color backsplash, wallpaper the soffit to coordinate, add a cafe curtain to the window.
Karey says
Maybe just update the floor. Looks like a floating floor. That may pull out more of a vintage vibe than replacing perfectly good counters. Check out marblolium, like linoleum.
Melanie says
I have the exact same problem with my kitchen – 1962 mid-mod house with an late ’90s remodel job. It was in a kitchen remodeling tour when it was done – so high end at the time. To this day, the exactly-the-wrong-style cabinetry and corian countertops, are in perfectly good condition. I just can’t bear the idea of replacing perfectly good cabinets and countertops and toss them out. So, I painted the room, changed the pulls, added a fun indoor/outdoor rug that has a bit of an abstract starburst look to it and a few other things to take the focus away from the cabinets and countertops. I still don’t like the kitchen and look forward to re-doing it when my youngest is old enough not to ram toys into it, but, I don’t walk into it feeling like I’ve entered into a very bad time warp.
Stacia says
This is exactly my advice. It sounds like you are not thinking you will always stay in this house. Do what you can with inexpensive changes and use your big money for things you can take with you, or save it to make your next house a reality sooner. My last house was built by someone with a 1982 country-kitchen sensibility. We changed out the corn-flower blue cutsey-rooster wallpaper and painted, but left the oak cabinets which were the opposite of our taste but well-built and in good shape. The house had other things we loved with young kids at the time: a big fenced yard, a great neighborhood, 5 bedrooms, and a big finished basement for them to play in. We just thought of those when the things we couldn’t change bugged us. We saved our money and bought land to build a house much more suited to our style. The other house sold to the first family that looked at it!
Lynn says
I think your cabinets, color wise, look close to cabinets original to 50s and early 60s houses. I think some true vintage handles will go a long way on the cabinets. I would keep the scallop above the sink because I think that helps with the vintage look.
I have a very similar situation in my house, so maybe it will help to share my thoughts on my house. It was built in 1965 and the kitchen was updated in the 90s and 00s. The cabinets are from the 90s and seem to be custom built and are wonderful quality. I’m leaving those alone. I am lucky that my appliances are black, which don’t look as much to the current style as the stainless steel do. Maybe you could replace the SS appliances with black as they wear out. I also have granite counter tops very similar to yours, here when we moved in. I have decided to live with them because they are very practical and I have a VERY messy family who tends to get water everywhere. Laminate counter tops have been ruined at the seams and near the sink where kids have not wiped up spilled water. Granite is more tolerant. And it is easier to clean. I painted my walls vintage looking colors and added vintage and retro decor to my bulkheads, which are similar to yours. I’m going to soon add a valance in a retro design (Walmart has wonderful retro Waverly fabric) to the window above the sink. I also am lucky to have an original jalousie door in my kitchen, so that helps. I have some vintage counter top appliances and canisters on the counter. You tend to notice them more than the counter, anyway. Also from my kitchen I have a view of my eating area and living area, which are more authentic looking, and that helps a lot. My dining set is true vintage (orange one piece fiberglass chairs and a Formica table) and that really sets the tone. There is no back splash, so I’m thinking that’s an inexpensive way to add some retro. You could do that too. This is only me, but I’ve decided that other than that, the kitchen will be the one room that is allowed to be more updated because it’s too expensive and too much work to tear out perfectly functional items. If the kitchen would have been in bad shape or the counter tops horribly boring 80s style (which I hate), I’d consider replacing them with one of the retro designs. A retro rug might help a lot in dressing up the floor. I know this doesn’t tell you much to do, but maybe it helps to know that others are going through the same thing! I tend to think that if I’m going retro/vintage, I must go all the way, but I’ve given myself permission to be half and half in the kitchen since it makes sense for my situation. Adding the retro and vintage decor really does help soften the clinical look of the current trends. I really love the art of Pool Pony, specializing in mid-century prints. Adding one of these to your kitchen would do a lot!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/poolponydesign
Jayne LaFleur says
I think you could remove your whole kitchen and sell or donate it. Trust me, someone will want it. If you’re going to stay there, do what you want rather than living with something you don’t like.
Brooke says
I forgot to add – If you want to make it more retro in a way that could be removed you could look at some removable wallpaper (or just wallpaper a small accent wall – hard to tell if there’s room from this photo).
If you can’t find a spot to wallpaper then just add accessories. Add in a retro clock, some retro dish towels, find some retro kitchen containers to replace those stainless steel ones. You don’t get “retro” from the items you currently have on the countertop so some of those could be switched out to give you the feel but it wont affect your resale value.
The biggest downfall of the whole kitchen is that granite countertop. If you get rid of that you’ll be leaps and bounds ahead of where you’re currently at.
Lincoln says
To me the biggest things that say “90s” about this kitchen are the granite and the cabinet doors/hardware. Wood cabinets were definitely a thing in the 50s and 60s and the wood trim above the kitchen sink (not sure of the technical name) looks almost exactly like the same piece in my mostly untouched 1957 cabinets. Even just the handles would probably make a surprising difference. Not sure what to do about the granite, replacing that won’t be cheap. Formica in an interesting pattern (not faux marble/granite) would be the most period correct but it’s seen as cheap today thanks to the one piece particle board and Formica counter/backsplash things that are so common in low end construction now.
Jay says
The one piece formed counters you refer to were standard issue in new homes for several decades until solid surface materials became widely available and home buyers expectations were raised; most people now a days think any laminate is cheap and/or dated.
Brooke says
I haven’t read all the comments but here’s what I would consider. The cabinets themselves aren’t horrible, even if they are shaker style, so if you doesn’t want to spend a lot of money I think you could upgrade the look of the kitchen without replacing the cabinets. Replace the door pull hardware with something a bit nicer as well will help the look of the cabinets
I would go with a white quartz countertop in more of a solid colour as new granite would keep it in the 90’s. The white will freshen the space up and look nice with the wood. Don’t bother with the 4″ quartz backsplash but add a new tile backsplash tile.
The tile itself is the question, if you’re worried about resale stick to something white or grey (you could just simple stack elongated subway tile for more of a MCM feel) but if you still want to enjoy your kitchen go for something you love (blue tile to match the paint above the cabinets, something with a geometric pattern etc). It may not appeal to everyone but removing tile if someone absolutely hates it isn’t a big project.
Stacy says
When I am doing a project like this…especially wanting minimal expense…the first thing I look for is the “deal breaker” . What is the one thing in the room that kills the vibe for me and MUST be dealt with. Then everything else can be worked around from there.
To me the “deal breaker” in this room would be the granite countertops. Again, this is just me…but nothing kills the retro kitchen vibe more than they do. I like Jon’s suggestion of switching them to a solid color quartz. The cabinets only need a hardware change. They are a nice color and I personally love the curvy valance above the window. My house is a original 1968 and I have that same one above my cabinets. I like the idea of a retro wallpaper over the backsplash. Spoonflower makes the peel and stick removable kind that is available in many retro prints. When it’s time to sell, just remove it. No harm, no foul.
Vintage accessories are key to getting a retro feel without a major commitment. Vintage canisters, a clock, cafe curtains, etc…
I wouldn’t mess with the appliances.
I think this kitchen has a lot of potential to have a great retro feel.
I can’t wait to see the transformation.
Kathy says
Stacy, thanks for the tip on Spoonflower. I knew they made wallpaper but didn’t realize they made peel and stick wallpaper. I had them print some retro looking print on fabric and was happy. I’ve been thinking about wallpaper or a border.
matt says
A couple thoughts… gutting a perfectly usable kitchen (with a higher resale value than a retro one, even before you spend all the money to make it retro) is the kind of landfill-stuffing waste that is steadily destroying the planet. My .02: gut the moldy useless messes and get the full usable life out of the perfectly good spaces. If you’re really thorough and buy nice used stuff, and find homes for all the materials you take out, only then can you avoid becoming part of the problem. Or do lower-impact visual fixes like previous posters mention.
I’ve asked the same question of my useless/freezing/horrid 1/2 bath as I turn it into a retro 1935 Ming Green full bath. All my efforts pay off for me, but it’s a dice throw on the next owner’s preference for modern or vintage.
The deeper question is about which style has the legs to survive for decades. Will 90’s granite kitchens (tick, tick, tick) someday be retro because so few survived the 2020’s wave of carbon fiber LED countertop kitchen redo’s? Are you simply re-committing the same sin of the 1980’s because all those mod kitchens looked ‘dated’ but weren’t old enough yet to be treasured? The writing on the wall is to preserve what you’ve got and it’ll survive well enough to be a treasure someday. That’s the only reason we still have any original 40’s/50’s/60’s kitchens today…