This is a vintage Chambers gas range. I am seriously in love with it, and want it so much that I could burst. For now, though, it is staying in the time capsule house. I am guessing — 60s. Any experts out there who can tell me for sure?

This is the built-in, pop-up griddle. And yes, folks, those are stainless steel (or aluminum?) 4″ tiles behind the stove.

This is the control panel. I am so seriously in love with this stove I cannot stand it.

Here is the vintage Chambers range upstairs. I am dating it 1952 — because that is when the kitchen went in.

Here is the porcelain cover folded down over the burners.

And here is the built-in stove. It’s all so wonderful, and there is still more to come from this house, I’ve barely made a dent.

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More photos from the weekend’s fabulous time capsule house estate sale — today focusing on floors and walls. To start — this typical 50s slate porch or foyer flooring. I adore this type of flooring, and it is still available today at a reasonable cost, because it’s so old-fashioned.

Yowza, here is the downstairs powder room. You know that I love it. It has very 70s wallpaper — on the walls, the closet doors and the ceiling. It’s kind of interesting to see the mod wallpaper and toilet paired with the classic American Standard 50s sink.

Grey Kentile asphalt tiles in an upstairs half bath. I love how the tile is ‘coved’ to work its way up into a baseboard. I am pretty sure this is Kentile because there was an old brochure in the kitchen. I noticed that even though the brochure called this “asphalt tile” it also mentioned “asbestos fillers” — so be cognizant of this issue in your own homes, readers. Get informed, consult with a professional, and decide how you will handle this tile.

More of the fabulous fabulous kitchen floor.

And more.

The upstairs kitchen again, with a better look at how the “two floors” meet. As I took this picture I was standing here:

The upstairs kitchen dining area. Notice the simple pull-shades on the windows, which themselves are classic picture windows flanked by casements.

A downstairs bedroom / reading room. Mod orange wallpaper with wood trimmed in harvest gold paint. The lighting fixture was all swirly orange-and-yellow-and-white. I have to dig further to see if any of my shots really captured it properly, drats.

Lovely wallpaper in an upstairs bedroom. The color — so pleasing. Perfect feng shui color for a bedroom.

Peek a boo. This featured flat panel mirrors in many, many places. I heard that a fancy New York decorator was involved. Yes, to flat panel mirrors! Outside the door on the right is a porch with gorgeous views. There were lots of porches everywhere, too.

Wallpapered ceiling in the big yellow tile bedroom. Fabulous detail. The graphic mix is perfect, too — the angularity of the tiles countered by the simple floral in the wallpaper. I have been reading my feng shui book again, closely. Trick to achieving harmony: Pairing opposites. As evidenced here.

This garden trellis wallpaper was used on the walls and ceiling of the main stairway.

Last but certainly not least – the blue and gray bathroom downstairs. Ha! Many of you are sick of hearing me say “wallpaper your bathroom walls.” Now I add to the litany: “…and the ceiling, too!” This wallpaper is particularly gorgeous – so light and airy but with just enough metallic gravitas to punctuate the gray tile and royal (navy?) blue trim. The tile, by the way, appears to be old…maybe a kind of rubber…that was later painted. Like, this is the original 50s bathroom – they just repainted the tile and added the wallpaper in the 70s. I guess I’d better show the floor, too:

More Kentile – this time, blue. More of those classique American Standard fixtures. And I must say, I love this color combo. It’s one I haven’t seen yet, and it’s quite pleasing.

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I spent not one — but two — days this weekend at a fabulous estate sale in Adams, Mass. I’m really busy with work right now, so don’t have a lot of time to post, but I wanted to start getting photos from the house (and my finds) online. This is a 1952 Geneva kitchen. It was the second, upstairs kitchen in the house. As far as I could tell, it was virtually unused – absolutely pristine.

This is a shot from the dining room, looking through the butler’s pantry toward the downstairs kitchen. You can see Geneva’s also in the butler’s pantry. But the downstairs kitchen was renovated in the 70s, so there were melamine cabinets there…plain white, nothing eye-popping. However, look at this fabulous vinyl-tile floor. Seriously wonderful.

Gold metallic-Asian inspired 70s wallpaper in the (Victorian) dining room. You know I love this paper. Beyond words.

The downstairs master bathroom / dressing room was expansive — a dream bathroom. . Notice the tiled-in nooks just above the vanity top – a very nice feature. That’s a big mirror looking at the closet opposite. The sinks are avocado. The floors are a small multicolored mosaic of white, avocado and harvest gold tiles. This bathroom was incredible.

On the walls were 4×4 harvest gold American Olean tiles, each designed to look like three smaller, longer, rectangular tiles (see image below, as well). Interestingly, I have about 5 big boxes of this very same tile that I picked up at the Re-Store last year. There were Hall-Mack Towelscopes on both ends of the vanity.  Just beyond the door on the right is the separate toilet — that’s a Danish Modern light fixture on the wall, I have some close ups coming. Oh, and to the left of the Towelscope … look up… and you can see the can lights kind of sticking out of the ceiling about an inch… satin chrome or maybe brushed aluminum finish. It was a wonderful detail. Oh yeah – wallpapered ceiling. If you have a house built after, say, 1965, I’d say you must think seriously about wallpapering your ceilings.

Oh — a gorgeous vintage Frigidaire in the upstairs kitchen.

It is going to take me like, five days, to get through all the photos from this house. And then I will start on WHAT I BOUGHT. I was so enthralled, I spent 3 hours at the house on Saturday, then I drove back on Sunday to go through it again. The house was an inspiration.

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A 73-page mid-century Lightolier catalog — now that is some serious eye-candy for whiling away a few hours on a sleepy Sunday. The awesome Gretchen has scanned this entire catalog and posted it as a set on Flickr. Go take a look, I promise it will blog your mind. Also be sure to check out Gretchen’s Eiclerific blog.

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I started out, all about the 50s. It wasn’t long before I totally adored the 60s. And now, I will do my best to suck you into the Best of the 70s vortex, right along with me. Despite the fact that I came of age — with all the associated horrors — during the 70s, I have to say that much of the design now appeals to me. Immensely. Today: A Palm Springs time capsule spotted by reader Frank. This first bedroom: Awesome.

This Palm Springs time capsule has the most wonderful decor. I especially love the three bedrooms shown on the listing. This  master bedroom has PERFECT feng shui.

The guest room bedroom: Totally typical tropical decor. My husband’s nana in Florida had a Pier I-style bedroom set just like this. I LOVE the quilted bedspreads, both the style and the fabric. Quilting — with piping around the edges, look close — is de rigueur all the way into the late 80s, I’d say. (This style of bedspread is not easy to find today, though… I need to hunt.) And look: The drapes are in the same fabric. Oh and I love the wallpaper, too. This is a fabulous bedroom. I know that I do not feature bedrooms enough on the blog – and will keep working at it.

A big thanks to Frank for spotting the time capsule and the real estate agent’s website.

And, thanks to real estate agent Miles Kuhn for giving me permission to feature these photos. See the entire listing here — it’s worth it, I promise.

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Could there have been a more creative period in American design history than 1974? Methinks not – as evidenced by the three interiors today… and by my memories of the era. And folks: This look is back with a vengeance, so no whining, go look for your old David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman posters and prepare a place for them.

The image above is a “garage getaway.” As in, refinish the garage for mom so she has some space of her own. Do you watch That 70s Show? Seriously, it is really funny and has wonderful interiors, too. All three images today are from the ever-ingenious interior designers at flooring manufacturer Armstrong World Industries.

This is “The Picnic Kitchen.” It’s adorable, don’t you think? It’s such a pleasant shade of red…and the white and gold go so nicely.

And downstairs — we have our own personal family Irish Pub. This is really truly impressive. Remember, readers, with old floors: Get informed regarding the environmental and safety issues that may be present – consult with a professional.

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MARY DELUXE of Welcome to DeluxeVille get the weekend super retro recon award for the photos of the wonderful time capsule open house. Dig this deep pink — salmon? coral? — bathroom with its original folding tub enclosure shower door and octagon-and-dot floor tile. And, oh my, yes, we LOVE the metallic wallpaper. Repeat after me: Yes, we do! Click over to Mary’s blog, and you’ll see that the vintage wallpaper — very 60s — covers the ceiling, too. And, there’s more on her blog, including another bathroom and vintage steel cabinets that have been stripped down to the metal for a stainless steel finish, something that we have not discussed or seen yet. Thank you, MaryDeluxe, for sharing, and for RetroRoadmap for sending the link to me on Twitter. Oh my, we are so socially networked.

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VINTAGE WALL HEATERS, often combined with exhaust fans, are fun to find in postwar homes. Here are three models I found in a catalog from late 1960. They are from Nutone and Rangaire — and oh my goodness, those ceiling models in particular are awesomely atomic, don’t you think?

I have not done research yet on companies today that replicate these appliances, which seem to have been not-uncommon. Nor do I know of repair places. As with all vintage appliances, I caution anyone dealing with these to know what you are working with. For example – asbestos in the insulation? Consult a pro.

Above: Note the groovy tile. And the cabinet doors look interesting, too.

More groovy tile.

Looks like a fancy chrome hubcap, don’t you think?

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YES, I AM OBSESSED with this sink. I have one — in white, although I also love this icy gray — in my garage on hold for my tiny, storage-challenged master bath; I am waiting to see if the retro decorating gods also send me the vanity. Meanwhile, I have finally learned its official name: It’s the Gracelynn Cabinet-Lavatory.  The toilet: The lovely Carlyle. You know it is one of my life goals to be able to name every midcentury toilet and sink on sight. This 1960 photo is from flickr friend Java1888, click the image to go straight to his photo stream. Another flickr friend, What Makes the Pie Shops Tick, has a 1965 American-Standard catalog posted where I found the name of this much-coveted sink, and more. Final note, I believe this sink was introduced in ‘59.

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Snaps to reader Shaun, who spotted this 1950 time capsule ranch home in Burbank. It looks like it got some Hollywood Regency style updating in the 60s — very groovy. I love the living room – a long, open-concept space properly anchored by a lovely L-shaped sofa. This layout — with the couch facing the window flanked by two chairs — is so typical, inviting, and livable. Lots of great stuff in this house. Like, I want that poker table with the tufted guy chairs in avocado naugahyde (left).  One thing I would do differently in the living room if this were my house: Take the pinch pleats and valence all the way to the ceiling to maximize the impression of height.

You know that I love wallpaper. And in the guest bath — novelty wallpaper is even better. Coincidentally (although nothing is coincidental between the retro decorating gods and me), I just bought a stash of vintage railroad themed wallpaper (left). Life is short, people, make an impression!

The bedroom (and other parts of the house) definitely have a Hollywood Regency feel. Appropriate if you live in Burbank, I guess. Thanks to real estate agent David Fogg for the permission to use a few photos of this wonderful house. See 21 more photos on the listing here.

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