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? Heck yeah there is more…
Retro-anthropologist Pam here. I spotted my 70th brand of vintage steel kitchen cabinets: Anemone Kitchen Furnishings, a lower price point brand from English Rose. You can read more about it, and see the complete 1955 ad, over on the Forum.
I went to an estate sale yesterday and in the basement gasped when I confronted this steel sink base — unlike any I’ve seen before. The deco-style design in the cabinet door is actually cut right into the outer layer of steel. I’ve identified 70 brands of steel kitchen cabinets from about 1935 onward. I wonder if this is a 71s? How exciting! Heck yeah there is more…
Since we’re on stoves this week, here’s one that I’ve been meaning to showcase for a while: The 39″ wide, two-oven Kenmore Elite range from Sears. Today, it’s priced at about $1,900 for gas, $1,800 for electric. That’s alotta dough, but not so much as the lovely Big Chills. And this stove has that nice, wide, retro stance. While I love vintage, I have to say there is one big thing that I do miss: A self-cleaning oven. This Kenmore, with its stainless steel finish, suits a retro renovation kitchen well. Pair it if you can with a “fitted” 24″ deep stainless steel fridge … edge your countertops with stainless steel… and go in any direction that you please with the cabinets, it would work out just fine, I think. Online at Sears.
For those of us living deprived of a self-cleaning oven, the Vermont Country Store offers a non-stick oven liner. You put it on the bottom of your oven to catch drips. You then can pull it out and wipe it clean. Guess I will have to get one of these. But, I will need to check, first, if it’s parakeet-friendly. Also, for who is going to make the pie. New this fall, $14.95 online at Vermont Country Store.
George sent in these photos of his retro renovation kitchen — he very ingeniously “built in” his wall oven by creating a brick veneer surround. I’ve definitely seen precedents for this idea, and am so pleased to see a reader do it. George shares his experience, and a bit of the step-by-step his contractor and mason used to get the job done. And we get to see more of the adjacent vintage GE stove — a dumpster-dive! –> Heck yeah there is more…
MIB NOS bathroom and kitchen items are still out there, readers. Reader Tami made a big score with this 1980 Mercury exhaust fan, which she found for $27 on craigslist. I asked her if she could tell us the whole story and some more about what’s going on in her kitchen: Heck yeah there is more…
I love this photo posted on our vintage steel kitchen cabinet Forum…and I fussed with it to make it look like an old polaroid. These are 1957 yellow GE cabinets, for sale in St. Louis. How many readers have steel kitchen cabinets — are installing them — or on the hunt?
A reader recently wrote to ask, “What color stain would be most appropriate or authentic for a mid-century oak floor?” Drats, I cannot find the email. And, I am not academically sure what the correct answer is. I would guess… a “natural” stain. Heck yeah there is more…
Welcome to RetroRenovation.com -- your daily dose of mid century renovation resources... design inspiration... fun finds... and a growing community of people all interested in restoring, preserving and cherishing their 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s homes.