Maribeth’s kitchen points to another excellent idea for retro styled kitchen cabinets: Have your kitchen cabinets built out of MDF, then paint them. Heck yeah there is more…
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From the category archives:
cabinet recommendations
Oooooh, look at this great color chart – for Motorola television consoles in 1956. Click directly on the photo to get to the flickr photostream of What Makes the Pie Shops Tick – who has some additional images of vintage Motorola’s straight from the 1956 catalog. But back to the color chart — I liked this in particular, because it provides a good reference for paint, stain and finish options for anything wood – furniture, cabinetry, even paneling. Thanks, Pie Shop!
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I LOVE KNOTTY PINE KITCHENS. They were very popular in the postwar era — they fit with our interest in both western ranch and early American interiors… they were were affordable… and the material was available.
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ARMSTRONG — THE FLOORING COMPANY – also sells kitchen cabinets — and I really like the look of their Moderno line. These maple slab doors with a “slight radius” look like pretty good modern day proxies for classic vintage styles from the 50s and 60s. The finishes — including “natural” above and “toffee” and “cafe” in the gallery — are also quite nice. Replace those Euro-style cabinet pulls with… spotlight pulls from Rejuvenation… and you have a lovely and appropriate retro renovation kitchen. Heck yeah there is more…
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I WAS EXCITED TO SEE AN ALL-NEW DOOR STYLE from Omega/Dynasty: “The Lodge”. Who doesn’t want a cottage with a warm, cozy, rustic-style kitchen? Fortunately, there are a lot of great products today to pull one together. How about starting with:
- A refurbished vintage Magic Chef stove circa 1930, from The Good Time Stove Co. This is not inexpensive at $10,500 – but what an heirloom. I’m going to visit this company within the next few weeks – they are right up the road from me in Goshen, Mass.
- The new Lodge door is from Omega/Dynasty. Honestly, I’m not sure what kind of wood that is – at the home show in Oregon I saw “knotty cherry” available – it looked like this. Cherry is a harder, more durable wood than pine, which makes it better for kitchens. I like!
- But: Use a vintage Youngstown steel sink cabinet with porcelain-enamel-on-cast-iron drainboard sink for your sink. Yes – you can use JUST the steel sink base and surround it with cabinets – this is a great look! The vintage Youngstown sink cabinets (or similar brands) are arguably the easiest vintage steel cabinets yet to find today – as they were sold by the piece starting in the 40s. You see them stand-alone in ads from the period, surrounded by wood cabinets (presumably made by pa) just as I am suggesting.
- And I’ve suggested a bundle of other features and accessories to add color and interest:
Wonderful Scottish- plaid wallpaper from Thibaut… Adirondack-style barkcloth for drapes from Full Swing Textiles… a schoolhouse lighting shade from Rejuvenation… wrought iron cabinet pulls from Crown City Hardware… Marmoleum flooring… a Capel braided rug… laminate countertops … and more.
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Do you love prewar bungalows and cottages and want to update your kitchen in that charming style? I bumped into this wonderful Clarion farmhouse sink again – an exact reproduction of a stand-along pre-war sink. Oh my goodness, wouldn’t this look fabulous with Bradbury Sunnyside wallpaper… yellow straw linoleum from Armstrong… an Elmira Stove Works range… a vintage dinette… subway tiles… and… hmmm, how about oak Arts & Crafts style cabinets? The daydream of waking up to this sweet sweet kitchen makes me want a prewar bungalow!
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Midcentury kitchens started out “any color you want as long as it’s white” in the immediate postwar period, until about 1953. Why? Materials were still tight after the war – and the war in Korea stretched capacities, as well. In fact, did you know that there were actually rules that made it difficult to add a second bathroom? Something called Regulation X. I keep seeing reference to it — must do more research.
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Glamorlux Nancy in Fairfax, Virginia, is updating her 50s kitchen and has her inspiration photo all ready to go. The kitchen is already quite nice looking – the overall feel of the space is terrific, and the cabinets are well-made. Nancy’s chosen her countertop and has her hardware… but she still is pondering what color… or colors… to paint her original 50s cabinets…and the accent – or not – for her new Azrock Cortina floor tiles.
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- You can recreate this kitchen – easily. Image copyright AMC
And if you’re not into scouting for vintage items – don’t worry, you can do it with all-new products and materials available today.
Yes – if you love Betty’s knotty pine, 50s kitchen – you can recreate one for your own home.
The keys to this kitchen are the knotty pine cabinets, of course…the laminate countertop with metal edging…the cabinet hardware…and the wallpaper. Pull them together with new or vintage appliances – and a goodly number of knick knacks — and you’re in business. Supply your own lechery, heartache, intrigue and backstabbing. Here is the checklist:
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- Betty surely had a Dishmaster in her kitchen! You can still buy one! Click here
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- Betty surely had a Dishmaster in her kitchen! You can still buy one! Click here
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- Cabico is a major maker that offers knotty pine in a number of door styles – this one is NOT particularly retro. A “planked door” is very 50s/colonial, a slab with radius edge (like Betty’s) is more 60s/modern
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- The wrought iron-style cabinet hardware, in a burnished gold finish, is key. Amerock seems to have all the pieces you need.
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- I like this Nevamar laminate for a green 50s countertop – plus it has some texture going on. Betty’s counter appears to be a bluish grey. No good alternatives with texture for that, that I know of.
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- This Formica Atomic Turf in green also appears to be a great alternative for the countertops. You can see how we’re heading straight for: 60s avocado green!
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- Arborite Palermo Cielo countertop lamimate – I added this one recently – a great choice and in a nice, faux linoleum pattern
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- One place left in the USA to find the three pieces of stainless steel edging you will need to complete your countertops. The prop guy at MM chose another style, which is okay, but this New York Metal stuff is my surefire favorite for a retro renovation kitchen.
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- Waverly wallpaper – there are lots of plaids to choose from. Of course, if you use blue laminate – you will use wallpaper that picks up blue rather than green
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- In the long shot of Don and Betty’s kitchen, they appear to have sheet lineoleum. But for 50s flooring replicated today, my top choices is Azrock Cortina in Autumn Haze – it has the perfect streaky 50s look. Polish it up.
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- To get yellow appliances – you’re going to have to search for vintage. If you don’t have the patience, white is perfectly acceptable for 50s retro renovations. So is stainless. This Northstar fridge would look right at home in Betty’s kitchen reborn.
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- Get the sink vintage — or Kohler has one just like this including with the Hootie ring.
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- GE cooktop
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- This Frigidaire wall oven actually has quite a retro feel
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- Betty has lots of tchotchkes, like this spice rack — now the decorating really starts getting fun!
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- You can recreate this kitchen – easily! Image copyright AMC
Here are links to previous posts with more detailed information about a number of these resources:
- Knotty pine cabinets from Cabico
- Amerock pulls and cabinet hardware
- Green nevamar marrakesh laminate for the countertop
- Stainless steel edging three piece installation
- Streaky floor tiles from Azrock
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Anne and Gary’s 1959 ranch home in Oregon is a wonderful work in progress and I love checking in with their blog as they settle into their new old classic and continue to make it their own. Currently, they are planning a kitchen update. When I saw their existing kitchen and its layout, I thought immediately that it had “Mondrian” potential. Mondrian = color blocks, like the famous artist. This style had a following from about 1955-1965.
Anne is sort of interested…and I know she’s already working a plan. Whether she goes with this look or not, it’s fun to know about this kitchen design.
Even so – isn’t Anne and Gary’s kitchen great already? I love the picture windows, the brick wall, the way the wall cabinets look built-in and the overall open concept.
Here is some additional Mondrian inspiration:
Notice how the oven is used as one of the color blocks:
While this is a woodtone kitchen, a bit of Mondrian is added with the combo of pain and shelving:
A 1966 color combo with a colonial (!) feel:
And even – today’s modern fashion, in this snazzy Yves St. Laurent number!
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