Retro Renovation» steel kitchens

The 3 most common questions: On tile, on plumbing fixtures, on steel kitchen cabinets

pam kueber — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 09:58:51 +0000

The three most common questions I get via email, and sometimes in random places on the blog are:

Where can I find replacement bathroom tile?
Where can I sell, or buy, vintage sinks, toilets, tubs — and how about pricing?
Where can I sell, or buy, vintage steel kitchen cabinets — and how about pricing?

These are all already answered within the blog, but here’s a round-up on where to find these answers… and answers to common questions, in general.

.
1. Where can I find replacement bathroom tile?

Answer: My best resource at this point is World of Tile in Springfield, New Jersey. I have multiple stories on World of Tile — read them all by clicking here.
.

It’s also possible you may find vintage tile at the Re-Store… and if you’re looking for new tile in retro colors, there are lots of options today. See my navigation — Bathrooms / Tile category for all my stories.

2. Where can I sell, or buy, vintage sinks, toilets, tubs — and how about pricing?

Answer: Check out this 2009 story: Where to find vintage bathroom sinks, tubs and toilets. This story was written with buyers in mind — but use the advice in reverse if you are a seller.
.

On pricing: I give no advice and don’t plan to. It’s what the market will bear. You have to do your own research based on your own market dynamics.

3. Where can I sell, or buy, vintage steel kitchen cabinets — and how about pricing?

This one also is answered in a comprehensive story I did in 2009: How and where to sell your vintage metal kitchen cabinets. This one was written with sellers in mind, use it in reverse if you are a buyer.

.

On pricing: Reader 52PostnBeam did extensive analysis on sales through 2011 and arrived at some per-cabinet averages for the selling prices of vintage steel kitchen cabinets.

Are you looking for an answer?

I try to keep most common questions in the FAQ.
Please check it out.

Also use the navigation at the top — there’s tons of research and experience captured there.

Rose Red 50s steel kitchen — and a tile you can get, today Look at how PINK this kitchen from 1956 is! It...
Our 73rd brand of vintage steel kitchen cabinets: Ace Over on the Forum, 52PostnBeam aka just discovered a new...
My Forum for steel kitchen cabinets from 40s 50s 60s & beyond I launched a new feature on the blog a couple...

1957 St. Charles kitchen cabinets — steel boxes and drawers, wood fronts

pam kueber — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 09:29:26 +0000

Here is something we do not see too often: Vintage St. Charles steel kitchen cabinets — with doors and drawer fronts in wood. I would call the doorstyle ‘French Provincial.’ These cabinets popped up for sale on our Forum. Looks like a big set — according to the ad, they were installed in 1957 an 18′ x 13′ kitchen in Wheaton, Illinois. Price is $1,500. If you’re interested, also ask about the appliances. Do I spy a Thermador cooktop, too??

For posterity, I am also capturing the content of the craiglist ad:

This is your chance to purchase vintage St. Charles kitchen cabinets, so coveted for today’s retro kitchens. These beautiful cabinets have cherry doors with almond metal interiors and currently fill an 18X13 space. Built in 1957, the cabinets reveal the innovation of St. Charles with 7 pull-out drawers, 4 Lazy Susan corner units, and spice carousels. This was state-of-the-art for the 1950′! In total, there are 9 uppers and lower cabinets plus a spacious island.

The cherry is in excellent condition, with only minor evidence of wear. The drawers and pull-outs all function with ease, with some minor spots where rust appears… They really are gorgeous together and would like to keep them that way.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/for/2756084928.html

St. Charles steel kitchen cabinets: A look at their line circa 1957 Vintage steel kitchen cabinets are my #1 passion, even ahead...
A fun 1957 kitchen, showing another way to update wood cabinets Professor Pam here. So don’t you all feel like BETTER...
30 photos of vintage Lyon metal kitchen cabinets – and some history on St. Charles kitchens — over on Postwar Steel Forum Be sure to see the 28 photos of a great...

Vintage GE steel kitchen cabinets: Random fading problem

pam kueber — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 08:30:53 +0000

Vintage geeks will find this interesting, I think: Did you know that vintage GE steel kitchen cabinets have this problem of fading randomly, over time, with different cabinet pieces prone to fading to different shades of pink, blue, yellow, green …. whatever? I spotted this set of pink GEs, in Ohio, on craigslistand posted it to our Forum. It shows the problem pretty clearly. Do we have any readers who worked at GE … or readers who are experts at painting steel… that might be able to explain or hypothesize about why this occurs? To be sure, the problem makes GE’s hard to collect if you are hoping to save money and/or sweat equity by not having to repaint.

Our 70th brand of vintage steel kitchen cabinets: Anemone Kitchen Furnishings Retro-anthropologist Pam here. I spotted my 70th brand of vintage...
The average price of premium vintage steel kitchen cabinets in 2010: $39 per cabinet, according to 52PostnBeam analysis What was the average price of a premium vintage steel...
Our 73rd brand of vintage steel kitchen cabinets: Ace Over on the Forum, 52PostnBeam aka just discovered a new...