From the category archives:
Vintage steel cabinets that have wood doors are starting to surface quite a bit lately. Erika recently purchased these vintage St. Charles’. Yowza, look at the brushed door steel trim and integrated cabinet pulls, these are absolutely gorgeous. Erika is in the midst of her kitchen renovation, but she pulled some cabinets out of the garage and into the house to take some photos to tantalize us. Heck yeah there is more…
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READERS GARTH AND MARTHA from Dallas recently went through the process of having their vintage Crosley metal kitchen cabinets repainted. In this post, Garth recounts the saga. And like most major retro renovation projects – it is indeed a saga…. It includes a drive from Dallas to Ohio and back to get the cabinets…schlepping to nearly half a dozen places to understand the best approach…and doing a lot of the moving and prep work. One thing that’s immediately clear about this kitchen, is that it’s not an exacting “period” re-creation. Garth and Martha have taken very vintage style cabinets and reworked them into a contemporary design — note the stainless steel counters, backsplash and appliances — and yowza, I want an orange Marmoleum floor! Not to mention is that a huge chocolate mousse cake in the corner? A wonderful kitchen, a beautiful job — that really suits the house. Garth and Martha, thanks so much for sharing your experience!
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VINTAGE EYE CANDY today — a complete catalog of steel kitchen cabinets from Montgomery Ward, circa 1941. You can see from this brochure, how much simpler kitchens were in the pre-war era. Of course, we were still in recovery from the Great Depression. Even a kitchen like this — which would seem so basic today — would have been immensely luxurious in 1941. Heck yeah there is more…
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WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE to sell your vintage steel kitchen cabinets? As a follow up to my post on how much your metal cabinets may be worth, here is an outline of where and how you can sell them.
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WHAT IS THE VALUE of a set of vintage steel kitchen cabinets? What price should you ask? This is one of the top questions that I receive on the blog. The answer is not definitive — but there are a number of factors to consider, including: Condition, Size of Set, Brand, and Location.
Read on for more, plus some pricing guidelines. And also see my post on how and where to seel your cabinets.
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Readers are constantly sending emails asking where to find cabinet pulls for vintage kitchen cabinets made by Youngstown, Geneva, and other makers. The answer: Not an easy one, I am afraid.
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Several readers have asked about color combo’s for their yellow kitchens, including what I thought of a turquoise/aquamarine floor. Hey – this works fine, don’t you think? Aquamarine actually has more yellow than blue in it. And how about the pink walls – including the butterfly wallpaper.
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Added yesterday to the Postwar Steel Kitchens Forum archives: This wonderful image of 1954 Murray steel kitchen cabinets, Scranton, PA. Notice the cabinet pulls – these seem to be the distinguishing characteristic, along with what appear to be protruding drawer units. Colors available in ‘54: Golden West Yellow, Ranch Green, Horizon Blue, Mist Gray, white, and stainless steel. Colored cabinet handles to match! Also, what a nifty cabinet-top oven!
And from their copy: “…Achieve new, colorful built-in glamour.” Note the emphasis on built-in…recall, until the postwar era, the idea of built-in, “fitted” kitchens was a magazine fantasty… in the wake of the war — crystallized into the American Dream Kitchen.
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