Retro Accents
Kitchens – Countertops

These are sure a blast from the past: Glass combination trivets and cutting boards that are installed directly into your kitchen countertop. Yes: with metal rim aka Hudee ring. I think that these built-in cutting boards were all the rage in the 1970s, because there was one in our 1975 countertop, to the left of the sink.

Following up on Monday’s exciting post about the Arpa USA palette of solid-color laminates, let’s take a look at how to use this material to recreate this 1959 Ma Bell kitchen. It would be oh-so-easy! Elements include: Laminate cabinetry using Arpa’s “Jardin” colorway. Cabinet pulls: Rejuvenation’s new midcentury “sharp arch”, in satin chrome Countertops are [...]

This week I heard from Jeff, who uses vintage speckled laminate for his banjo finger boards. I just think that is so cool… you know I am part Kentuckian. P.S. Can someone tell me how to get the accent mark over the ‘e’, as in lame’ … as I am dying to write lame’ laminate?

Many thanks to Whitney, who just tipped me that Wilsonart has introduced 11 new colors of boomerang laminate. There now are a total of 14 colorways — the most of any manufacturer. I am quite liking the “butterscotch” above — looks like you could use this in a kitchen with yellow kitchen cabinets. There is [...]

Update: Almost all of these designs are now discontinued. See my up-to-date stories on all retro laminates here: Kitchen/Countertops Category. UPDATE (Oct 2011): Click over to –> this story to get an update on all three sources for boomerang laminate. The countertops I removed from the two vanities in my 1951 bathrooms were [...]








































