Retro Renovation

Pam (left) and Cindy
Yesterday I had my first live visit with a Retro Renovation reader and it was SO MUCH FUN! Cindy - of the 1963 bathroom including the foldaway scale and TP holder with ashtray - lives in Holyoke, about an hour away. She was on her way to NYC with a planned stop [...]

6 Comments »

Oh my gosh, Seattle Julie is THE woman of the week of the month of the year of infinity, for sending in this fabulous home-for-sale listing from the Alki area of Seattle. A biggie at 3,300 s.f., it was built in 1957 (peak year!) and this is the first time on the market in 47 [...]

6 Comments »

On Thursday we looked at Catherine’s 1948 Ohio kitchen and bathroom. She wants decorating ideas that will bring these firmly into the modern era and to complement her growing collection of Drexel and Heywood Wakefield furniture — along with her young family’s needs. With this post, I will start with the kitchen.
This house was built [...]

12 Comments »

Sweetheart Catherine wrote me a while ago, asking for ideas for her 1948 Ohio ranch. She tells me she is already a daily reader — hurray! — and she’s also the Catherine who scanned and sent us some great Drexel brochures. So she is a Giver not just a Taker!
Catherine is fortunate to have a [...]

9 Comments »

Troy - of the Drexel furniture and vintage airplane carry on’s - wants to talk about mid century houseplants. Perhaps some green-thumbed readers have some more thoughts?
Hey Pam,
Here in San Francisco there is a dearth of mid-century residential architecture. This lack, coupled with insane housing prices, is making my goal of finding that perfect little [...]

4 Comments »

Jeff writes:
Hi Pam,
I am selling my 1959 brick townhouse that comes with a nice pink bathroom. The problem is that not everyone loves pink baths. Do you have a link to any articles explaining that pink baths are coming back into style? I would like to print out some copies for potential [...]

2 Comments »

Arian sends these oh-so-fabulous photos of his Gainesville contemporary. I asked him to tell his retro renovation story. So read on after the photo:

I live in Gainesville Florida, there are several mid century modern houses here. The street I live on was developed in the early to mid fifties mainly by Architects and Architect students [...]

10 Comments »

Welcome to Courtney - a longtime reader but new commenter. She has some insight on Stef’s Asian inspired tables, along with some great photos of her own Ritts set - a classic, dusty-basement foraging find:
Hi Pam,
Thought I would comment on the reader question regarding her Asian inspired mid-century furniture pieces…
A few years ago I was [...]

3 Comments »

I have many many reader questions and stories in the queue - and now that the homepage is up and running again, I am going to get them out. First up - from Chicago Stefanie just this morning.
Hey Pam:
I’ve been reading your blog for about a month now and you’ve helped some people discover information [...]

1 Comment »

Welcome to Woonsocket Trish (way fun to write that), who has questions about her new/old two-family in the beautiful state of Rhode Island:
Hi Pam,
I found your website while I was searching the web trying to find out more about our kitchen. I absolutely love what you do and enjoy reading your blog. I was [...]

7 Comments »