Remember Bronwyn and Greg? They finished the updates to their 1950s kitchen earlier this year, and Bronwyn sent me photos. This is a compact, galley-style kitchen — a style that I know many readers share. Bronwyn and Greg kept the original cabinets and a rockin’ O’Keefe and Merritt stove that came with the place. They added new, retro-style appliances, Formica Skylark countertops, a backsplash and above — the Dishmaster M2000 faucet. In fact, it was Bronwyn who first told me about The Dishmaster.

This kitchen layout can be super-efficient in terms of saving steps and getting work done. I love the way the white repeats throughout the kitchen – from the stove to the fridge to the dishwasher to the sink and backsplash. When space is small, it’s probably smart to be conservative about the number of principal colors you use on “fixed” surfaces. You can always dial things up with accessories. This kitchen is cheerful — yet serene, too.

That stove is awesome. Bronwyn says that the countertop edging is a kind of composite material (not metal) that her contractor found. I think these options are out there — used for commercial applications. It certainly has the right look. How is it holding up, Bronwyn?

The light is “deco” rather than modern. I think that’s totally appropriate to the house — which has a “romantic revival” feel to it, as well. And — it’s always great to mix things up.

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DOGGIE BLOGGERS JAKE AND BARCLAY — that’s Jake at left, he’s an Eames/Saarinen fan — have a fun blog called The (dog) House. Their reader-owners recently added acrylic inserts to their “great wall of yellow” vintage kitchen cabinets, even more so if you have jigsaw and know how to use it. This is a low-cost, high-impact update for any kitchen.  They also added a dose of pistachio color, and check out the checkerboard Armstrong VCT floor…. Nicely done “grandma’s redux,” as they call it. But read on, this house is very interesting for at least two more reasons.

First of all, I think a lot of readers will identify with Jake and Barclay’s owners’ sense of style. It’s not “dogmatic” tee hee:

…We decided that mid-century, in our house, would mean anything from the 1930’s through the late 1960’s. We don’t want to be dogmatic about style, even mid-century style. So, while the major design theme for the house is generally mid-century, we add plenty of eclectic and oddball contemporary touches too. Ironic? Sure! Earnest, geeky, obsessive….even middle class? Sure; bring it on! (Read more on the blog’s About page, and cruise through the different rooms via their Categories.)

So, cruise around the site and you’ll see a lot of inspirational ideas not necessarily pigeon-holed into a single narrow collecting decade. Hey – “real” houses are like this, aren’t they? A mix of stuff you find yourself… and which came with the significant other…or from mom or grandma or Uncle Bill or… from the dumpster, even. It’s all a big, expressive, artistic life’s collage.

Second, I think that this house is really interesting because it was built during wartime, in 1943, as defense housing. From what I’ve researched so far, pretty much the only homes being built during the war were for defense workers. This was due to widespread materials shortages. Jake & Barclay’s house is in Richmond, California — the home base of the Kaiser shipyards. So, what a history! Relatedly, it was WWII itself that really catapulted the west coast in desirability as a place to live. I guess I’d stop short of saying it was a “backwater” til then, but maybe…just for farmer’s and movie people? Think “Grapes of Wrath.” But during WWII, there was massive industrial buildup with the defense industry, which needed to stage aircraft, ships, submarines and troops to fight in the Pacific theater. After the war, people stayed because there were jobs as industry converted from wartime to consumer production. The west coast has boomed ever since. And we got everlasting legacies like ranch houses and casual style living.

Jake and Barclay’s house is  2 bedrooms, 1 bath. Defense housing was, of course, quite basic. In terms of design, their  owners call the home a transitional “ranch bungalow.” Sounds right to me — forging a path between the old and the new.  Thank you,  Jake, Barclay, Rick and Sanh!

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SCATHING JANE IS READER OF THE YEAR — not because she has one of the most adventurous retro renovations under way (which she does), but because virtually each and every day she scours Craigslist nationwide and puts all kinds of neat stuff onto the Forum. Steel cabinets, yes, but also tons of Bathroom Stuff, in particular. She also sends me lots of great tips, directly – she’s become very studied in knowing when there’s something wicked good I need to see. Jan has recently sent me lots of photos of her projects and for today let’s look at: her bathroom.

It looks like Scathing Jane’s original grey bathroom is a really nice size, and had some great tile work. But, she wanted to reconfigure and raise the vanity, add a Cinderella tub, move some stuff around — and add pink to the mix. She found new/old tile-in sinks… new tile to mesh with the old… and that cool square tub. Here are a few of her comments:

• I ended up using American Universal ceramic tile SX-207 to fill in areas that had never been tiled due to built-ins.  I could not match the original greenish gray porcelain tile. Michael Montgomery (contractor) tried very hard to get me to just tile over the floor, but I wouldn’t budge.  I actually had a grey tile down in those areas, hated it, and had them rip it out.  Russ Carnes, Michael’s partner, did a beautiful job of getting the tile to work out.
• I did a put in and rip out on the walls also.  I had white going up around through/around the window originally, but didn’t like it.  At that point, we were trying to save the original greenish gray ceramic base tile.  Once I realized that could not be accomplished, the white came out and the new grey went in, replacing the original base tile with the new grey (American Olean). Again Russ did a great job, using spacers to get the tiles to line up correctly; old tile seems to be bigger.  I think I am getting away with the slightly wider space between tiles because of the color difference between the old and new.
• Nothing grouted yet.  I toyed with the idea of grey grout on the grey and pink on the new pink, but Russ recommended matching the old grout, “Jane, they didn’t use colored grout in the fifties.”, sealed that deal.
• I included an old shot of the BR.  The old vanity height was too low; toilet location put your knees in doorway.  Closets were removed so that vanity and toilet could be relocated.
• The sinks came from a great salvage yard in California — Ohmega Salvage General Store in Berkeley.  Reasonably priced for “retail”; shipping sucked, but was to be expected.  Well packed.
• The interesting thing about the sinks (FABULOUS sinks, shown at top in lead photo-pam) is that they are not exact clones.  It drove Michael (contractor) crazy until he realized that he would have to build the openings in the cabinet around each individual sink, not just use one as a template for both.  Russ did the detail work of tiling them in. (I asked Jane and she recalls they are American Standards.)

Finally, Jane wants to be sure to credit her long-suffering spouse.  “I found the house, but he said ‘This is the one!’  He provides muscle and moral support (and sometimes grumbling laced with choice adjectives.…)” she says. Don’t they all, Jane. Don’t they all.

More from Scathing Jane to come. Readers, many many of you have sent me photos and stories over the past few months. These are the most time-consuming for me to configure into posts and, yes, my life has been a three-ring circus. Life has not gotten any less circus-y, in fact, someone lit some hoops on fire. But sunshiney summer and lots of recent notes from readers have given me boundless energy and I am attacking all your emails like a demon…reader-blitz in progress. Happy Monday.

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Ruth’s Geneva kitchen, pink bathroom, peach bathroom, Tennessee granite fireplace — everything in her 1957 Michigan home — are just fantastic. I thought that I had more Geneva metal cabinets in one place than anyone, but Ruth sets a new record. And look at it: A curvacious island… marble counter topped baking area … original range exhaust fan … and more. Ruth did replace the kitchen floor – so you also can ogle her design and see if it might be right for you. I think it’s terrific – the scale is just right and the soft gray and blue have just the right ‘coolness’ to go with the lovely light blue Geneva cabinets.

Read on for Ruth’s story…16 photos…and a link to more on her flickr stream…And when you’re done be sure to check out her new blog: No Pattern Required.

 

Ruth writes:

Hi Pam!

I love your blog and it has been an unending source of information for us since we have purchased our new home. At the time we bought our 1950’s brick ranch, we didn’t know anything about mid-century modern, but we knew we loved the way it looked. Thanks for helping us to restore our house to the style it was meant to be.

The house was built in 1956-57 and was designed by the homeowners. They owned if for their whole lives, and we purchased it from their daughter.

The cabinet colors are original, and totally awesome. I almost lost it when we walked into the kitchen for the first time. It was really well thought out and is so wonderful, the amount of storage space is just amazing. My favorite cabinets are the round ones in the front of the island, they are so perfect for holding big equipment that takes up counter space and big serving pieces. And to the right of the island is a whole extra bank of cabinets that serves as a pantry with extra countertop work space. In front of the long window and next to the oven is a low marble slab that matches the marble windowsills. Underneath the slab is 9 drawers, including drawers for flour and sugar, and a built in breadbox.

I wish I could think of more things to tell you, but if I did everything would end with an exclamation point. We love it! It’s fantastic! Cooking is a breeze! Etc, etc.

{I ask about the new kitchen floor and Ruth explains:] We are using Armstrong Imperial Texture Standard Excelon in Blue Cloud and Soft Cool Gray.

The living room might be awhile, we have to put up our gold atomic wallpaper and figure out how to make pinch pleat drapes out of our existing drapes!

Oooh, you know that “gold atomic wallpaper” is going to keep my attention on your house, Ruth! In addition to the images above, Ruth has posted more photos on her flickr photostream. Many thanks for sharing, Ruth!

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My name is Carrie, I was not born (actually 1976) during the times you mainly discuss on your blog; however I have been very fond to all things vintage instead of new. I have been an addicted reader of your blog for more than three months now. It is nice to know there are so many others out there who are just it in awe of the 40s 50s and 60s especially mid century modern. I am very much inspired by all the things you have written about, and everyone else who contributes as well. Especially real estate time capsules.  I have just purchased a house where I live and it is a time capsule.  The house was build in 1964 and has only had one owner….

Carrie’s 1964 Storybook Ranch — aka “Cinderella Ranch” or rambler — is a real time capsule purchased from the original owner who never changed a thing – and Carrie pledges not to, either! Speckled laminate…knotty pine kitchen…original pinch pleats… Sears lights… just look at those awnings!  This house is terrific! 14 photos.

Carrie writes some more:

…I have also come to find out that my kitchen counter is formica and it is just BEAUTIFUL!!!! I am not changing a thing in the house everything will stay as it is. The only thing that I had to take out was the accordion shower door because it wouldn’t close and the plastic pieces just broke into pieces when I was trying to remove it carefully.  I will find a nice shower curtain to compliment the room and all its details.  The wood paneling, wallpaper murals, knotty pine cabinets are all staying and pretty much everything else.  I do however would like to get a new stove and refrigerator.  I have already found them – they will come in the fu+ture cause they are pretty expensive.

I live in a small town in the Central Valley of California “Los Banos”……it is about 2 hours south of Sacramento but only an hour north west of Fresno.  It is centrally located to everything, only an hour and half to Monterey or to Santa Cruz.  Also you can get to Yosemite National Park in 2 hours, its GREAT.

Here is a link to more photos — http://www.flickr.com/photos/31338833@N03/

Keep up the good work, Carrie.

Thank you, Carrie — you are an inspiration! Your house is happy it found you!

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We start year two of RetroRenovation.com with a perfect time capsule. But this one’s not for sale.

In fact, Russell is closing on it today (if all goes right)! Yoo haah, Russell, congratulations — fantastic house!

Don’t dare tear out the pink bathrooms, or those living room pinch pleats. And – the fish wallpaper – it’s AWESOME!

On the blog every day for four months, you say? We’ll, you are sucked in, for sure — and know that owning such a treasure now binds you to our retro renovator’s code starting with, “Don’t rip ANYTHING out ’til you are 100% positive you won’t regret it later!”   Evil laugh ha ha ha ha.

Will he get to keep the pink bathroom? Or will she win, and rip it out? (Horrors!) Plus – GREAT kitchen — read on!

Dear Pam,

My wife and I are moments away from being able to call this one owner custom time capsule our home. It was love at first sight, and this is coming from someone who at the time had no appreciation at all for mid-century ranches. So of course I had to go straight to the computer and do some homework. It didn’t take long to find your site. You have been a tremendous resource. I now fully understand how lucky I am to come across such a gem. Thank You. More about the house…

The house was built by the owner and his buddies who were all Seabees in WWII. The Seabees are the Construction Battalions of the United States Navy. They were all engineers and builders. The house is really a testament to their skillful hands. Everything about the house is solid and well built. They were obviously also very in tune with the trends in house architecture at the time. Radiant heating (check), coral skylark laminate (check), Nutone food center and hood (check), retractable fixture (check), pink bathroom (check), cedar closet (check). I could go on and on. My absolute favorite detail is the stylized attic vents that mimics the slope of the roof. In addition, according the owners son the wood siding is all original. Not one shake has ever been replaced! Apparently the wife hand dipped each and every one. WOW

…. Yes, I have been to your other site [SaveThePinkBathrooms.com]. I have been going to retrorenovation.com everyday for the last four months.  Some of the things I have noted about the bathroom include: The custom cabinets slope back just like in the kitchen, The wallpaper has a underwater theme with fish swimming around pink treasure chests, the built-in next to the toilet has magazine racks and also gives access to the bath plumbing, the wall tile continues between the closet and the door (what attention to detail), there is a cup/toothbrush/soap holder on both ends. Given the condition of the wallpaper I think it has to go. Saving the pink bathroom is a battle that has already started between my wife and I. Yep, the man wants to keep the pink, she thinks it has got to go. I’m making progress!

One more story…..Also attached a photo of the Nutone food center. When we first saw the house I asked the realtor what it was. He told me it was a built-in blender and that it still worked. When I laughed and said “but what about the parts” he opened a kitchen cabinet, and there were all the original parts and attachments including the manual/cookbook. All in perfect condition.

We are glad you like the house. Thank you again for your wonderful site and I will keep you updated on some of the renovations we plan to do in the coming months.

Russell

Thank you, Russell. You are so fortunate to have this home – and it sounds so fortunate to have you. I am for sure going to come visit soon!

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Look at these two – “Bronwyn the Bad Visualizer” and husband Greg. I have to say: They are even cuter than the vintage pinch pleats in the background. And you know how I feel about pinch pleats. Bronwyn wrote to me … in July (gulp, I’ve been overwhelmed.) She tells me it’s also taken this long for her to get a contractor on the line – so there’s still time for us to muddle up her brains with alternatives

Hi Pam,

Love your website (and your love for Stephen Colbert)!  My husband and I are in the midst of partially redoing a 1950’s kitchen in Culver City, California (i.e. Los Angeles).  We’ve got a tiny galley kitchen with the original wooden cabinets and also black and white checker floor tiles (which we are keeping).  We are definitely replacing the countertops with Formica Aqua boomerang.  My first question is about backsplash.  I notice  that in most of the 50’s photos, the kitchen sinks usually have windows over them and therefore just a 4-inch Formica backsplash.  Ours is up against a wall. We’d like to have a full backsplash because we are…well, splashy. We were thinking of putting in white tiles with some black accents to mimic the floor.   Do you think tile would make sense?  Would that pattern look appropriate next to the boomerang countertops?  We’re trying not to be “too busy” as the kitchen is rather small and we don’t want to look too circusy in there.  Any suggestions?  Also, our walls are currently painted aqua and I feel that that is going to be too much if we have the aqua counters.  Any good, simple, contrast ideas?  Thank you so much for any suggestions.

Most Sincerely,

Bronwyn the Bad Visualizer

Of course, I asked Bronwyn more information about her house – and of course, there are some great stories. So keep reading to get to that part.

Meanwhile, regarding the backsplash:

• I discussed this with my number-one go-to source on color issues — my husband David, who has a really great eye. He has made the point that given the small size of your kitchen….that it opens into the dining room where there is more going on… that you’ve got a beautiful new Fridge coming… and the fact that you will soon have aquamarine countertops – a simple, calming-force backsplash is advisable. I looked at it from every angle (literally) with him, and agree:
• Plain, satin finish, 4×4s – running horizontally (not in diamonds as now), will allow other more important aspects of your kitchen to shine.  We don’t think that even little splashes of black are advisable – the black wants to dominate too much.
• Regarding wall color, first keep the aqua that you have and see how that looks. But, for the wall, calming white might also be the best. You can add accent color in any number of ways via your accessories.

Gosh, no one will actually believe I am finally recommending: White!

So now, more from Bronwyn, who tells me that her name is Welsh, although she is not. Her father named her after a character in “How Green Was My Valley”:

Hi Pam,

I love our stove too!!  It is an O’Keefe & Merritt Stove. I believe that O’Keefe & Merritt was a big Los Angeles stove company, but alas is no more. I had the stove repaired recently and the repairman said to NEVER replace it–it would last forever.

We don’t have a pink bathroom–we have a funky green one!  If you’re up for it, I actually have some tile-related questions on the bathroom too, but since I don’t want to overwhelm you, I’ll hold back unless you’re really interested…:) [ Post to come - Pam]

Greg is a musician and works on scores for film and television.   I…currently work at a health policy organization in an editorial capacity (that’s the shortest way to describe my job).

As for why we like retro stuff….I was born that way. Greg and I love the detail and thought of past eras. People put so much more effort into architecture, clothing, hair…anything. We love that attention and love for detail that defines Americana.  Although I love the 50’s, my favorite is the 1930’s-40’s.

Also–Pam, I should have mentioned. We had those polka-dotted curtains in the dining room made when we moved in.  Not sure how “authentic” looking they really are, but we just thought the that the material was cute and went for it.

As for the story….we purchased the house in 2005.  Shirley had died in 2001 so there was one other owner Paula) before us.   Back in 2005, the LA housing market was hot and buyers practically had to beg to buy houses.   We looked at all available (10) houses on this side of LA  that day.    We were depressed because all of the houses in our price range were right on the side of the freeway or literally the last house before the end of the runway at the Santa Monica airport.    The only house that we liked (actually loved) was this one!     Paula had decorated the living room like a 1950’s beauty salon (I actually thought an old lady lived there and had a business). The house was on the market 5 days–never had an open house–and Paula had to move immediately.  She had 3 offers.  Right before we made our offer, Greg and I were sort of stalking the house and managed to “run into” Paula and introduced ourselves.   Long story short, we eventually got the house.  We found out from our agent that we didn’t even have the best offer, but Paula liked us because she knew we’d maintain the integrity of the house (i.e. not tear it down and build a McMansion)

Shirley didn’t get married until she was in her 50’s so she never had kids.   When she died, the neighbor sold the house and just left the dining room set with it.  It just fits the room and wouldn’t make sense anywhere else.   But since she has no children, Greg and I like to pretend that we are her kids!

When we moved in, we inherited the dining room set, the original blueprints, the original contract on the house (it’s about 10 pages), Shirley’s wedding album (Shirley married Ferdinand in the 1970’s), several slides with photos of the house, and Ferdinand’s extensive record album collection!    We don’t know much about “Ferd” other than he LOVED music.  We have his fantastic record collection–complete with his hand-typed index card filing system–of big band, Christmas music, Reader’s Digest albums, and Elvis! Last year for my birthday, Greg bought me a record player and we are known to push back the furniture and dance to Ferdinand and Shirley’s music.

Bronwyn

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