Retro Renovation

Well, these are smoking hot. A few months ago I spoke to a guy in Texas who had a whole barnfull of new-old-stock steel cabinet pieces for sale. The pieces have finally made their way to ebay. There look to be both Republic and GE pieces — great “cabinettes” - in a variety of [...]

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For anyone into 50s steel kitchens, this vignette for a home builders’ show is priceless. The Republic steel kitchen is to die for.
Moreover, this short 1955 movie really underscores the cultural dynamic going on in the postwar period — a push from all sides for Americans to keep the market economy moving by building new [...]

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I’ve been working hard on the Postwar Steel kitchen cabinet forum - loading it up so when people go to search - they find this one first. If you register (sorry - required - or spammers destroy your site), then you can simply to to “View Today’s Posts” along the “Welcome” bar just above Salesman [...]

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I launched a new feature on the blog a couple of days ago. It’s along the top navigation bar — the new Postwar Steel forum.
Take a look, and you will see that it’s entirely focused on vintage steel kitchen cabinets: Buyers, sellers, owners & curious fans alike.
So far, I’ve identified 30+ different brands of steel [...]

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Palm Springs Stephan told us how to repaint our vintage steel kitchen cabinets via the powder coating method at the local industrial place. A beautiful finish - but yes, will cost some money.
As an alternative, Kay points us to the highly labor-intensive — but very inexpensive — method that has stormed through the car reno [...]

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Vintage steel kitchen cabinets are my #1 passion, even ahead of vintage stoves. These things are awesome. Get some of your own if you don’t already. In celebration of the large set now on ebay: A showcase of some gorgeous 1957 St. Charles Kitchens. 1957 was a great year — so deep in the heart [...]

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We watched Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House last night.
A great movie from 1948 with deep social underpinnings — the mass relocation of Americans from city to suburbs — but just as importantly, Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and Melvin Douglas as funny and wonderful as ever.
Check out the Colonial architecture and interiors (and the Woodard patio [...]

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“Vintage_Kitchen” recently wrote to ask about repainting her 60s white steel kitchen cabinets. You can read my answer regarding technique - but I also promised this post with suggestions on paint colors for your mid century kitchen.
Note: Click on photos to enlarge for better color scrutiny!
From all the advertising material that I own, it appears [...]

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Affirming that all of us retro renovators are on to something, here’s a photo from a recent newsletter from the organization Historic New England, formerly known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA).
Turns out, they are continuing to build their 20th Century collection, and this 50s aquamarine Westinghouse kitchen came into [...]

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Mom says I’ve been doing too many bathroom sink posts lately, so it’s back to kitchens and other cool parts of the house! This kitchen is pretty wild - and I’ll do a flashback on it sometime soon - but what I really want to point out is the great George Nelson “bubble lamp” to [...]

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