Retro Renovation

I feel like I’ve been ignoring “traditional” this past while, so today we look at a tried, true and ever-lasting classic: Chintz. Also known as polished cotton, chintz is lightweight yet still has come stiffness - great “hand”. It takes prints very well and is beloved for florals like cabbage roses.

If you are handy with the sewing machine, or have some extra dough re mi, chintz makes awesome draperies (the ‘hand’ makes them hang well) as well as the best summer slipcovers that feel oh-so-nice and cool against bare skin. Slipcovers were a midcentury (and earlier) staple in a society where furniture was not so disposable. I bought, like 23 yards for a $3/yard last year at a fabulous outlet store in Springfield, Mass. My chintz is a truly outrageous 60s style print, and while I haven’t got to the slipcover for my vintage rumpus room sectional, the dream lives.

Iconic designers like Sister Parish were famous for their love of chintzes. Check out a book on her at your local library - you can learn a lot from these interiors.

xxx

Tags: upholstery

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Alexa was looking to dress up her dad’s 1951 bathroom, and I suggested she play up the black trim with a fancy black toilet seat. Well, here it is - the Black Pearlescent Kathyrn toilet seat from Kohler. Be sure to get the nickel hinges (chrome is also fine if that’s available.) The one caveat is that it is for elongated toilets only. If you have a round-front, all that I can find so far is plastic (not even wood). I’ll keep searching on that front.

One other thing - this is expensive, the list is around $250 as I recall, although you can find it cheaper online.

Also - it’s available in White Pearlescent. I have to say, if I had an elongated toilet, I would definitely get this, it is wonderful. And - I have seen precedent for it in vintage advertising.

Tags: 40s bathroom, 50s bathroom

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Look at this gorgeous pink bathroom that Samantha spotted on Design to Inspire!

If you love vintage pink bathrooms - be sure to join our Campaign to Save the Pink Bathrooms. Click here to sign our petition and be sure to include your pink reveries!

Oh…and see how the black toilet seat picks up the black tile details so beautifully? Thanks, Samantha!

Tags: Add new tag

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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 years. Not too many words needed here, pardon me while I sell all my worldly belongings and my children so that I can go live in this one.

I’m crazy for cupolas.

Yowza basement.

I am weak at the knees by now.

Ok, so the divider thingy is very strange.

Even the foyer is breathtaking.

Had enough? Sorry, here is the entire 24-photo set! Mercy buckets, Julie, you rock!

Tags: time capsule

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Long-time readers will recall the fun we had several months ago wringing our hands and beating our chests over the very visible destruction of pink bathrooms on TV renovation shows.

Now, I’ve launched a second site - to serve as a rallying point to call attention to how wonderful pink bathrooms really are.

Click here to take a look… and to join  in a little “campaign” to Save the Pink Bathrooms. There is a spot on the site to make a “Comment” pledging your moral support - and while you’re there, by sharing your pink bathroom memories. Thank you!

Tags: save the pink bathrooms

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My dad lives in an apartment building in Brooklyn that opened on April 1, 1951. I assume the bathroom is original. The bathroom floor tile is a (true) gray and white in a simple checkerboard pattern. The wall tile is a funky purplish-gray field with a black bullnose border. It doesn’t really go with the floor.

We’re going to renovate the bathroom, and I’d like to be able to keep at least the wall tile, but the color is impossible to coordinate. It’s not gray and it’s not purple. Have you seen this color before? What should I do with the walls and floor if I keep it?

Thanks so much,
Alexa in Brooklyn

Thanks for the photos, Alexa - what a gorgeous gorgeous color that tile is! In the palettes of the late 40s and early 50s you do see some dusty lavenders, but I have to admit you are the first reader to send in a bathroom this color. Here are some thoughts:

• This bathroom definitely has a deco feel to me. For additional tiles, if you need replacements, the only place I know to send you is B&W Tile in California.
• And I must say: Unless that floor is destroyed, please keep it! The photo does not show it in great detail - but from what I can see, it’s gorgeous as well! And I think you can work with the grey. It is neutral.
• Put a black toilet seat and lid on that toilet to play up the black trim. The best you can buy, like, really substantial. I need to do some research on this…It’s bizarre to even think about “good” toilet seats, but I think there are truly deluxe ones out there worth the investment - like, with marbling and stuff. This will be fun. I think: Kohler…Barbara Baker or some high-style designer. Wicked expensive.
• Finally, how about vintage wallpaper to perk that bathroom right up: I had to work hard to find the possibility below for you, it’s from Hannah’s. Can your dad handle a floral? If you’re doing wallpaper, you want to be careful regarding the scale - you’ve got 4″ tiles creating one kind of pattern, and then those smaller floor tiles creating their own thing, too. A wallpaper must complement but not compete. I really kind of like this floral, although if you can hunt some more and find something more deco, maybe with some metallic shine, that might be the very best. As I recall, Secondhand Rose is right there in Manhattan - maybe you could go hunt through their stocks? Yowza, what fun. I’d also recommend Bradbury & Bradbury - but nothing in purple family there.
• Oh and accessories: Put in a brushed steel-style hamper, the wicker is clashing, it’s jumping out too much. Can you find one built-in side towel bar to fit the sink-from a salvage place perhaps? That way, the hand towels could move there. (Do you understand this suggestion?) For shower curtain, towels and rug: I would tend to think darkish grey, you want these to recede. But no need to make a final decision on this, until the other elements are completed.

Alexa, let us know how it all turns out! This is a really beautiful bathroom - the quality is amazing. What a wonderful daughter you are!

Tags: 40s bathroom, 50s bathroom, Retro bathroom

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Following up on the FAQ regarding Heywood-Wakefield refinishing, Palm Springs Stephan shares his wealth of experience on the issue. Thank you, Stephan!

Heywood Wakefield (HW) furniture has become almost synonymous with Mid Century Modern design, largely because of its simple lines and lack of “fussiness.” The pieces are usually solid birch (no particle board and no veneers) and finished in shades of blond. The 1950s were all about blond woods! And the best part for Retro Reno perfectionists is that they ordinarily dated their pieces using an old fashioned rubber date stamp, so owners will know exactly when their pieces were made. They also normally have the stain color name stamped next to the date, usually Wheat (pale blond) or Champagne (blond with faint pink tones), and more rarely Platinum. HW was mass produced and relatively inexpensive, so it sold well and many pieces are still around. At any one time, there are usually a hundred or so listed on eBay, for example. For a concise history of the Heywood Wakefield Company, see http://www.springdalefurnishings.com/concierge/what_is_heywood-wakefield.html.

Refinishing Heywood Wakefield (HW) furniture is really not that difficult, despite the claims to the contrary made by the very few pros who do it. It just requires patience, some time, and lots of elbow grease. Still, I have not found any good full-time refinishers on the West Coast, despite an extensive search. Even here in the Palm Springs area, where HW is still very common and the market for it is super-hot, there are no good refinishers. Most furniture restorers seem to want to refinish HW using simple clear varnish, but that entirely destroys the collector value of the piece, as well as the authenticity. And some commit the cardinal sin of refinishing it with non-blond stains such as oak and cherry. One might as well chop the piece up for firewood!

I have found only one qualified refinisher west of the Mississippi River who uses the authentic HW process: Boomerang Modern in Denver, Colorado (http://www.boomerangmodern.com/). I used to stand in their showroom and drool when I lived in Denver! It’s thanks to Boomerang that I became an HW fanatic. In Southern California, the only place I know of is Woody’s in the city of Orange, but they lean toward retail selling rather than refinishing. When they do refinish pieces, they prefer to do so with clear varnish … and they charge a huge price. Most of the authentic-process refinishers seem to be on the east coast, such as Strictly Hey-Wake in Maryland (http://www.strictlyheywake.com/).

The original HW process used an opacifier that made the final finish somewhat milky in appearance. The result is a marked muting of the visible wood grain. The process was apparently a multi-step one, but at least one specialist retailer has reduced it to an almost foolproof simple process. EBay seller Needful_Useful_Things custom mixes and sells pre-opacified varnish by the quart through his eBay store (http://stores.ebay.com/Heywood-Wakefield-Wheat-Champagne_W0QQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247 ). He also includes with every shipment a very detailed set of instructions for how to properly strip, sand, and revarnish HW furniture. His prices are high, at $45 per quart plus $12 shipping, but that is a heck of a lot cheaper than ruining the piece with clear or dark varnishes! And FAR cheaper than what it would cost to get a piece shipped to a distant professional HW refinisher, get it finished, and get it shipped back. I have purchased from Needful and used innumerable quarts of his Champagne varnish with consistently excellent results. I even custom designed and built a walk-in closet that is wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling birch and poplar wall paneling and shelving plus a built-in chest of drawers. The entire room was done with Needful’s Champagne varnish and I am thrilled with the result. If you follow his written instructions meticulously and do not try to rush the process, you cannot fail. Professional refinishers like Boomerang and Strictly HW use dust-free painting booths and compressed-air-powered paint sprayers that produce an absolutely perfect finish (and they are understandably critical of DIYers), but I am of the firm opinion that - for the money involved - most competent DIYers can do a near-perfect job for a mere fraction of the cost.

To retain the full collector value of HW furniture, follow the Antiques Roadshow dictum and do not alter the original finish. If you must refinish and you have oodles of money, ship your piece(s) to Boomerang Modern or Strictly Hey-Wake. If you are on a budget (as most of us are!), can use sandpaper, and have access to a large clean space in which to work, do it yourself! It is an extremely satisfying feeling to look at a nice piece of funrtiure and be able to say, “I did that!”

Tags: Heywood Wakefield, Palm Springs Stephan, vintage heywood wakefield

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We know in our heart of hearts it’s true: These really are more comfy. See the listing in Last Day ebay, above right.

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We see vintage, mint-in-box Hall-Mack bathroom hardware on ebay every once and a while, and these are great to snap up if you are anticipating a retro renovation or just want shiny new chrome.

I haven’t seen one of these available yet, though: A recessed rack for toilet paper, magazines and “cigarettes, matches and knick knacks”!

You can be sure if I do, I will be very evil, not feature it on this site, and snap it up. Sorry ’bout that.

Tags: Hallmack

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I’m looking for green 1950’s tile. Do you have a contact for Olympia Tile? — Karen

Bad news, friends, but the Maple Leaf tile sold by Olympia Tile has been discontinued. As you will recall, I really liked some of their colors. I am told, that we may still be able to get the tile until all inventories are depleted. Meanwhile - I definitely recommend you try B&W Tile, and if you are in the U.K, this British Tile. I don’t know if they export to the U.S. but I sure do love their colors right down to the PINK and the MINT, which is perfect vintage 50s 60s! Hey Fiona and Clare - you have better sources for tile than we do!

Finally, there are some good retro colors now available from Dal-Tile and American Olean, and possibly U.S. Ceramic (I do not have their latest board.) Read the Tile Category for all updates on this most critical subject!

Tags: 50s tile, tile

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