Escape from NY: I found this set of 1963 Geneva aquamarine kitchen cabinets at a cooking school once run by nuns in New York City. We removed the cabinets and brought them back to my house in Lenox, Mass. The contractor and DH thought I was nuts -- but it turned out great.
Welcome to Retro Renovation — your daily dose of mid century renovation resources… design inspiration… fun finds… and a growing community of people all interested in cherishing their postwar 40s, 50s 60s and 70s homes.
We have fun here. Photo credit: Erica Berger
I’m Pam Kueber. This is my kitchen — and my blog. Doing all the research to renovate my 1951 colonial-ranch house in Lenox, Mass., is what got me into this online escapade. In the course of my endless hunt to find products and design ideas sympathetic to my house’s undeniable mid-century bones, I got…. obsessed… I learned a lot… and I figured, why not share all my finds with other folks undertaking the same journey. And now – you have arrived!
This blog has lots about *modest, mid-century, middle-class* homes — ranches, Capes, Colonials, split-levels, contemporaries, bungalows. I also write about sleek *mid-century modern homes*… I love them all, but admit that I tend to worry more about the modest homes (themselves full of charm) being at more serious risk of being gutted, with regrets to follow later. Interestingly, both mid-century modern and mid-century modest homes shared many of the same technological features and design cues (like pink bathrooms) inside. For further info see my Mid-Century Modest Manifesto and my micro-site SaveThePinkBathrooms.com.
What do we gab about here? Well: The design aesthetic of retro interiors, exteriors, culture, people, steel kitchen cabinets, colors, pink kitchens, pink bathrooms, hudee rings, pecky cypress, illustrations with people playing accordians, wallpaper, pinch pleat curtains, mint-in-box items — and readers’ fabulous jewel box houses, too. Get ready to be sucked into the retro vortex.
Hey, see me talkin’ about it all on this cool etsy.com video:
And here I am on TV at the Southern Spring Home & Garden Show in Charlotte:
If you need ideas — or just love the era — be sure to check in for daily updates on new products to recreate that retro style…design tips…vintage finds…history…and more. To email me, click here.
Meanwhile, if you want to read more about my kitchen saga:
- I find my cabinets – at a cooking school formerly run by nuns in NYC
- The kitchen reno starts — lots of pics of the old kitchen here
- The kitchen comes together #1
- The kitchen comes together #2
- I sell my leftover cabinets to a man from Milwaukee
- Bo Sullivan of Rejuvenation identifies my light
Important for anyone undertaking a renovation: We all care very much about managing environmental and safety issues properly, so when undertaking your restoration project, be sure to familiarize yourself with and use recommended best practices. For example, the EPA hosts a website on lead paint in the home and a website on asbestos in the home. Consult professionals regarding these materials, and also about the proper disposal of debris, etc.
Press Coverage
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
- Knoxville News - Maribeth’s 1970s retro renovation
- Finalist and 4th place winner in Apartment Therapy’s annual contest to name the best home design blog of 2009
June 2009
April 2009
March 2009
Dec. 3, 2008
Sept. 29, 2008
March 2008
Fall 2007
Pam’s kitchen in Cranbrook Academy video about Eero Saarinen
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November 8, 2007 — News Release, PRWeb
More Homeowners Choosing ‘Retro Renovations’ — New Website Caters Exclusively to Increasing Number of Mid-century Remodels
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Thanks and Credits: Many thanks to the many folks who have helped, and continue to help, make this blog possible. Including:
- Margaret Roach, for all your support. AwayToGarden.com, Margaret Roach Media.
- Suzy Massey, for design support. PhoenixMassey Studio.
- Brad and Scott for keeping the online bogeybots at bay. WebDevStudios.
- Erica Berger, for making me look good. Erica Berger Photography.
- Kit Latham, for helping me get into the dot.com world. KitLatham.com.
I have white steel geneva cabinets in my 1958 cape house that I want to sell. Anyone interested? Pretty big kitchen – I have pics I can send
Mel – no buying, selling or valuing on the main blog — head on over to the Forum to buy or sell vintage steel kitchen cabinets and other kitchen / bathroom stuff. Good luck.
looking for the model # for the Pink stove as I have one in gold but needs work. Can you help
hi laura, not sure what you are asking for, but regardless, i don’t have model numbers of things shown on the blog, generally. good luck.
I have a stove just like the one you have in the photo. Do you have anybrochures or owners manuals. I love your site. It is my lastest addition.
Sorry, Joyce, I do not have the manual.
Would any reader have more info on the stove. I dont know what year it is. I know it originally came with lots of attachments. Do you have them? Any info from anyone would be wonderful. This site is such a great resource.
Joyce, why don’t you post this question on the Forum rather than the main blog. If someone has something to share with you, there is no uploading here on the main blog but they can do it on the Forum. Good luck.
Thanks Pam for helping me to interact with this site. Keep up the great work.
You’re welcome, Joyce. Another place to watch is ebay – put in all the relevant search terms you can think of. Sometimes these kinds of brochures do come up, and they often go for a song, you may just have to wait a bit…The other thing I meant to tell you is that I tend to think there is a date somewhere on your stove – in the back, maybe not the whole “19xx” just the xx somewhere…
Hi Pam, this is my first time on your site. I am looking for a drainboard double sink. My house is a 1957 ranch. I’ve had this type of sink in another home and love it! Then i thought about my stove, it is the original Hotpoint push button electric. The problem I have is that the rings around the burner openings are black with grime. I’ve tried oven cleaner and other cleaners, with no luck. I can’t get the rings off to replace them as the burners are hardwired in, not the kind you can just unplug. Any suggestions?
Thank you
love your site.
Karin
Anyone interested in two vintage stainless 1954 Thermador wall ovens? I just took them out of our home. Working condition but the broiler coils are broke.
tony: all buying/selling needs to go onto the Forum: http://retrorenovation.com/forum. good luck.
tony- saw your post on thermador wall ovens – but did not see a follow up post in the forums as Pam instructed. (Sorry to drag this on Pam, just found your site while researching kitchen exhaust fans, and found this post on the wall oven – need a replacement there too!)
Thanks!
I just found your blog through the Apartment Therapy Homie Awards, and I have to tell you, I literally FLIPPED OUT when I saw you live in Lenox. My husband and I live in Dalton and I work in Pittsfield. You are the first blog I have found from someone out in our neck of the woods. I love your kitchen and plan to check back often.
Hi PAM!. coool website.. i feel bad now about remodeling my pink bathroom!.. i do have a question.. i am trying to purchase the square tile recessed ceiling lights you mention on your site, but can NOT find where to get them.. can you help?
gina in michigan
Gina, I have a post on these. I updated the post with a link to the Halo product guide where (at least now) you can find these fixtures. They are no longer on the website, as far as I can tell. All lighting resources are archived on the Product Guide Lighting Page.
Hi, glad i found your web site We are across the pond in horsham sussex uk. Still busy bringing back the feel of the 60′s to our 68.
Looking for flooring that is easy maintenance a large area to cover.
Hope to speak to you on facebook. Sharon.
I have a Citation Philco wall oven as shown in your picture. The baking oven did go out first then the regular oven. For years I used the broiler; it went out last month. Do you know if there are replacement parts to be had?
Ingrid, I don’t have any detailed info on this blog to answer this question. However, there is some discussion about this subject in a post somewhere about vintage stoves, you’re gonna have to use the Search bar….good luck.
An absolutely stunning kitchen. Must be a pleasure to work in. I’m getting sick of all those sanitized kitchens that look more like a dispensary at a hospital. Well done!!
I lived in an apartment building in Halifax, Nova Scotia about 15 years ago, and all the kitchens had those metal cabinets, but they had been painted beige. Even beige, they were still cool.
Pam, my husband and I just purchaced an early 1950′s home. Most of house is original however it needs work. I am facinated with keeping it vintage, just need to replace the stuff. Funny about your kitchen cab. because our home use to be a nun convent!!! I LOVE your kitchen and had ideas like it I would like to go green not eco green but color green. Any ideas or thoughts would be helpful. We now live in a 900 sq foot home, we are moving to a 5400 sq ft home so I need loads of decorating ideas. love your site!
Hey — I hope this is the appropriate place to ask this question…. I’m new!
Somewhere in the dusty corners of my brain, I remember seeing the most fabulous countertops or flooring. (Brain is so dusty, I don’t remember which it was.)
It was in a relative’s kitchen. This surface was white (I think) but had the most wonderful sparkly little bits of multi-colored confetti type glitter in it! So fun! The little sparkly squares were a little larger than regular craft-store glitter.
Am I totally making this up in my head? Or did such a material exist? Anyone???
Thanks!
yyes, it existed. look under countertops for info
I looked under countertops and just saw the sprinkled gold glitter. This stuff had many colors in one countertop surface — with bigger chunks of the glitter. (And as I said, it may have been a floor.)
I remember being fascinated with it as a kid — I never got tired of looking at it.
Pam, I know you like a good St Charles cabinet story, so here’s one form my neck of the woods.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6415785&id=60139543764
woah. all new? or vintage cabinets + new other stuff?
Hey Pam love your site i thought i had a 1950 ish house but the hardwear looks like the 60 from what i saw no your list of things. all of the cabent doors are from when the house was bulit the people befroe us did some revamping its a ranch style with lots and lots of space. anyway im glad somone else besides me loves the time in history.
Hi Pam,
I have the exact same fan in my kitchen and bathroom in my 1958 home. I have been looking for the original cover plate for it, for the one in the bathroom. Previous owners threw the original away and put a cheap plastic one over the vent. Did you find yours when doing the restoration?
Leslie, my kitchen exhaust fan is actually new. However, Nutone no longer makes the brushed steel cover. Try R&I Distribution, maybe they have one for you. Otherwise, use the navigation on the blog to get to Kitchens/Accessories (I think) for my other posts on kitchen exhaust fans.
Pam, thanks for your site, I love it! Two years ago, I purchased a post-war (1951) traditional home when I relocated to a new city. This is my third home renovation in the past two decades. The first two were a sinch for me, but I’m having the hardest time with this house. First of all, I couldn’t bring myself to “modernize” this house with today’s styles because the house and neighborhood just seem to want to stay true to the period. (I actually found the original bill of sale with a breakdown of costs and the cancelled check from the home’s initial purchase.) Fortunately the original bathroom fixtures are all in pristine condition. The original kitchen cabinets are also still intact., though the doors and counter-tops were updated in the past. My trouble is that I just don’t know this period very well. Unfortunately those “I Love Lucy” re-runs are in black and white, so I don’t have a good sense of the colors of the period. It’s the colors and details that I’m struggling with. I don’t want to be too literal with the design (can’t do big florals), but I definitely want it to have that period feel. Thanks for the information and the more pictures the better.
Hello, we just bought a house and we have the 1959 American Standard sink and vanity. the thing is, my husband wants to “modernize” the bathroom and I really like the sink but it’s cracked (outlined like the size of a quarter). If I were to professionally reglaze it will it lose it’s true beauty? Thank you for your time.