Welcome to Retro Renovation® — your regular dose of mid century and vintage renovation and decorating resources… design inspiration… fun finds… and an archive of stories from an enthusiastic community of people all interested in cherishing their mid century and older homes.
Our focus here, first and foremost, is to help you find the products and sources you need to help remodel, renovate and decorate your house in authentic mid century style. We feature some sources for pre-war and post-modern homes as well. We’re here to help you get the job done — doing the research so you don’t have to.
Note: After 15 years — 3,000 stories! — this site has entered a new stage. Today, my focus is working to keep existing resource stories up to date so the site remains a solid reference. And, I want to continue to improve the site as an historical reference around things like steel kitchen cabinets, a longtime passion. To make time, I don’t blog as much, and comments are closed.
How can you make the most of the blog and its archive of 3,000+ stories about resources & inspiration:
- Dive into all our categories (in the navigation along the top of the page) and you will see, we have lots of research into all the products you might need to remodel and decorate. Along the way, we have lotsa other fun, too — always showing great gratitude and respect for the houses — and their owners — who came before us.
- And, important for anyone taking on an older home:
Renovating, remodeling and living in our midcentury and vintage homes can be gratifying, but please always remember, there can be safety and environmental hazards in the surfaces, layers, materials and products in our homes. Anything old, even New Old Stock, that you buy also may have issues. We all care very much about managing safety and environmental issues properly, so when moving into a home … when undertaking cleaning, repair, remodeling or restoration projects … or when adding old materials (salvaged, used, new old stock, etc.)… be sure to get with your own properly licensed professionals to determine what you are dealing with/working with so that you can make informed decisions how to handle, become familiar with and use recommended best practices, and also learn about the proper disposal of debris, etc. Read more: See our Be Safe / Renovate Safe page … the EPA hosts a website on lead paint in the home and a website on asbestos in the home, etc. Consult professionals regarding these materials, and also about the proper disposal of debris, etc.
<– I’m Pam Kueber. That’s me with my crazy wallpaper office … that’s my kitchen above — and this my blog, oh I luv it so. Doing all the research to find products to backdate 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’s covered 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.
More info:
Above: As featured in the New York Times — yup, read all about our escapades in this 2,200-word feature story that appeared on p.1 of the Home & Garden section on Aug. 18, 2011.
Fast forward 10 years and another New York Times story called me “…the godmother of midcentury kitchens and baths, steering a new generation of homeowners to the four-inch square tiles that dominated homes for decades.” teehee
Oh, and here’s me showing off one of my office remodel. My friend Denise and I pasted about 200 squares of vintage wallpaper on the four walls, creating a crazy patchwork quilt (note: there is method in this madness) of 18 different designs of wallpaper. We celebrated by getting all Love American Style Gothic with the photo.
Hey, see me talkin’ about Mid Century Modest in this etsy.com video:
Press Coverage
2018 … I kinda stopped keeping track
2017
- Wall Street Journal: Big story on time capsule houses. I am the “subject matter expert.”
- Washington Post: Hey, we got a shout out!
2015-2016…
- HGTV.com: In Defense of Pink Bathrooms — A Q&A with me
- Chronicle TV: Big story on my house and my kitchen and the Retro Renovation Revolution!
- Washington Post: The TV-watching public’s long love affair with tray tables
- The Times of London: Something is happening in smart bathrooms — Designers say pink is back after a long absence.
- WFMJ-TV: Effort to Bring Back 1948 Youngstown steel kitchen cabinets
- Ummm: I got out of the habit of updating press coverage of the blog…. I’ll work on it again at some point… maybe.
2014
- New York Times: “When Blogging Becomes a Slog” (but not for me — I am the wise old owl)
- Huffington Post: The 10 Best Renovation Websites for Living out your Dream Home Fantasies.
- Der Standard newspaper profiled the blog. It was in German, so I’m not sure what it said. But I asked on Facebook, and a reader told me it said that, “You are now as loved as David Hasselhof in Germany.”
2013
- Fixing to Die: Retro Renovation® and a reader remodel featured on the blog inspired the setting and story line for Elaine Viets’ “restoration comedy” murder mystery, Fixing to Die. The book debuted #9 on the Barnes & Noble paperback list.
- Yankee Magazine: Six-page story in Sept./Oct. issue — 1.7 million readers! — about the blog and my house. “Fifties and Fabulous.”
- Globe and Mail: Loud and proud 1970s chalet
- Columbus Post-Dispatch: Back to the bones: Restoring ’50s homes
- California Home + Design: Celebrating Midcentury Modest
2012
- Ft. Lauderdale Magazine: Midcentury Modern Architecture Makes a Comeback
- Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Vintage Vibe
- Hamilton (Ont.) Spectator: Kitchens Cook Down Memory Lane
- msn.com: What we can learn from 1970s homess
- The Daily Mail (London) online: Give your Home the Mad Men Look! How one blogger inspires retro renovating tips.
- Blog Aids in Renovation of ‘Mid-Century Modest’ Homes. Nationally syndicated story appeared in newspapers including:
- Akron Beacon Journal
- Seattle Times
- Miami Herald
- Detroit Free Press (twice!)
- Palm Springs Desert Sun
- San Antonio Express
- Baltimore Sun
- Kansas City Star
- Toledo Blade
- Eau Claire Leader-Telegram
- Ogden (UT) Standard-Examiner
- canada.com
- …and more.
Summer 2011
- New York Times 2,200-word profile about Retro Renovation and its readers: Restoring the Retro House
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch — Preserve the Pink (bathroom)
- msn.com — New Respect for the Ranch House
- Portland (Oregon) Monthly Magazine Online — Sofa Shopping
- The Oregonian/Oregon Live — The Retro Queen
Feb 2011
Jan 2011
- Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Bathrooms Still In the Pink
- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Name that Home Fad
December 2010
October 2010
- AP interviews Pam for story, Used Building Materials a Hit Among Home Owners, that runs in news outlets nationwide.
August 2010
- Arizona Daily Star: That 50s Tile with Style
- Home is a Four-Letter Word: Penny Pinching with the Stars
- Home is a Four-Letter Word: Lovin’ the 50s
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
- Etsy.com video profile.
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
- Eugene, Oregon Register-Guard on retro revival and home show talks
- Our tour of the St. Louis 1995 time capsule home covered by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Desert Living Magazine
Dec. 3, 2008
- Pam talks with the National Kitchen & Bath Association about retro kitchen design popularity
Sept. 29, 2008
March 2008
- Pam’s kitchen on Apartment Therapy
Winter 2008
Fall 2007
November 8, 2007 — News Release, PRWeb
Thanks and Credits: Many thanks to the many folks who have helped, and continue to help, make this blog possible. Including:
- The rockin’ readers who help feed the blog day in and day out with their tips and projects!
- All the advertisers who make doing this work fulltime possible.
- Margaret Roach, for all your support. AwayToGarden.com, Margaret Roach Media.
- Brad and all the Webdev and Maintainn team, 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.
- Suzy Massey, for design support. PhoenixMassey Studio.
- WordPress, for a great blogging platform that has made it possible for so many new voices to find their communities. wordpress.com
Danno says
Pam,
So, can we get the Formica in “linen” in white & green ? Even something with specs would be fine and vintage.
Thanks for the Blog…I was looking for retro formica….
Meridith says
Pam,
Your site is fab and very timely for me, as we are wrapping up our love affair with our first home (a sweet 1950 cottage in what used to be the suburbs of Dallas) and embarking on another ( a 1963 built home just a few blocks from our first house).
Unfortunately, neither home survived the 1980s intact, but we have done and will do our best to restore them to their original charm and glory (complete with matching the sea-foam tile in the kitchen in our first cottage).
Thanks for all the inspiration!
pam kueber says
yay, Meridith, and welcome! be sure to take lots of before and after photos — there’s nothing we love more than reader stories!
Rebecca says
I am in love and heartbroken; in love with this website and heart broken that I found it after we renovoted our kitchen and only bathroom. Both looked like the images from this blog.
What’s done is done! How can I redeem myself? How do I retro new renovations? Please forgive me.
We left our pink bathroom (even the mounted soapdish) and relocated to our story and a half cottage five years ago (amoungst a sea of McMansions). We are the second owner. I love this little 1944, 1700 sq ft house.
Cole says
Pam,
This is the best website ever! I have always loved the 1950’s-60’s. I always thought it would be cool to restore a 1950’s house back to its original glory. I honestly did not think it was possible! But with all the accurate and authentic examles you have on this website, I know that it is quite possible and maybe not as difficult as I once thought. Through your website I also found out that my house had a 1950s kitchen. Now Im trying to get my parents to agree to restore it instead of change it. We even had a pull down light. Your website will also get people involved. Im only 18 and I plan to have a lifetime of saving retro houses.
pam kueber says
Welcome, Cole. Yay on you for starting so young!!!!
Courtney K says
Hello, I have a powder pink, 1961Frigidare electric stove!! I “rescued” it from a friends apartment & works GREAT , burners(4) & oven!! It is apartment size 20″ wide!! The only negative is 2 tiny chips on enamel on front left corner, otherwise, GREAT!! It was hard wired into original place. My husband is a electrician & is installing a certified stove cord & plug.
I had to buy it, plus the new cord. If anyone is interested, I would like to get $200.00 for it. A friend said it would be great in a “Airstream” trailer or cabin!! If there is any interest, I will post pictures!!
pam kueber says
Hi Courtney — no buying/selling here on the main blog, but you can post this on our Forum: https://retrorenovation.com/forum/ Good luck.
Courtney K says
So Sorry!! New person, will do, thank you!! LOVE LOVE this site!!
George Loera says
Hi there. Being a contractor in the residential (Houston,TX) remodeling business I run across many pink and other pastel color bathrooms and kitchens. My clients want them out but mostly because they are nearly impossible to decorate. My method in remodeling is to salvage as much as I can for resale or donation whatever the case may be. I have a contract signed on a 1962 pink bathroom with pink tub, lavatory, and toilet. All the holders are pink as well. I am going to attempt to remove the lavatory with the tile countertop intact as well as the backsplash. The tiles from this era are incredibly brittle and razor sharp so it will be a challenge. The tub is cast iron so it is staying but will be refinished in white. So that someone who is looking to retromod their house, how can I best let someone know of these items for sale? I have pictures.
I really enjoy looking over your site. Thanks!!
pam kueber says
Hi George. Here on this blog we challenge the notion that “they are nearly impossible to decorate.” See my other little blog: Save The Pink Bathrooms. As far as selling: Craigslist is the best way to go; the market is local for anything really heavy. Thanks for salvaging.
George Loera says
Thanks for quick response. I have already sent your site over to my most recent client for ideas.
Liz says
Hi Pam,
We have a 1950’s Beauty Queen kitchen in on e of our rentals !
Original formica counters! How should I clean and shine them up?
Thanks! Liz
pam kueber says
Clean up which, Liz — the cabinets or the countertops? Note, there are posts on both…
gail ott says
not to savvy at this but i am wondering where are the shops and are they online that i can find this great light fixtures
pam kueber says
ebay. please know, though, that the old pulldown lights are apparently not to code. consult with a professional before installing them in your home….
David says
Pam, what’s not to code about them? I’ve got one up in my dining room, but since the wiring is from the 20’s I’m not worried too much…
pam kueber says
I have been told that thos pull-up/pull-down spools are no longer to code…. Consult with a pro….
pamela esters says
Hi Pam. I am looking to do my kitchen diner style and I have many ideas but not quite sure how to pull them off. I have a lot of coca cola stuff but i am not necssarily married to the coke theme. I really like the colors of your kitchen in the photo. i like colors that pop. you did an awesome job. If you can please help!!!
pam kueber says
hi pamela and welcome. check the navigation — Kitchens category. TONS of resources there!!!
Scott says
Where do you find people who can work on these systems?
Bob says
I have been able to acquire a GE 1958 wall hanging refrigerator (salmon/pink) that was in the home I grew up in. It is by total accident that I can now get this same unit 40 years since I last saw it.. It is in like new condition and hanging on a wall in a church basement. I’m not sure just how this comes off the wall and I don’t want to risk damaging it. I’ve heard it’s rather heavy, so I’m sure I’ll need to find a few more stong bodies to help. Any ideas on how to safely take this down? I’m anxious to show my children and grandchildren what a unique piece this is. When I showed a picture of this to our local appliance dealers, they didn’t know what it even was.
David says
Bob,
I thought I saw installation diagrams somewhere on the web. There should be a bracket mounted on the wall which you will have to lift the fridge off of and then remove it if you plan on reinstalling it somewhere. Congrats on your cool piece of kitchen equipment.