Retro Renovation » 1940s

Octagon and dot floor tiles in 13 color combinations

pam kueber — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:00:30 +0000

OCTAGON FLOOR TILES are great for pre-war homes — 1920s, 1930s, 1940s — and then some colorways came around again in the 1970s. This tile style can work, I think, for either a vintage style bathroom or kitchen floor, and that dot gives you a nice flourish of color to play with.

Nemo Tile has the largest selection that I’ve seen yet of colors for the main tile and the dot. Looks like they have a glossy and satin white, a glossy and satin black, and for that 70s house, shades of beige and shades of gray. What a hoot, I love ‘em. For dots: white, black, navy, cobalt, red, burgundy, green and the 70s beige and gray. Nemo Tile octagon ceramic floor tile.

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Vintage 1941 Montgomery Ward metal kitchen cabinets

pam kueber — Sat, 09 May 2009 08:00:16 +0000

VINTAGE EYE CANDY today — a complete catalog of steel kitchen cabinets from Montgomery Ward, circa 1941. You can see from this brochure, how much simpler kitchens were in the pre-war era. Of course, we were still in recovery from the Great Depression. Even a kitchen like this — which would seem so basic today — would have been immensely luxurious in 1941.

Here we see again, how an average housewife of the era may only have been able to afford and purchase the sink cabinet alone, with its porcelain-enamel-on-cast-iron drainboard sink-top… While the catalog is presumably about the full range of cabinets, it is principally marketing the “Modern Cabinet Sink.” This would be the first piece a homemaker would buy — she would then integrate this into her farmhouse kitchen – which may have had homemade wood cabinets or not, or into her apartment kitchen to replace the old wall-hung kitchen sink. She could buy the rest of the pieces later. What a move forward: Built-ins, made in a material, steel, that was “vermin-free.” Oh, also notice the stainless steel drainboard sink on p. 4 – a look you can replicate with Elkay aluminum drainboard sinks today.

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Create a sweet pre-war bungalow kitchen

pam kueber — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 08:00:03 +0000

Do you love prewar bungalows and cottages and want to update your kitchen in that charming style? I bumped into this wonderful Clarion farmhouse sink again – an exact reproduction of a stand-along pre-war sink. Oh my goodness, wouldn’t this look fabulous with Bradbury Sunnyside wallpaper… yellow straw linoleum from Armstrong… an Elmira Stove Works range… a vintage dinette… subway tiles… and… hmmm, how about oak Arts & Crafts style cabinets? The daydream of waking up to this sweet sweet kitchen makes me want a prewar bungalow!

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Kohler colors from the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s

pam kueber — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:00:51 +0000

What colors to use in your 40s 50s 60s or even 70s home? This timeline of Kohler colors is really quite wonderful. It provides a snapshot of why certain colors were common during the wartime years and immediately thereafter… on into the 50s when true exuberance emerged… the 60s with its pop and hippie influences…and the 70s when harvest gold and avocada reigned supreme! The whole postwar period – defined as about 1946 to 1963 was an era when America was really finding its own way from a design perspective. Color does not just “happen” – it’s part of a complex story of social, economic, and demographic factors all interwoven. History. Just like our kitchens and bathrooms and lights — all of it!

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Related posts:

1. Mamie Eisenhower: Unwitting creator of “Mamie Pink”
2. Wilsonart’s snapshot history of 50s laminate including colors
3. Wilsonart’s snapshot history of 60s laminate including colors
4. Complete archive of our midcentury paint color posts
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Special thanks to Scathing Jane for reminding me about this Kohler timeline! She is ALL OVER this era, I am really impressed – and grateful for her continuing help!

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