Retro Renovation

Zeinab found this really cool off-the-floor dishwasher about Sleeping Bee Alice’s retro dream. From looking at the Fagor website, I think the d/w also can be installed as part of this neat $1,199 cooking center.

And there’s a cool cooktop center, too. Not sure whether it really fits my retro rubric, but I like the concept.
Zeinab [...]

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Speaking of Sleeping Bee Alice, she sent along this comment and photo recently:
I wanted to pass along this graphic that is the bane of my kitchen decorating planning… I love this dishwasher and want one!!
Sorry, Alice, the only solution I know of…is to build an existing dishwasher in this way. Either jimmy something using pantry [...]

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This kitchen makes me very happy. It would be very nice in a classic western storybook ranch. Want to create one of your very own? Read on:

Some of my very favorite cabinets, from Omega. Finish choice: Autumn Birch:

You can get cabinet pulls just like this from Amerock, but in black:

Several wallpapers are from the usual [...]

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Remember the Sunbeam appliance center (pictured at the bottom) that I bought myself for my birthday?
Well, I recently saw this ad for another one, from Westinghouse. Isn’t it just spectacular?
Why these never caught on, I don’t quite understand. Probably the expense…But oh, as a design statement - well worth the investment!
DESIGN TIP: Notice the nice [...]

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This is so cool, what showpiece for your retro renovation kitchen! …Another kitchen fixture that has the look of a car dashboard, like vintage stoves.
Note, one virtually identical to this, sold for over $100 within the last two weeks. Sounds expensive, perhaps - but have you checked the price of NEW kitchen sink faucets [...]

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Sleeping Bee Alice writes:
Hello, I am a novice retrorenovator…and am loving your website.
My husband and I are leaving our modern, brand-spanking new customized kitchen for a charming 1950’s yellow Geneva kitchen in a home that we have fallen in love with. I’m having trouble thinking through the “enhancement” of the kitchen…the cabinets are in [...]

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OMG gorgeous - look at all these pink Beauty Queen metal kitchen cabinets! In Missouri, now on the Postwar Steel Forum - top nav bar. Also see the great Hoffman’s - new brand! - from Toronto.

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In working with one reader to solve some kitchen issues, I came across this company — Summit, out of New York metro - that makes several appliances that have a real retro feel, at prices that are not so horrific as most “specialty” items like this.
For example, their 36″ range has that second storage drawer [...]

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In response to Friday’s post on the patriotic 40s kitchen, Josh writes:

I’m in love with that sink. Do they still make any like that?
Thanks for the question, Josh. Unfortunately, not that I know of. But, I have some recommendations:
These porcelain-enamel-on-cast-iron or steel drainboard sinks were UBIQUITOUS in the postwar period, so you [...]

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Hot item! You know how much I love these!

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