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? Heck yeah there is more…
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Posts tagged as:
50s kitchen
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? Heck yeah there is more…
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This kitchen from a vintage Caloric advertisement makes me very happy. And, I recently discovered that my wonderful graphic designer Suzy says her mom had one almost exactly like it! To be sure, this planked door-style is one of my all time favorites! It would be very nice in a classic western storybook ranch. Want to create one of your very own? Read on:
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| From Metal kitchen cabinets |
I recently found this image of 10 original paint colors for St. Charles steel kitchen cabinets. I believe that these are circa 1957.
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Glamorlux Nancy in Fairfax, Virginia, is updating her 50s kitchen and has her inspiration photo all ready to go. The kitchen is already quite nice looking – the overall feel of the space is terrific, and the cabinets are well-made. Nancy’s chosen her countertop and has her hardware… but she still is pondering what color… or colors… to paint her original 50s cabinets…and the accent – or not – for her new Azrock Cortina floor tiles.
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Look at these two – “Bronwyn the Bad Visualizer” and husband Greg. I have to say: They are even cuter than the vintage pinch pleats in the background. And you know how I feel about pinch pleats. Bronwyn wrote to me … in July (gulp, I’ve been overwhelmed.) She tells me it’s also taken this long for her to get a contractor on the line – so there’s still time for us to muddle up her brains with alternatives Heck yeah there is more…
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Ooooh. Look at this – a St. Charles kitchen with wood fronts! As longtime readers know, part of the history of steel kitchen cabinets was their fight vs. wood cabinets. Toward the end … as steel started to lose out… you started to see the mash up of wood and steel. In particular – wood doors, with their painting and repair flexibiity, onto the strong steel bases.
Click thru to read on, and see 12 photos in all —>
In this kitchen, note the cool Railite countertops – Jennifer, I would be forever indebted if you could send us a clearer photo, we are all diagnosed vintage voyeurs — and the Revco refrigerator-freezer looks quite terrific as well. All for sale now, retro renovators.
Pam,
I’ve attached a PDF of the cabinet documentation, which was done in 1956. Basically the kitchen has:
- a built in Tappan EoLV-10 oven (stainless steel) – it’s the first thing that caught my eye! That’s cool – very retro… someone would like that… I said…
- a built in Tappan ERF cooktop (SS)
- a Revco fridge/freezer – like a soft brown colorCountertops – Railite – white with like a gold pattern on it
Stainless steel sink – fan above stovetop.
Cabinets – see the attached for the actual count of units. The fronts are wood, the inside is like a harvest gold color. The lady had covered each shelf with contact paper, so it came off and the insides are in really good condition. The outsides of most of the cabinets look really good. There are a few cabinet fronts with some wear.
I suppose I could try ebay or craigs list, but then I came across your site. You have great taste. I’m not retro, but am artsy and appreciate good style – you’ve got it!!
This 92 year lady kept everything. It’s like walking back into time…. Her daughter who sold it to us said that her mother got this state of the art kitchen in the 50’s… It’s held up well.
Jennifer Whiteford
Rockford, IL – about 90 miles northwest of ChicagoThank you so much!
If any readers are interested, contact Jennifer directly at cjjwhiteford@mac.com. Good luck and thanks for working with us to find this kitchen a happy retro home, Jennifer.
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For anyone with a large single window in their 50s kitchen — and a pink, yellow or blue-green color scheme — this 72″ pinch pleat valance would be PERFECT.
- Put it on a rod that wraps around your horizontal 2″ blinds, or stretches in front of them from cabinet-to-cabinet or cubby-to-cubby.
This valance is a real steal at $15!
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Longtime readers will recall my fixation with 50s and 60s electric plug-in devices to organize all the wonderful wife-saving appliances on the top of your kitchen countertop. Remember these previous posts?:
This time around — a whole cabinet! Yummy! Anyone have one of these, I wanna see it live! Image: Vintage Sunbeam.
Source: American Home, April 1959.
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- You can recreate this kitchen – easily. Image copyright AMC
And if you’re not into scouting for vintage items – don’t worry, you can do it with all-new products and materials available today.
Yes – if you love Betty’s knotty pine, 50s kitchen – you can recreate one for your own home.
The keys to this kitchen are the knotty pine cabinets, of course…the laminate countertop with metal edging…the cabinet hardware…and the wallpaper. Pull them together with new or vintage appliances – and a goodly number of knick knacks — and you’re in business. Supply your own lechery, heartache, intrigue and backstabbing. Here is the checklist:
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- Betty surely had a Dishmaster in her kitchen! You can still buy one! Click here
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- Betty surely had a Dishmaster in her kitchen! You can still buy one! Click here
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- Cabico is a major maker that offers knotty pine in a number of door styles – this one is NOT particularly retro. A “planked door” is very 50s/colonial, a slab with radius edge (like Betty’s) is more 60s/modern
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- The wrought iron-style cabinet hardware, in a burnished gold finish, is key. Amerock seems to have all the pieces you need.
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- I like this Nevamar laminate for a green 50s countertop – plus it has some texture going on. Betty’s counter appears to be a bluish grey. No good alternatives with texture for that, that I know of.
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- This Formica Atomic Turf in green also appears to be a great alternative for the countertops. You can see how we’re heading straight for: 60s avocado green!
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- Arborite Palermo Cielo countertop lamimate – I added this one recently – a great choice and in a nice, faux linoleum pattern
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- One place left in the USA to find the three pieces of stainless steel edging you will need to complete your countertops. The prop guy at MM chose another style, which is okay, but this New York Metal stuff is my surefire favorite for a retro renovation kitchen.
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- Waverly wallpaper – there are lots of plaids to choose from. Of course, if you use blue laminate – you will use wallpaper that picks up blue rather than green
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- In the long shot of Don and Betty’s kitchen, they appear to have sheet lineoleum. But for 50s flooring replicated today, my top choices is Azrock Cortina in Autumn Haze – it has the perfect streaky 50s look. Polish it up.
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- To get yellow appliances – you’re going to have to search for vintage. If you don’t have the patience, white is perfectly acceptable for 50s retro renovations. So is stainless. This Northstar fridge would look right at home in Betty’s kitchen reborn.
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- Get the sink vintage — or Kohler has one just like this including with the Hootie ring.
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- GE cooktop
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- This Frigidaire wall oven actually has quite a retro feel
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- Betty has lots of tchotchkes, like this spice rack — now the decorating really starts getting fun!
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- You can recreate this kitchen – easily! Image copyright AMC
Here are links to previous posts with more detailed information about a number of these resources:
- Knotty pine cabinets from Cabico
- Amerock pulls and cabinet hardware
- Green nevamar marrakesh laminate for the countertop
- Stainless steel edging three piece installation
- Streaky floor tiles from Azrock
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