Products and ideas to remodel your mid century home in authentic vintage style
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home design inspiration… thrifty finds… and a generous
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postwar homes – “modern” and “modest” alike.
I'm Pam Kueber, your mid mod mad guide. Read more
The three most common questions I get via email, and sometimes in random places on the blog are:
How much money will you make on that lovely new kitchen or bathroom when you go to sell your house? Oopsy — likely not one penny. In fact, according to the 2011–12 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report (www.costvsvalue.com), released last week, you will lose 30-35% — or more — on most home remodeling projects, even “mid-range” ones. This gap is the worst in nine years, since the survey began in 2003. For example, a ”minor” $19,588 kitchen remodel? Expect not to recoup — that is, expect to lose — more than $5,000 on that “investment” when you go to re-sell. Debbie Downer reports…
After Joe was unsuccessful in his attempt to epoxy-coat his vintage porcelain drainboard sink, he replaced it with a new Elkay Lustertone stainless steel drainboard sink. Even though the metal drainboard sink looks great, Joe says he would have preferred to keep his old porcelain sink top and have had the original enamel restored, refinished or replaced. But he didn’t know of a source — and neither did I. Until now. Thanks to reader TappanTrailerTami, who let us know: Heck yeah there is more →
Earlier this year I wrote a story with ideas about where to get your vintage appliances, including stoves, repaired. My focus was on helping you find local suppliers — old time repair shops — that could help you out. But, readers also chimed in with some great comments. I strongly encourage you to read that original post, along with all the Comments. In particular, though, I wanted to call out the online resources suggested by reader Patrick Coffey. He seems to have pulled together a great list of both companies and community forums that can help you connect with parts, service and instructions to help get your vintage appliances and stoves back in tip-top shape if you are unable to find local repair shops that can do the work for you. Patrick writes: Heck yeah there is more →
One of the biggest “needs” of owners of mid century homes is: Replacement tile for cracked or broken original tiles in otherwise perfectly beautiful and functional mid century bathrooms. Now that we have discovered World of Tile we have probably the single best place in the nation (so far) where we have a chance to find an authentic vintage match for our 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and even 1980s bathrooms. Heck yeah there is more →
What was the average price of a premium vintage steel kitchen cabinet purchased via craigslist in 2010? According to analysis by reader-expert 52PostnBeam aka Helen: $39. As regular readers of our Steel Cabinet Forum know well, Helen has been fiercely pursuing vintage metal cabinets for her own kitchen for the past year. Moveover, in her quest, she has posted hundreds of craigslist ads for all varieties of metal kitchen cabinets onto the Forum. 52PBnJ (as I like to call her) is one tenacious researcher. By this point, she can name virtually any cabinet by sight, and discuss the differences within brands over the years. It is very impressive! Now, Helen has taken it up another notch by cataloguing and analyzing the final listed sales prices of major cabinet sets for the past year. How much should you charge for your vintage steel kitchen cabinets? How much should you pay? The final decision will always be personal. But, read on for 52PnB’s analysis of 29 final sales of “premium” sets last year. –> Heck yeah there is more →
When I first bought my vintage tulip table and chairs, the steel bases were pocked and rusted… the fiberglass shell chairs were dirty and dingy… and the laminate tabletop and rubber edge were yellowed and soiled. How did I get them to look like new? Secrets revealed today! Heck yeah there is more →
This question — about whether you can strip your steel kitchen cabinets and leave them unpainted — has now come up a couple of times, so I thought I better post it. I solicited a proposed answer from my favorite go-to guy, Palm Spring Stephan… And, to finish the story, the writer/reader ignored his thoughts and, like a good reporter, kept searching for a solution — until she found it! Kathryn Janicek, a renovator from Chicago, wrote: Heck yeah there is more →
Over at her blog The Home Project, reader Linn and her husband continue to chronicle the remodel of their adorable bungalow kitchen. Recently, they rolled up their sleeves and installed a stainless steel countertop right over the old, existing laminate countertops. The headline: When first considering the stainless steel countertop option, Linn contacted a big [...]
Following up on Monday’s exciting post about the Arpa USA palette of solid-color laminates, let’s take a look at how to use this material to recreate this 1959 Ma Bell kitchen. It would be oh-so-easy! Elements include: Laminate cabinetry using Arpa’s “Jardin” colorway. Cabinet pulls: Rejuvenation’s new midcentury “sharp arch”, in satin chrome Countertops are [...]
I spotted this vintage salesman’s sample showing different styles of metal edging for a kitchen countertop, and it reminded me that I wanted to do a story showcasing some other varieties beyond the stainless steel edging that I used for my kitchen. First off, thanks to Hard to Find House Parts for letting me share [...]
“Fake butcher block countertops” are another one of those original vintage house features that I often hear called “hideous” on other websites. (Crikey, how I have come to despise that word — it is overkill, please refrain.) I, on the other hand, not only have “no problem” with butcher block laminate, I am 100% on [...]
UPDATE (Oct 2011): Click over to –> this story to get an update on all three sources for boomerang laminate. If you are planning Formica Boomerang countertop in aqua for your kitchen renovation, you’d better order now. Alas, if you were planning the skylark (light blue) or coral, it’s already too late. Following up on [...]
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