Retro Renovation» geneva

The White House family kitchen: Jackie Kennedy had Geneva metal cabinets!

pam kueber — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:55:07 +0000

This photo of the White House family kitchen is from 1992…but if you jump onto this White House Museum page, you can see the kitchen when it was first installed in the private family quarters area by and for Jackie Kennedy. And glory be, it sure looks like her cabinets were Geneva’s. I can tell by the cabinet pulls — you can just barely see that they have the white plastic recess piece that gets hard and cracked and discolored and is in great demand by retro renovators today. There’s also a cool photo of Gerald Ford with a harvest gold stove in the background — but by then, the steel cabinets were out, and wood cabinets were in. Hey, where have we heard that story before. Before the Kennedys converted the space to a kitchen, the room had been a guest room and bedroom. The Clintons converted it to a family room. (Photo: Historic American Buildings Survey/HABS.)

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Where to find vintage kitchen cabinet pulls – from Youngstown, Geneva and other makers?

pam kueber — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 08:00:05 +0000

Readers are constantly sending emails asking where to find cabinet pulls for vintage kitchen cabinets made by Youngstown, Geneva, and other makers. The answer: Not an easy one, I am afraid.

For example, the chevrons aka boomerangs above, on 2-3/4″ centers, are classic early Youngstowns. The Geneva’s that are most problematic are the kind with the recessed, plastic backplate.

The vintage Youngstowns CAN be found – but you are going to have to hunt and peck and search and wait. Watch ebay, try sites like historichouseparts.com (I helped a reader find some there just last year – they are still shown under “Jamestown” cabinets – a seller of Youngstowns, I believe), and maybe Liz’s Antique Hardware?

The Geneva backplate issue has been a difficult one for years, again as far as I know. I started hunting for my steel cabinets about 7 years ago. I constantly saw this question asked on forums. I know of no source for them.

Meanwhile: Be sure to see my Category called “Cabinet Hardware” for replacement choices.

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Retro kitchen paint colors from 50s to early 60s Geneva, Republic, St. Charles and Youngstown steel kitchen cabinets

Pam Kueber — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:49:45 +0000

“Vintage_Kitchen” recently wrote to ask about repainting her 60s white steel kitchen cabinets and I also promised this post with suggestions on paint colors for your mid century kitchen.

Note: Click on photos to enlarge for better color scrutiny!

From all the advertising material that I own, it appears that kitchen cabinetry was mostly white into the early 50s. Until then, ‘white’ still communicated “sanitary” – which was very important. But… we made it through that phase of kitchen concerns, and in the mid-50s, “exuberance” kicked in big time — giving us flamboyantly colored cars — and kitchen cabinets, too. The trend continued well into the 60s, when wood including natural finishes conquered. But that’s another story for another day. I promise.

I’m posting several photos of beautifully colored 50s to early 60s kitchens. A couple of things to note:

Notice how it’s not the just the colors that are unique — but also the way they are combined. For example, in the blue kitchen above, we get a green-yellow (chartreuse even) sink.
In addition to the colors I show here, also pick up the print version of the Sherwin-Williams Suburban Modern palette for interiors (also shown thumbnail above). For cabinets I love the: Pinky Beige, Appleblossom, Sunbeam Yellow, Holiday Turquoise and Chartreuse. If you want to repaint your white cabinets — and for trim — use the Porcelain. This is a palette that never stops pleasing and must be a key part of your mid century renovation arsenal! I recommend getting it in print, because my scanner and all our computers can only do so much re: actual color resolution.
Finally, remember that there are plenty of examples of mix-and-match color schemes. That is, one color on the base cabinets, another usually but not always ‘lighter’ color on the wall cabinets. This was particularly true the later you go, and really, you can see the idea in many kitchens of the period if you count the countertop as a major color element …. lots of contrast … and embrace of color!

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