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Home / What to Collect

A fun 1957 kitchen, showing another way to update wood cabinets

pam kueber - Updated: September 7, 2009

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

1957 blue kitchen

1957 blue kitchenProfessor Pam here. So don’t you all feel like BETTER PEOPLE for having read about Philip Johnson’s kitchen? I do! In fact, I am going to re-read Monday’s story right now!

Meanwhile, here’s a pop fun, 1957 (the mega year!) kitchen for you. One of my favorites – which shows that yes, you can pickle/wash your 50s cabinets. Love the organic kidney- shaped table, it’s a very nice ‘end’ to the kitchen and useful in that it sticks out (I am not a fan of dinky tables that squish you into the wall). Notice also the climbing plants, chartreuse plates, lacquer black, and of course, the spotlight pulls (that’s their official name!) dead center on the cabinets.

Where in the heck do those chickens come from? I mean, design-wise? Some Aztec revival?

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What to Collect

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6 comments

Comments

  1. sablemable says

    April 2, 2009 at 5:25 pm

    I adore blonde wood cabinets (and furniture)! Will eventually strip and finish my kitchen cabs, but for now the cherry color is very nice and is the original finish.

    I have my mother-in-law’s yellow Sunbeam stand mixer and a Sunbeam self-lowering toaster. Both will look smashing on my kitchen counter.

  2. vacationbarbie says

    December 15, 2008 at 4:14 pm

    Yikes! PBC…posting before coffee… I meant to say…the mixer is over at MIL’s house, she had the same one.

  3. vacationbarbie says

    December 15, 2008 at 4:13 pm

    I have a similar toaster, and the mixer is over the same one my MIL had.

  4. Amy says

    March 19, 2008 at 5:40 am

    It’s a nice kitchen for sure, a unique idea for the cupboard doors too.

  5. Ronn Ives/FUTURES Antiques says

    March 18, 2008 at 3:41 pm

    Hi,

    I don’t know about the roosters, but what threw me was seeing the Eames DCMs around that blob shaped table. It’s a nice match. I think the table was custom made for that kitchen/shot, and it has something of a Gilbert Rohde influence. Seems to be attached to the wall, also. The picture is hard to read, but I think I’m seeing a George Nelson clock above, and a Sunbeam toaster over on the counter.

    Ronn Ives/FUTURES Antiques

  6. Femme1 says

    March 18, 2008 at 1:36 pm

    Love this one, Pam! I feel better already about my kitchen cabinets, which I stripped of the old yellowed varnish and “limed” with a white Minwax stain in the early 90s.

    Those knobs are great!

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