Orange kitchen cabinets — yes! I call this vintage color “bittersweet”, and it makes me want to repaint my vintage kitchen orange! The lovely Mitzi of Vintage Goodness fame picked up this 13-page catalog of Youngstown steel kitchen cabinets at a tag sale, and before she resold it, she scanned it to share with other Retro Renovators. We don’t have a date from the catalog, but I’m guessing late 1950s, based on the inclusion of this bittersweet orange color, and from the look of the appliances. 52PostnBeam, what do you think? Note from the image above: The mix of totally mid mod groovy orange and yellow with a classic country farm table and Windsor chairs. Don’t be afraid to mix it up, it’ll be all the more interesting. Thanks, Mitzi! xoxox
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35 comments
Martha says
Beautiful! But I kinda like the “before” kitchen on page 12 for my circa 1914 Arts and Crafts style house too.
Tikimama says
In the 5th picture, the red chair looks like a knock-off of the Egg chair, designed in 1958….but the rounded refrigerators look earlier 50s to me. All the images are definitely solidly 50s style, though.
I love the two-tone look, especially the last image with the light blue uppers and creamy yellow lowers. That’s what I’ve been dreaming of painting my boring 70s wood cabinets!
Mitzi says
Hi Diana, the Before image is an old kitchen – the next image is the updated After kitchen. Hope that helps!
Diana of Mt. Lebanon, PA says
It’s funny, because the old kitchen is rather nice and cozy. I guess even back then we were willing to rip out the old and replace with the new. Though the new in the 50s was still pretty awesome. I wonder if in 50 years we’ll feel the same way about the kitchen designs of the early 2000s (that is, will they have a retro feel to them). I guess our perceptions about style are all relative.
Shane Walp says
Freakin’ awesome! I can’t wait to get my YK stuff soda blasted so I can repaint them. I was lucky enough to find the cupboard mounted lazy susan too. Their original color is that light yellow, but I may be boring and go with white, which is the original color of the ones that were in my house.
I don’t know….maybe the light yellow would be great with the seafoam green walls??
pam kueber says
Shane, I think that yellow with seafoam green is great… Look at the California Paints 20th century mid mod yellows – as I recall at least one of them might have been “just right” in that sense that it did not have a greenish tint.
Shane Walp says
Good idea! I’ll look into that and keep as a reference. I trty to imagine all these things when I go to bed, but I’m so pooped all the time, I end up konking out to fast!
Becky Leach says
The model holding the samples looks very late ’50’s….Just before Jackie Kennedy came along and caused everyone to dump their petticoats in the trash.
Kelly LeBel says
How lovely! I recently picked up several 50’s and 60’s Better Homes and House and Garden Magazines and I am fawning over all of the fabulous kitchens like this one. My goal now is to convince hubby to start moving in this direction with our kitchen re-do.
Diana of Mt. Lebanon, PA says
Any idea what the “BEFORE” means in the second to last photo?
These photos are great – “modern” kitchens of today pale in comparison to these colorful kitchens.
Adam Richards says
It looks like a vintage photo, so… maybe it was replaced with a more modern kitchen setup in the 50’s or 60’s. The “before” photo looks very 40’s (maybe very early 50’s) to me. The old tube type am radio above the sink is definitely an indicator that either this is a vintage photo, or someone made quite an effort to replicate a scene from the late 40’s.
Dave says
I think it was the before photo of the last picture. If you notice, there’s a triple window above the sink. The soffets along with the steel cabinets and modern built in cook top go a long way to change the entire feel of the room.
Gavin Hastings says
That is a picture of the dream house in my head, and what I am talking about when I rant about the unimaginative homes built today.
Beautiful.
Annie B. says
These are the absolute living end. Love ’em.
Chris says
The orange kitchen makes me start dreaming of turquoise fiesta ware!
🙂
Snazzy!