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Home / Kitchen

12 places to find retro laminate for counter tops

pam kueber - September 19, 2011, Updated: October 27, 2021

glitter laminate for sale today

UPDATED 2019 — If you are looking for retro-style laminate for a kitchen or bathroom counter top, you have some blinding research ahead of you. Unless there is a home-run-out-of-the-park solution — like the boomerangs, crackle ice or dogbone still available — it’s going to be a hunt-peck-and-forage to find something that’s “close enough” to original laminates from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Here to help is a list of all the places I know — eight nine 13 places — to look for laminate for your retro kitchen, along with some tips for your hunt.

Video: How I used metal edging on my Formica kitchen countertop

Where to find retro style laminate for kitchen and bathroom countertops:

  • Wilsonart — Don’t forget to also check out their Virtual Design Library for a growing number of custom, digital-printed options — including several recent revivals from Wilsonart’s 1960s and 1970s archive, cracked ice patterns, and a large variety of boomerang laminate designs.
    • Where to buy the Wilsonart digital designs:  One place to start is A Moment in Time — Specialist provider of retro-vintage styles. 
    • retro boomerang laminateUPDATE 2016: You can also buy the Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart® laminate collection and some of the other designs from the Wilsonart Virtual Design Library affordably (I think) with shipping included via Home Depot!glitter laminate in a variety of colors
  • Make It Midcentury is the only place in the nation where you can get glitter laminate. It’s now available in a variety of colors, seen in the photo on the right.
  • Formica — Boomerang in charcoal (the only color still available from Formica) is in Homeowners. But, Dogbones, Wefts and Warps are in To The Trade. 
  • Abet Laminati — 195 solid colors… 136 woodgrains… 149 patterns… 33 metals… Easy-to-use website. If you need a solid color and can’t find it here — or at Arpa, below — it probably doesn’t exist.
  • Arpa — Eye-boggling to search, but their colors look good, so may well be worth the trouble to pursue this brand for that reason.
  • Pionite — Check out their linen-look laminates in Abstracts; colors are greyed out – more suitable for 60s and 70s than 50s, but overall, I quite like them.
  • Arborite — They have some patterns I like, including a blueberry that looks like linoleum and some almost-linens. Easy-to-use website.
  • Nevamar — Check out their abstracts and update 2019: Their reintroduction of some great retro patterns including Nevamar Venus recreated from one of our readers’ sample chip finds — full story here!
  • Decotone — Added to our list in 2015.
  • Laminart — Added to our list in 2015.
  • Lab Designs — Added to our list in 2013, they have some retro-modern styles worth considering.
  • Also try Bella Laminati.

Tips:

  • No substitute for seeing an actual sample — Of course, there is no substitute for seeing actual samples in the flesh. If you can order the samples in an 8″x10″ size, all the better. Smack it down in your kitchen or bathroom — and look at it in all lights during different times of the day. This is a prime opportunity to torture your spouse in the decision-making process.
  • Do not become enraged by prices for the specialty laminates — Laminate must be stored flat, in a climate- and humidity-controlled environment. Specialty providers often also must invest more to hold inventory, and they do not benefit from the economies of scale possible in mass market production.
  • Searching is going to take time and will blind you — Some of these websites are better organized than others. Be patient and be sure that, once you find a product page, you look at all the links to ensure you have not missed any sections.
  • Look in the Commercial section of the websites, too — Look in both the “Residential / Homeowner” sections and the “Contract / To the Trade / Professional” sections. So many of the popular consumer patterns today look like granite. More abstract designs may be over in the Commercial section. Generally, as a consumer you can get product from either section. You *may* have to go to a real countertop fabricator to get Commercial selections — BUT, with the internet now, you likely can also find an online source at a good price. (Just check everyone out.)
  • Good-Better-Best — Manufacturers may have good-better-best grades for a variety of requirements.  Check out the options, do your own research, and make your decision accordingly. On stuff that requires professional installation, all the more so, because that means replacing the product has two costs.
  • Consider the practicality of the finish you select — Keep in mind that shiny finishes are more likely to show scratches. I have glossy in the two bathrooms, and they are doing just fine. But I don’t think I’d choose glossy for a kitchen. 
  • Watch the specifications — if it says “for vertical surfaces only” it means not for countertops, duh.
  • Share your experiences — Readers, do you have any more tips of your own, or questions?

Reproduction 1950s, 60s and 70s laminates available today:

  • See my story 8 authentic vintage countertop laminates available today.

Want boomerang laminate?

  • See my story on 4 designs in a variety of colorways of boomerang laminate from a variety of manufacturers today

I have LOTS more research on laminate options here:

  • My complete Kitchen Help: Countertops subcategory

CATEGORIES:
Bathroom Countertops Getting Started + Key products available today Kitchen Sinks and Vanities

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77 comments

Comments

  1. Alex says

    September 3, 2020 at 2:42 pm

    FYI there is a FaceBook group for sharing pieces of SparkleLam made by http://www.makeitmidcentury.com if a full sheet is out of your price range. The group is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1557312487746485

    For instance, I’m hoping to get a quarter sheet (2’x6′) of dark aqua SparkleLam with both inclusions. If someone wanted to other 3/4s of it, we could split the price. This group lets you connect with other folks looking to buy SparkleLam for their renovations.

    • pam kueber says

      September 4, 2020 at 7:52 am

      What a great idea! Thanks for sharing this info, Alex!

  2. Patrick Welch says

    December 13, 2019 at 12:50 am

    I am looking to do a light green (hint of white and grey/white (hint of green and grey checkerboard linoleum 12″ tile floor.
    Any ideas who has the 2 matching colors? I tried armstrong VCT but i couldn’t find and real “pairs”. Thx

    • Pam Kueber says

      December 13, 2019 at 7:09 am

      Hi Patrick, here is the list I created after researching where to find resilient floor tiles like these (and more) >> https://retrorenovation.com/2015/02/10/23-companies-flooring-cork-linoleum-midcentury-house/

      I’m not sayin’ I got everyone, but it’s a big list! Good luck!

  3. matt lynch says

    January 3, 2018 at 7:47 am

    Hi Laminate lovers:

    I am working on a big art project using Formica laminate to make mosaics:
    http://curtisgoldstein.com/section/423554-work-surface.html
    I am in cincinnati and am working with Formica Corp directly and they are supplying us material. the problem is we need a small piece of turquoise anything for an important part of our design. They haven’t made turquoise since 2012. Does anyone have a square foot of any vintage turquoise?

  4. Mary Dailey says

    May 7, 2016 at 1:18 am

    I am considering restoring my mom’s bathroom. I will not be able to preserve it as a mid-century bathroom. It has very cool gold starburst on white background laminate panels – I would sell to interested party – is there a site where I can place this kind of listing

    • pam kueber says

      May 10, 2016 at 10:58 am

      Hi Mary, best place to sell stuff like this is likely craigslist.

  5. John says

    February 14, 2016 at 9:28 am

    Having tried very hard, I will ask…can anyone find “almond” that was so ubiquitous in the late 1960-1970s?

    • pam kueber says

      February 14, 2016 at 1:12 pm

      As a laminate? Did you look through all these sources?

    • pam kueber says

      February 14, 2016 at 1:15 pm

      Formica 0920 – see this story — https://retrorenovation.com/2011/10/14/formica-54-retro-colors-and-patterns-from-the-1960s-1970s-and-1980s-still-for-sale-today/ — introduced April 10, 1986 and when I go online, I find it still available on Formica’s website, first color in the lineup! http://www.formica.com/en/hk/products/solid-colors#swatchesTab

      • John says

        February 14, 2016 at 2:59 pm

        I was there, but that selection was not the green color in my kitchen. I’ve got the classic almond green appliances and counter top and the green vinyl mosaic floor. (It was a time capsule and so far I’ve been able to keep it in good repair.) If I could find a piece about 2ft x 3ft it would be enough to repair an area that was patched with white when a hole was made during a repair.

        • pam kueber says

          February 14, 2016 at 3:42 pm

          Almond is not green. Almond is a beige.

          I think you mean: Avocado!

          • John says

            February 15, 2016 at 2:06 am

            Oh! You are right! I’ll get back to work. (I feel so silly.)

  6. Bea says

    January 8, 2016 at 2:20 pm

    Formica now has the Envision where you design your own artwork. I have not seen it in person. I am guessing they can’t do something shiny like the glitter look we all seem to be searching for. I am considering an atomic star pattern to go with my Kohler Triton faucets as an alternative to the glitter laminate.

  7. Dave & Debbie says

    January 6, 2016 at 12:47 pm

    Thank you, Thank You, Thank You!
    We have been looking for original laminate for or 1963 trailer restoration project.
    We found it at Wilsonart page.
    Thank you very much for your links.

    • pam kueber says

      January 6, 2016 at 1:20 pm

      Great!!!! Which one are you getting?

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