I have been thinking a lot lately about whether it would be possible, today, to create a truly *timeless* kitchen and bathroom. That is: Focusing on the past 70 years, when our *modern* American way of life began after World War II: Make a list of all the pieces in a kitchen and then a bathroom that could put together so that, when you saw the finished room, you could not peg it, or any of the pieces in it, to a decade or window *when everybody did that.* Alas, I could not get very far in my little interior design parlor game. I wracked my brain and could think of only two products, so far, that met my rigorous criteria for remaining in pretty much continual use in residential homes… but without getting so *hot* that they ultimately crashed and burned into a sad pile of once-trendy *hideous* *dated* ashes.
My fascination with the timeless comes, I think, as the flip side of my conniption fit whenever someone spits out the word *dated* to describe a home feature that is perfectly functional but no longer popular. Oh, how I hate that word.
While dictionaries may recognize “dated” as meaning “unfashionable”, my issue with the word is that probably 99% of what’s in your home is *dated*. That is, show me a kitchen or a bathroom installed during any decade in the 20th or early 21st century, and I can give you a *date* for it. Continuing on: Tear out a *hideous* [sic / also hate] *dated* kitchen, and replace it with what’s fabulous today — and you will have a kitchen *dated* 2012… Which some homeowner about 20 or 25 years from now will think is *hideous* and spit on and call *dated* and rip out and replace with a fabulous 2022 kitchen… and the beat goes on.
I thought and thought and you know what I think: It’s virtually impossible to put together an entire kitchen or bathroom that cannot be *dated* — and therefore, won’t become “unfashionable”.
So, that leads back to the design ethic of this blog, which is kinda sorta: If you’re gonna have a *dated* kitchen, which is inevitable (I *think*), you might as well have it *dated* to the *date* of the house, which is usually extremely very difficult to hide, especially if there are other similarly *dated* houses all around it.
So what products are modern-era timeless, in my book?
The first two I identified were Elkay drainboard sinks and 4″ ceramic bathroom tiles. At certain points in time, both the Elkay sinks and 4″ ceramic bathroom tiles have been very fashionable… but I don’t think they were ever particularly un-fashionable — and never *hideous* (unless you are very rude).
Timeless kitchen sink:
The first product I’ll declare as timeless — and this one, even pre-WWII: Elkay stainless steel sink tops — which I believe have been in pretty continuous use since the 1920s… and 4″ ceramic bath tiles, also in continuous popular use since at least then.
Timeless bathroom tile colors:
Tile colors with relatively timeless appeal: “Spa” (Daltile) very light blue aka heron blue or robin’s egg blue… rose beige… bone… almond… light grey. White or self- trim. Decorative liner tile is less timeless; a solid liner tile, timeless.
Timeless bathroom vanity:
Update 2017: A modern-era timeless bathroom vanity looks approximately like this [story here]:
pam kueber says
I am so wishing that Armstrong 5352 — that multi-tonal brick vinyl flooring — had made it through these last 20 years. An off-white 5352 for sure would have made my *timeless* list.
Jay says
Can I throw in bead board, Huh? Pretty please. I know that people will equate it with “country” but it appears to work across the years, regardless of the house’s birth year. ALso, stainless in the kitchen, any form – sinks, counters or appliances is timeless in spite of the slavish obsession on the television shows. Laminates will always be around – just too affordable and very DIY for both baths and kitchens.
pam kueber says
I don’t know about the bead board. Her Highness must ponder. Stainless steel okay. Laminates certainly fit my 60 years’ window. But what color(s) truly endured? Off-white… almond? Someone asked about 4×4 tiles making it on my list; same reasoning as laminates — not always super *fashionable* but always acceptable never *horrid* or the word I now remember I meant to use: *hideous*. That’s the word that all those people with so much money NOT utter on the tv shows: *hideous*
Elaine says
Talk about timeless! The stainless steel triple sink in my 1963 time capsule house is the same as the one in the Elkay ad in your article, except no drainboards, just the sinks. The plumber was in snaking the drains for me the other day, and he said he had someone order one just like it not long ago. It now costs $1200. He was impressed to find one in here and cautioned me to never get rid of it. It’s a beauty, with decorative drain covers and built in plugs to shut the drains. He did say it doesn’t have the original faucet, since this one is too short to got to the middle of the sinks. Shopping for a new faucet, I found a Kohler one in Stainless Steel/Satin Nickel. Fancy that! I love satin nickel, and here Kohler is equating it to stainless steel. It will exactly match the patina of the sink. So, maybe we can add satin nickel finish to the timeless list.
pam kueber says
yup. those things are spendy today!! the thrifty can still find them at Re-Stores, though. I’ve seen some FANTASTIC ones!
Boyd says
The styles that become the most “dated” or most obviously of a particular time are the trendy and faddish designs. Classic designs are more timeless. Now, that said, the further we get from a style’s time period, the more classic it becomes.
pam kueber says
I am going to have to ponder the exact difference, splitting hairs, between *timeless* and *classic*. I think there is a difference. Agreed: The more *fashionable* something becomes the more likely it will fly too close to the sun and like, Icarus and his wax wings, crash and burn into the hell of *dated*. Only *maybe* to rise like a phoenix from the ashes a few decades hence.
pam kueber says
For a bathroom with a vanity (door style still to be decided): A slab ‘o carrera marble with an undermount sink. Even though the Carrera is a bear to take care of…
Chad says
I think inset doors with raised panels (painted white) would be the hardest to pin to a period, even though I don’t think they were really common until post-1980.
Beth says
I have thought a lot about this, but I don’t know if I can whip a cogent statement together.
A few years ago in Minneapolis, our Art Institute hosted a touring exhibition about fakes and copies. During the 1920’s when everything Egyptian was hot, the market was flooded with convincing fakes. The piece they exhibited was a lapis lazuli head of Cleopatra, but it was a fake. It seemed obvious to me because her hairstyle was pure flapper, but in the 1920’s, maybe that hairstyle seemed classic because it was “in” to have “Cleopatra hair”. Anyway, the point was that we can’t help but incorporate elements of our time into anything we create, even if we are trying hard to copy another style.
Even in men’s pants, the issue of pleats or flat-front and which is “classic” is debatable. I hope the next new thing in design and style is to stop chasing “classic” and to have fun with new and innovative again, even if that means it will be dated in the future. I love my pink bathroom! It’s great because it’s classic 1950’s, dated or not.
pam kueber says
I hear ya, Beth. Like I said, this is a bit of a parlor game — not a prescription for what anyone *should do*.
pam kueber says
Although I will add, it is near impossible to have fun with “new and innovative” since most of what’s out there is derivative of the past – as you have pointed out. I have thought about this a lot, too. The only “new and innovative” comes from big technology breakthroughs, I tend to think… e.g. Stark “ghost chairs.”
Beth says
That’s such a good point, but even those Ghost Chairs are a direct nod to Louis XV! Yes, you’re right. I’m most lit up these days by what is being done with “green” materials and creative re-use. I’m renovating my 1956 house, and most of what we’re doing is massaging what’s there because it’s perfect as designed. Since we’re going to redo our kitchen, we’re using images from the 1950’s to inform our choices: flat front cabinets, medium-toned wood grain, real linoleum flooring. It will look contemporary, and we’re fine with that, but we are going to honor the mid-century aesthetic. It’s a puzzle.
chris says
Beth, your post made my brain fly off on a not-really-related idea…. but anyway….
The 1920s fake of Cleopatra with the flapper haircut…
Made me laugh and think of all the bad horror and cowboy movies from the late 60s.
The women in a lot of the horror movies were supposedly from the Victorian era, but they had those big, poofy, teased-top 60s hairdos with the curls coming out underneath. Same with the women in the cowboy movies. It seems like no matter how close to historically accurate they were with the costumes, they always missed the mark with hairstyles!
Hillary says
This applies to hair in period films even today. I guess it’s because many period styles would look strange and unattractive to our eyes and the female lead especially has to be pretty for the audience! (I notice background characters are more likely to have “correct” hair)
On the subject of “timelessness,” I would vote for black and white checkerboard floors, but the question is what size of tile? I’ve seen checkerboard in some pretty old magazines (turn-of-century or before) but it is usually a smaller tile than was used mid-century which is in turn a smaller tile than we can get today (thinking of 12X12 VCT here).
Ally Cat says
could’ve been 9″x 9″ asbestos tile?
lynda says
I have had 2″ thick maple butcher block counters for 34 years. My kitchen has white slab cabinets with glass in some of the top cabinets. I have a white tile backsplash with a raised relief and an Elkay sink with a drainboard. The counters have never been a problem. I used to oil them with Watco Danish oil and I resanded them a couple of years ago and used Waterlox. I really think that Waterlox is the product to use. I can put another coat on every 2-3 years without sanding the surface. Don’t be afraid of butcherblock!
pam kueber says
ok. Fear not the butcher block!
Shannon H. says
I was wondering if a French country kitchen would be considered timeless, or is it too much of a trend? Like a colonial would probably be associated with the 50s and 60s?
pam kueber says
I think maybe so yes, Shannon. Or elements therein.
Michele says
We live in Alberta, in a 1950 bungalow and just finished renovating our main floor bathroom (“only” 9 months!)…I love 4×4 coloured tiles and decided to make over our bathroom in the 1950 style. My husband was on board, but I did not realize the daunting task that faced me in recreating this style. None of the Big Box stores carry 4×4 tile here (except for white) and we had to go to a speciality tile store. And by the way, the gentleman there who sold me my beautiful daltile blue 4×4 tile looked at the pictures I had of 50’s bathrooms and declared them to “ostentatious”…sigh…only my husband understood my desire for this timeless style. Now that it is done (with awesome Amy Butler towels) my friends love it, but truthfully some (most??) are bewildered by my desire to keep my house in the year it was born…
jen says
i have a 1952 home that i have tried to make choices that are true to the home, affordable, eco-friendly as possible, and also unoffensive to the HGTV lovers who may one day buy/rent it.
i went with 4″ white tiles in the bath (replacing a cracked plastic surround – ick!), and painted the walls a lovely aqua. with my yellow chalkware fish it’s retro fun, and with a bamboo vase it could feel spa for someone else.
in my kitchen i did cork flooring, which is authentic to the period, green and also a accepted modern material. i would vote for that as well! i went with a recycled concrete and glass counter to replace the bad 80s stuff that was there (i’m blessed with original cabinets) but it has a terrazzo feel that i think works for the era of the home even though it’s new.
ps – love this thread – wish everyone thought like us! a recent chat with my realtor about a retro front door suggests more people are!!
pam kueber says
Thanks, Jen. Yes: Cork tile can go on the list — but with the footnote that it was not typically historically used in kitchens… hmmm.
Jay says
I thought eichler houses utilized cork flooring throughout. No?
pam kueber says
okay but very midcentury modern – not modest….
Catherine says
Would a recycled concrete and glass countertop really be typically found in a 1950’s colonial home? I haven’t seen this in any of the photos of 1950’s kitchens. We are about to replace the 90’s countertop in our 50’s colonial, but we were thinking stainless steel would be a more authentic choice to go with our metal kitchen cabinets.
pam kueber says
Hi Catherine, I have never seen a concrete and glass countertop in an 50s home. Have you seen my Kitchens/Countertops category, above — tons of stories there about appropriate choices. Take a look!
Catherine says
I’ll check that out. Thanks!