 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Don’t we all want a diminutive pink refrigerator (in one of our fantasy retro kitchens, at least)? I think the idea is particularly appealing, today, because most refrigerators are just so honkin’ big: Silver, black or white elephants drawing too much attention from our beautiful kitchen designs. This is why built in refrigerators are so popular — they make the darn fridge disappear. Cabinet-depth, too, eliminates the protrusion, at least. A curvy pink lollipop refrigerator puts the perfume on the pig, sad metaphor, I know. (This reminds me: My grandma Agnes had this toy pig thing inside her refrigerator. Every time you opened the fridge door, it oinked at you. This, from a woman who never met a full-fat dairy product she didn’t try to wedge into every recipe possible.) So, where can you get a pink refrigerator? I did some research and came up with seven places or ways to get one. Read on…
Following along with my photo spread, above, starting at the top and moving left to right:
- #1 — Big Chill’s classic retro refrigerator comes in two sizes, a 20.9 cu.ft. unit and a 14.4 cu.ft. unit. They also have an undercounter fridge that you can get in their complete color palette, including pink. Link: Big Chill refrigerators.
- #2 — Big Chill’s Retropolitan refrigerator has more of a Jetson’s look and the freezer on the bottom. It is 18.5 cu.ft in size– and it is 2″ less deep so sticks out less. Link: Big Chill refrigerators.
- #3 — The Northstar refrigerator by Elmira Stove Works comes in three sizes and variations: The 19 cu.ft. model has the freezer on the bottom, while the freezer is on the top in 18.2 cu.ft. and 11 cu.ft. models. You can also get the 11 cu.ft. model with a built-in kegger. Link: Northstar refrigerators.
- #4 — The Smeg ’tis a baby doll, coming in at just 9.2 cu.ft., but she is oh so cute. Remember Laura’s? Link: Smeg refrigerators.
- #5 — Take your plain-Jane refrigerator to an auto body shop or industrial painting place — Professional painting joints can consult online paint color guides to match or help get you the color you want. The advantages of professional painting include (1) they have access to very durable automotive paints, (2) they use dust-free booths to avoid itsy bitsies ruining your smooth glossy finish, and (3) someone else does it. However, you will have to get your fridge there and back, and this will cost you, of course.
- #6 — Spray paint your existing fridge yourself. The only spray paint I could find close to a retro Mamie pink is Rustoleum’s Candy Pink spray paint. Rustoleum has an epoxy spray paint specifically for appliances — but it does not come in pink. So, I asked Rustoleum if they could advise on how to use this less fancy pink spray paint to do a fridge, either metal or vinyl/plastic. Here is what they said: “Painter’s Touch would work fine on the fridge. We also have a spray paint called Painter’s Touch Ultra Cover 2X that also comes in Candy Pink. The real advantage of using Ultra Cover 2X is that it offers twice the coverage of general purpose spray paints. It also has distribution at The Home Depot and many hardware and paint stores, so it’s easy to buy anywhere in the US. According to our brand management team, before painting the vinyl/plastic parts of the fridge, prime them with Specialty Plastic Primer. For metal, you can prime with a Stops Rust Clean Metal primer for added durability. You could use Painters Touch Ultra Cover 2X Clear over the Candy Pink, but priming would be the most important step. If you topcoat with the Clear, apply it within 1 hour after painting or after 48 hours.”
- #7 — Stalk craigslist and Re-Stores for a vintage pink refrigerator. This will take time. But once you send your vibes out into the universe, the Retro Decorating Gods may reward you sooner than you think. I am not an expert on what to look for in a vintage fridge. See this post for some links and such if you are serious about pursuing this option.
- Update March 2019: I did a lot of new research on where to buy a retro refrigerator — I have seven ideas — see them all here.
Kimmy Kupcakes says
The new Big Chill fridge is pretty great.
Jackie says
About 12 year ago I bought a 1947 GE refrigerator from the elderly original owner. She said it was one of the first ones off the assembly line after the war and that it had never had to be repaired since she had owned it. I have moved it all over the U.S and have never, ever had to have it repaired outside of a new door gasket. When we settle in Phoenix in July it will get it’s professional pink paint job and will have a place of honor in my 1963 ranch. I know it isn’t appropriate to the age of the house, but this fridge keeps things fresher and colder longer than any new fridge that I have EVER had.
Kathryn says
I picked up my ’51 Frigidaire on CraigsList here in San Diego from an original owner last year for $65. My electricity bill went *down* about twenty bucks a month and I can only link it to my new-to-me appliance.
I love the look, as I recently renovated my ’38 kitchen. I have found that I don’t miss the larger freezer like I thought I would (this one has the pull down freezer inside the fridge door).
Here’s a hilarious You-Tube 50’s commercial of my fridge and “Billy Boy and Pops” buying it for his Mom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKoTLnLMf8Y.
Of course, I had to build a wood ramp to get it up 2 steps into my kitchen–the mover said it weighed at least 500 lbs…
Kristy says
I have a Big Chill in red, and I adore it! So far, I haven’t had any problems with it.
gsciencechick says
I lived in several rentals with non-frost free fridges, and never again! That is just one of the worst messy jobs along with manual clean ovens.
Love, love, love, our Big Chill in Beach Blue. It makes me smile every day. The size works for just the two of us. Our former fridge was only 18 cu. ft, so 21 in the Big Chill does make a difference. We also got the icemaker for DH.
RosemaryMartin says
I would love a pink fridge! Alas, I am but a mere renter at the present time, although I am renting a mid-century brick rancher. 🙂
I’ve bookmarked this page in the hopes that one day I may own a house again and do with it what I please.
Jen says
Wow .. this is uncanny. I was just looking on Craigslist and ran across a listing for a pink GE fridge in Des Moines, Iowa. Any Iowa readers want to go snatch it up?
JKM says
I’ve never painted an entire refrigerator – the thought’s a little daunting considering seals, gaskets, etc. – but I painted a Vent-a-Hood ages ago and the front of my old dishwasher once and they looked great. The hardest part with the dishwasher was figuring out which screws to remove that would allow the front panels to come off (it didn’t have panel inserts and the color wrapped the sides). I cleaned both really well (Vent-a-Hood was the hardest since it had been exposed to years of greasy exhaust) then sprayed each with appliance paint one thin layer at a time, allowing each to dry in-between. Everyone had told me that patience was a virtue when painting an appliance – one thin layer at a time – and they were right!
Jen says
I love the retro-styled fridges but hate the over-the-top price. Yes, I know … I want the best of both worlds! And if my kitchen weren’t red, black, and white, I’d want a pink fridge to adorn it! As it is, however, methinks it might clash just a tad. 🙂
Abigail Grotke says
I had a 1950s pink GE as well…. nicknamed “the pink beast”. I loved it but it was starting to need defrosting every few weeks, so I parted ways with it – found another loving owner who was going to put it in his retro themed basement. I hope it is happy wherever it is! Loved that thing.
Jackie says
Abigail, did you try replacing the door seal when it started needing constant defrosting? We did that on our ’47 GE , it solved the problem and it only cost us around $50.