Bizarro twin Pam and a tale of 6 kitchens

Reader Pam — who claims to be blogger Pam’s bizarro-twin — has just completed her fourth kitchen renovation using vintage steel kitchen cabinets. And in this — her latest remodel — the story is even better because — stick with us: She (1)  purchased vintage St. Charles kitchen cabinets that we featured for sale from a fantastic time capsule house… (2) moved them into her ‘new’ kitchen, which had failing 1970s cabinets that she wanted to replace… and (3) topped off the entire confection with vintage capsule mosaic tile from that mega stash we featured on ebay earlier this year. Golly, this Pam is a force of nature. Read on for more her story, more pics her latest kitchen epic, and a peek at kitchens past.

Pam writes:

Hi Pam,

I have to say I may just be your biggest fan!  I am obsessed with metal kitchens, everything retro & reuse!  I also love dumpster diving & I am cheap, LOL!  Feel free to use any of my pictures and/or my story!  I would be delighted : )  I have been following your blog for years.  I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the Seinfeld in bizarro world, but I’ve kinda always thought of you as my bizarro twin with the same name, LOL!

We (recently) bought a Nashville time capsule rancher from 1950….

Everything in it is original except the kitchen, which was updated in 1973 with cheap quality masonite cabinets. We never dreamed that the estate would sell it to us at a price we could afford. We put a note with a note with our offer about how I wanted to save the house.  It turned out that he sister and niece of the previous owner hated the thought of their sister’s/aunt’s beloved house getting knocked down. They were so thrilled we wanted to save the house — vs. knockdown/build mansion — that they accepted without counter!

It has great features like bamboo walls, and FANTASTIC light fixtures, wall papers, and bathrooms — my favorite one is the pink & black tiled one!.

(To replace the kitchen), I went to Columbia, TN and purchased a HUGE set of MINT St. Charles with recessed lighting, locking liquor cabinet, built in flour, sugar, tea, and coffee canisters, breadboxes, cabinette, and many more bells & whistles — yes, the same cabinets from the gorgeous gray and turquoise 1956 dream kitchen that Pam featured a while back. The seller had the most beautiful mansion from the 1800s. I am so thankful she wanted to restore her house to its original state, so that I could do the same!  She was also planning on selling that beautiful aqua stove (which I would have gotten if we didn’t have gas). I tried to convince my sister to buy it. She also had a great “King” woddity — the combined sink, stove top, fridge, which I’m unsure if she is going to sell!

Yes, those are the tiles from ebay!  In fact, I also bought some cobblestone tiles from him as well! They will go in the laundry room.

I actually bought three different sets of tile from Mark on Ebay:

 

1) the kitchen backsplash

 

2) The multicolored cobblestone (brown, pink, white-gray, maybe just a hint of aqua): Those tiles are going to go on my laundry room backsplash. This is the laundry room that my husband is currently building!  The countertops in the laundry room will be the gorgeous turquoise Formica counters from the house that we bought the St. Charles kitchen cabinets!!!  We will also be using the remaining upper cabinets leftover from the kitchen in the laundry as well.

 

3) The “aquamarine” large cobblestone tiles (more of a seafoam green/gray in actuality): These will be the entire wall behind the retro double-bathroom vanity that we are putting in the master bath!   My husband found it for me at Habitat Restore & put a pine top on it (long before we bought our current house & I decided to use it as sink vanity)!

That crazy light fixture thing is the original chandelier from 1950!  I don’t have the heart to remove it, and I think it is so funky & cool.  A real conversation piece : )

Pam’s first metal kitchen:

Pam is a longtime fan of old fashioned steel kitchen cabinets. Here first steel kitchen is shown above. She explains:

It is the Kelvinator aqua cabinets that remind me of Pam K’s.  We did that kitchen about 11 years ago.

Pam’s second metal kitchen:

When she moved across the country, she found similar steel kitchen cabinets for her next house. Reader Pam calls these “Federal” brand, but blogger Pam thinks she means “Republic”? Reader Pam says,

I found these authentic 1950’s metal cabinets on Craigslist for $600 in Knoxville. Wayne painted them with glossy white car paint and clear coat. LOVE them!!!

[Precautionary Pam K. pops in to remind: Remember, readers, there can be safety and environmental hazards in the surfaces, layers, materials and products in our homes. Be sure to get with your own properly licensed professionals to determine what you are working with so that you can make informed decisions how to handle, become familiar with and use recommended best practices, and also learn about the proper disposal of debris, etc. Read more: Be Safe / Renovate Safe]

Pam’s third steel kitchen:

She explains:

My 3rd metal kitchen — a guest house that we renovated — was cobbled together from little bits and pieces I collected piece meal on Craigslist over the course of about a year. Those are almost all Youngstown but I snuck in a few no-names and put Youngstown handles on them.

My handy husband and I are both kind of camera shy but we have an adorable dog & a beautiful daughter! We also have 5 hens in our family : )

Regards,

Pam

The rest of Pam’s house is also an eclectic blend of retro fun. Her living room even has original bamboo wall paneling.

The Charlie Harper posters that she has hung in her hallway were purchased after seeing Pam’s story about the government stockpile of Charlie Harper posters for sale. Imagine that. She says:

Thanks so much for the poster link as well. We love the way the look in that ginormous hallway.

One thing is for sure, bizarro-twin-Pam loves her home — and it shows — nothing bizarro about this dream house! Thank you, Pam, for all the sharing!