Purple and walnut 1970 St. Charles metal kitchen

Just when we thought we had seen every color of vintage St. Charles metal kitchen cabinets here on Retro Renovation, this set showed up. Purple — yes purple — and walnut 1970s St. Charles kitchen cabinets on the Detroit metro Craigslist. Special thanks to seller Ken for granting us permission us feature these photos on the blog and for our archivapalooza of vintage steel kitchen cabinets.

The Craigslist ad states:

I am selling a full 19 piece set of St. Charles Steel Cabinets with island. The cabinets were produced in 1970 and finished in purple paint and some cabinets have a walnut veneer, which is original, with a purple or white interior. The kitchen is arranged in a “L” shape and has an island. The lower cabinets that are 28.5″ high x 24″ deep. The sink wall has cabinets with the following widths, 28″, 24″ (with drawer), 15.5″(3 drawer base), 18″(3 pull outs) and two 34.5″ tall cabinets with width 18″(pull out trash, divided drawer, butcher block), and 44″(lower pull out). The range wall has cabinets with the following widths, 22″(2 lazy Susans), 21″(4 drawer), 28″(range cabinet). The island cabinets are all purple and 34.5″ high; they are 15″, 30″ and 15″ wide, respectively. The sink wall has 5 upper cabinets; all are 12″ deep, 4 are 36″ high with widths 42″, 42″, 42″, 21″. The over sink cabinet is 24″ high and 33″ wide. The range wall has two upper cabinets with widths 33″ and 21″. I also have a St. Charles bath vanity [Retro Renovation emphasis] with three cabinets and a bar with 2 cabinets.

I can include a matching double oven with the sale, it is dated but in working order. There is also a matching Sub Zero refrigerator for sale in the craigslist appliance section for $3250. The price will be discounted if you are interested in purchasing both items.

Pam says she has never seen purple metal kitchen cabinets in the flesh. The only mention of purple (spring violet to be exact) St. Charles kitchen cabinets she’s ever seen was an illustration in their 1957 brochure from the post St. Charles steel kitchen cabinets: A look at their line circa 1957. Pam does not have any later catalogs in her hoard collection, though…

There are so many built in organizers, lazy susans, pull out drawer inserts and even a pull out garbage bin in this set. Whoever ends up putting these cabinets into their kitchen will be very organized.

We have seen this style of wall cabinet a couple of times before — for example, a huge set here. We would guess these doors are very high quality… but then, St. Charles was the creme de la creme.

The original manufacturer’s care instructions are still attached to these cabinets — it looks like the owners have heeded this advice. This set looks to be in very good condition.