In this week’s Retro Design Dilemma, reader Melissa wants our help with ideas to lightly update her 1954 kitchen. She and her husband have just purchased a 1954 mid century modest ranch — which they love. However — the kitchen is in need of some TLC. Although Melissa and her husband don’t mind the current flooring, she says that it is in poor shape and must be replaced. Struggling to decide on a floor replacement — as well as what to do with the walls and counter tops — Melissa contacted us for ideas.
Continue for Melissa’s story –>
Hi Pam & Kate,
We just purchased a MCModest home. A ranch built in 1954. We fell in love with the house immediately, mostly for the flat roof, the large kitchen,and the huge basement (with a built-in “love couch nook”!) I’m looking for some help with the kitchen! (I don’t have to stay in the ’50s era, I just want it to be kind of retro.)
We will be keeping the cabinets white with the black hinges and pulls. Our appliances are black (I’m saving for the black Big Chill fridge). We have a stainless steel topped kitchen table (wooden legs) with white chairs.
1. The floor is in horrible shape and must be replaced. My husband likes the black and white checkered look, but for me its a bit too harsh. Even if we did that we would be better off without a solid color tile because we have 3 big dogs (2 black and 1 white that shed like crazy.) We also would like ceramic tile so the floor won’t be ruined by their combined 275lbs running through the house. Ideas on floor?
2. The countertops are black with gold flecks. Since we have the stainless steel Nutone range hood, and a stainless steel table — I don’t think the gold flecks really go all that well. I was thinking of replacing with stainless steel counter tops. Good idea? or keep the black and gold?
3. What the heck do I do with the walls? My husband says a bright dark blue. I have no idea.
4. Do you have any idea what those things are above the kitchen window? Built in speakers? They have been painted over, so we can’t tell until we get in there to paint and unscrew them from the wall.
If you and your readers have any ideas: I’m all ears. Also I know I sent more pics than suggested, the kitchen is so large and interesting with its different level counter tops, I wanted to show you the whole thing.
I also couldn’t pass up showing you the built in love couch nook!
Thanks sooo much!
-Melissa
After Melissa’s initial email, further research of her own — and moving into the house to live alongside the laminate — Melissa began to rethink replacing the counter tops.
In a subsequent email, Melissa wrote:
Hi Pam and Kate,
I wanted to update you on the fact that now that we have moved in, I have fallen in love with the black laminate with gold flecks and don’t want to change to stainless steel counter tops (#2 on my list). I wish they still made the flecked laminate — as the section next to the sink is very faded (probably from the previous owners leaving a wet towel there when drying dishes). I have searched a bit on the laminate and all everyone talks about is white with gold flecks — is my black with gold flecks rare? Or maybe not from the original owner and put in in the 70’s or 80’s?
Pam confirmed that she believes Melissa’s black laminate with gold flecks is indeed rare — even more so than the coveted white laminate with gold flecks. We also applaud Melissa’s choice to live with the laminate for a while before just ripping it out to avoid any remodeling regrets.
This leaves us to solve the following dilemmas in Melissa’s vintage black and white kitchen.
Let’s help Melissa… Readers, what are your ideas for:
- What material/color to use on the floor which will stand up to large dogs and hide footprints and fur?
- What should be done with the walls?
- What are the things in the soffit above the sink?
Pam’s design and decorating ideas for Melissa’s 1950s kitchen:
Melissa, I love the Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze VCT floor in my kitchen. Several other readers have used it as well – see their kitchens here. Good news, in 2012 Azrock introduced an additional 15 colors. This expanded line is called TexTile — and from looking at the website, I though the “Raw Silk” color would work well in your kitchen. It looks like it has dark charcoal streakies — good to coordinate with your counter tops. Of course, you’ll want to get a sample first. I find this streaky floor great at hiding dirt. But, it does require maintenance — regular stripping and re-polishing, which I pay to have someone else do. My little dog — Astro, 20 pounds — slips and slides a bit, on occasion. I’m guessing bigger dogs wouldn’t slip and slide as much due to their weight — but I am NO expert on this question. Isn’t ANY kind of floor — except carpet — going to be slip and slide, to some degree, for a dog?
I am also a wallpaper lover. In my three mood boards (fun!) I found both reproduction and vintage wallpapers that had enough “value” — strength of color — to hold their own in our kitchen, considering the graphic boldness of your striking black counter tops — which I LOVE.
Finally, I went to the uploader full of readers’ dinettes to find dinettes that pull the entire look together.
Mixing and matching these ideas — one versatile flooring with an infinite possibility of wallpaper and dinettes — you can achieve quite a wide variety of retro looks.
Above: Mood Board #1 Atomic Doodle:
- Wallpaper — turquoise Atomic Doodle from Bradbury & Bradbury
- Flooring — Azrock TexTile in Raw Silk
- Vintage dinette — readers Tim and Stephanie’s dinette from uploader — 217 vintage dinette sets in reader kitchens
Above: Mood Board #2, Oh So Charming Red:
- Wallpaper — 1940’s vintage wallpaper from Hannah’s Treasures
- Flooring — Azrock TexTile in Raw Silk
- Vintage dinette — reader dinette from uploader — 217 vintage dinette sets in reader kitchens
Above: Mood Board #3, Inviting Blue and Brown:
- Wallpaper — vintage wallpaper from Hannah’s Treasures
- Flooring — Azrock TexTile in Raw Silk
- Vintage dinette — reader dinette from uploader — 217 vintage dinette sets in reader kitchens
Kate’s design and decorating ideas for Melissa’s 1950s kitchen:
The vintage Sears kitchen catalog that we featured had one illustration that instantly reminded me of Melissa’s great vintage kitchen — which is what inspired me to create my mood board.
Above: Mood Board #4, Cheery Cherry Red, Brilliant Blue and Sunny Yellow:
Melissa’s husband had suggested using bright blue on the walls — which Melissa wasn’t sure about. Instead of putting the blue on the walls — this blue Armstrong linoleum flooring (Update: Armstrong no longer carries —see this list for other possible suppliers) would be durable for the dogs as well as hide fur and footprints. Instead of painting the kitchen deep red like the inspiration kitchen — a light buttery yellow lightens the space — while working nicely with the blue floors. To add more color to the room — Melissa could paint some small areas of deep red as shown. Since Melissa’s kitchen has a large window and eat in area similar to the inspiration — these vintage yellow 1950s curtains from ebay seller 954kathys (link now gone) or something similar would work well in that area — as well as pick up some of the other colors in the room. To finish it off a retro dinette set — like reader Jamie_abe’s new, vintage looking red dinette which was featured in our story 23 red dinette sets — vintage kitchen treasures would look retro-tastic and would be easy to track down if Melissa can’t locate a vintage dinette set.
Zoe says
Oh please PLEASE look into linoleum/marmoleum. I think it would hold up, though you do need to seal it at least annually. It is so much better for the environment than any of the VCT products!!! I try not to preach too much because I know how boring it is, but I really think that vinyl products are the devil’s instruments. No one needs vinyl.
I know that linoleum is used in many commercial environments including hospitals, so I cannot imagine that it is unsuited to residential kitchens, with or without dogs. You can either do a two-tone linoleum tile floor (I personally love yellow and white tile together with white and black cabinets!), or you can go with linoleum roll if you are okay with a single solid color. They have so many great colors to choose from! I’d go with something in the warm family, maybe the Autumn Fire (if that’s the correct name — don’t have it handy, sorry)?
Chase says
That Fritztile looks very interesting… I really like the look of it.
Paint-wise, I always thought that a minty green always paired well with white and black. Think Jadeite dinnerware. I know Kate used a very light version when she painted her kitchen, and we all know that it turned out well!
Joel says
I would probably go with a period appropriate and economical traditional composition tile like Armstrong Excelon…. lots of colors at about 75 cents a square foot, plus nice neutrals like greys of many shades, blacks and beiges. It has that terrazo look and is used in hospitals, schools, etc, so it is durable…. needs waxing, but get an electric floor polisher from a thrift store and put on a coat of paste wax and buff it periodically and it will look great. I would get creative with placing the tile and rather than checkerboard, think about doing color or black borders or even custom center of the room insets you can buy. I actually love the red Excelon tile in the right setting.
pam kueber says
I agree – not sure paste wax is what you’re supposed to use. But yes, polish it with the recommended polishes.
tammyCA says
What a charming kitchen…I have a serious crush on scallopy trim. Happy that you are loving it all and keeping it…I sure would.
I’ve never seen black counters with gold specks either…cool & unique. I’m not sure which way to go colorwise. I immediately thought of the gold specks as stars and atomic and how cool one of those ‘flying saucer’ type kitchen lights with the perforation metal would look in there…see Retro’s previous post on the lighting catalog.
I am also reminded of vintage Pyrex…I know there is black (with white decoration but maybe there is some with gold that would go with the counters… and yellow with black like this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Pyrex-casserole-dish-with-lid-2-1-2-Qt-yellow-black-design-/181069647147?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a28978d2b
So like others mentioned try looking up Mid century items and see all the colors combos they used. There are a couple Pyrex collector sites to see colors…one day I hope to have some cabinets/shelves to display my growing collection.
And, think of the swanky swig glasses with black and/or gold designs on them. Can’t wait to see what you decide & to see your after pics!
Corraun says
I think the cabinets, countertops and rubber mopboard trim are perfect. I actually redid my 1940’s kitchen so it looks just like yours. I used marmoluem click tiles on the floor ( which can be removed and you don’t have to remove the original flooring). I would paint the walls a mellow but cheery color, add some period matching tile for a backsplash and some fun period curtains. Great kitchen and pretty easy to fix.
lynda says
You might invest in a good steam cleaner to keep the floors up without lots of scrubbing. We have had the Ladybug steamer for years and I love it. However, I think there are some that are less money that work well too. I just bought a different brand online at Costco for one of my daughters. I love the look of wallpaper, but not the putting up, keeping it clean and taking it down idea. Been there done that in the 70’s!
Hillary says
I’m making plans to remove the black-and-white checkerboard floor I currently have (stick-on tiles). No matter what kind of dirt I have on the floor, light or dark, it’s going to show somewhere. My plans are to put down a VCT floor with speckles or smudges in a more subtle tone-on-tone checkerboard.
If you’re daring and want to keep a look more similar to the speckle you’ve got, you might try these flexible terrazo tiles: http://www.fritztile.com/tile/
If you want to see a black/white checkerboard in a white-on-white kitchen, here’s mine from a few years ago: http://flic.kr/p/7E9hJS
Also: whatever flooring you choose, you might want to leave the existing floor in place. I was told recently by an asbestos inspector that I shouldn’t try to remove the floor under my stick-ons because there was a high chance the backing included asbestos.
pam kueber says
PRECAUTIONARY PAM warns: READERS get your OWN inspectors — properly licensed professionals — to instruct you on how to handle the old layers in your house.
pam kueber says
YES, I do quite like that Fritztile!
Erin says
Cute kitchen! Really liking the second mood board! The red with black and white is so classic. 🙂
Kathleen McCormack says
Not sure how Marmoleum would stand up to dogs (we just have cats), but they have a very wide range of colors, with a period look and feel. We just installed some in our 1957 kitchen/den and love it. Also, check out Silestone if you want to see a similar material to what you have but with silver flecks. They also have a wide range of colors—we chose Red Eros. I love laminate but unfortunately my husband wouldn’t go for it. 🙁 Good luck with your kitchen re-do! Doesn’t look like you have to do much; it’s pretty cute as-is.
ellie says
you need the BIG CHILL fridge and stove, red is always good for retro design, i say go with red