101 design ideas to decorate knotty pine — 24 page catalog from 1960

Today’s vintage 1960 catalog is a real treat — especially for those of us who love knotty pine. And even if you are not sure about the knotty, this 1960 look at “101 Home Ideas Featuring the 10 Fine Woods of the Western Pine Region” might update your view.  For example, I have always considered knotty pine in terms of its Early American heritage…. something that today, we’d play up in a kitschy way. But take a look at the kitchen above: Knotty pine goes all mid century modern — and it looks pretty good! Check out this catalog — 24 pages — to see wood the way that homeowners saw it back in the day.

This Americana kitchen looks like it belongs in a Storybook Ranch house — look at the awesome built in controls for the stove top and the decorative scalloped trim on the counter edges and undersides of the upper cabinets. Dig the window treatments. Dig the wallpaper. Is that a built-in barbecue peeking at us over on the left? Is that a Lamb Chops cookie jar over on the right?

Here’s another view of the same kitchen, taking a look at the eat-in bar area. It combines knotty pine with stone to face the bar. The flooring (vintage Armstrong, wethinks) continues the stone motif throughout the kitchen, while the posts that hold up the interior awning coordinate with the captains chairs at the bar.

Above: A third photo of the same house — you can tell because the window treatments are carried room-to-room. This is a great design idea if your house is small and you want to unite adjacent living spaces; it also saves on agonizing decisions about often-expensive window treatments. We love this cafe curtain treatment, as well — a nice design idea if you want privacy and light at the same time. The curtains themselves are also beautifully designed — a little bit of color, but not so much as to draw too much attention… and the scalloped design where the cafes hook to the rod is a nice, subtle touch.

The kitchen above has a more modern looking pine design — the use of multi leveled counters with what must have been the most cutting edge custom, built-in appliances and lack of ornamentation make this kitchen feel more minimalistic than kitschy.

Does anyone else love the tea kettle pendant light in this kitchen as much as I do? And, laying the copper metal tiles on the diagonal is a lovely idea. Wallpaper: A small-print geometric, on the soffits, just like in Pam’s kitchen. These are nice design touches that adds a bit of fun to this otherwise straight forward utilitarian space.

Could this be? A pink vintage pine bathroom? Yes: The text says, “A gray-glazed pink enamel over clear grade ponderosa pine….” Yum. Terrific storage in this pine bathroom, too.

Here’s a bathroom with loads of personality. Scalloped edges are everywhere. White knobs pop off the wood, over exaggerated hinges line the doors — and those decorative fish tiles set into the backsplash — to die for. I also spy a Hall-Mack revolving toothbrush holder. This bathroom has it all.

More scalloped trim decorate the built-in light fixture and shelves in this mid century bathroom. It is nice to see the pine mixed with pastel and checkerboard in this space — which gives the bathroom a balance between a masculine and feminine feel. Interesting also is how things line up in this bathroom. The curtains meet the edge of the trim on the light, the tile backsplash runs all the way up to the underside of the shelf and mirror. These touches give the room a very intentional and finished feeling.

If it is possible to go overboard with knotty pine in a bathroom — this would be that bath. Knotty pine covers every surface — the walls, the counter top, the knobs, the medicine cabinets — heck, I think if it were possible, they might have used knotty pine sinks and toilets.  Sound yucky? Don’t forget: It wasn’t until after World War II that many homes got indoor toilets. Before that, we had outhouses — wooden thrones. We love outhouse stories. Here’s our favorite: An outhouse named Sally.

Round rooms are always intriguing — but this one takes the cake with its radial pine domed ceiling, high shelf for knick knacks, flamboyant wallpaper, and paneling that follows the curve of the room. All with pretty modern looking furniture!

Surely it is not a normal thing to make a fireplace out of knotty pine — even the inside seems to be pine-lined. Huh?

This adorable vintage laundry room — love that washer/dryer combo — employs pine in the built-in cabinet that must conceal all the “un cute” items that belong in a laundry room.

The basement rec room — or in this case, workshop — is a place where we often see wood paneling in a mid century home. 

Here an entire basement has been transformed into a fun and usable space with the help of Western Pine. Complete with a built-in bar, shelves and TV space, this is one terrific space.

Speaking of built-in television sets — here is another — this one presumably on the main floor of the house. In the days before flat screen TVs, this must have been an exciting space saver.

The catalog shows several finishes and effects that can be achieved using different pine species and glazes. Yellowstone appears to be the color most people think about when they imagine an knotty pine room. We *think* that Amber Shellac — still available today — is the classic finish.

To see all 24 pages of this fantastic catalog, view the slideshow below.

Thanks to the MBJ Collection via archive.org for making this catalog available via Creative Commons license.

Tips to view slide show: Click on first image… it will enlarge and you can also read my captions… move forward or back via arrows below the photo… you can start or stop at any image: