Sarah’s “super economical” retro kitchen remodel featuring salvaged vintage wood cabinets

Sarah loved the vintage charm of the original kitchen in her 1950 mid century modest home, but after years of service it was looking tired and worn. An avid cook and writer of the food blog Undercover Caterer, she wanted to maintain the charm — but add function and freshness. too. Starting with vintage cabinets found at her Re-Use Store, she was able to create a well organized, new-old kitchen that looks like it’s always been there and which will last another 50 years. Yummy “after” photos — including the one above — by Chantel Elder of Eleakis & Elder Photography.

Sarah writes:

Hi Pam and Kate!

We re-did our kitchen about 1 1/2 years ago.  My house was built in 1950 and is a classic mid-century modest home. When we came to tour this house, I knew it was ‘the one’ when I saw the original details in the living room, the pink powder room and the coral laminate counter tops.  After living here for nearly 10 years, I knew what had to be done in the kitchen.  There just wasn’t enough storage or work space!  Luckily I stumbled upon a giant cache of cabinets at the local Re-Use Store and I snapped several truckloads of them up.  All for $200.  I was able to use most in the kitchen, some in the pantry, and I have a few more that will be used in the bathroom when that eventually gets its makeover.  Everything else was done super economically, but without sparing attention to detail.

Before:

Cute, but aging badly.  Not enough workspace — we had to use restaurant shelving, but it always looked so cluttered!  As you can see, none of the cabinets doors would stay shut either.  Excellent coral squiggle laminate, that sadly, was too far gone.

 Also:  NO EXHAUST FAN.  So gross.  Everything got greasy, then dusty, no matter how much I cleaned.

After:

Dream kitchen!  New-to-me cupboards, courtesy of the Re-Use Store.  They were taken out of Beale Air Force Base housing, so there were A LOT — I got to choose how many I wanted.  On the other side of the window/wall there is another bank of cabinets and a counter that I use for prep and pantry.  Great for parties too when people are gathered around the bar and hi-fi.

I also found wall-mount exhaust fan at Re-Use Store–what a difference that makes.

The paint color is the exact color of my old laminate counter top. Since I could no longer get the coral boomerang, I transferred the color to the wall (I took a chip to Home Depot and they matched it for me).  Cheery!

The fridge is a counter-depth from Samsung. Much less expensive than the Fisher Paykel, and it has an ice maker (the FP did not).  We like it a lot.

We kept the sink and hudee ring we already had, but added a Dishmaster — and later I was able to get one of the vintage faceplates after they were featured on RR.  If you are wondering what that bright circle on the ceiling is, it’s a solar tube.  I put in two.  They let in a lot of natural light we were missing since the previous owners built the rec room onto the back of the house.  There is only one small window on the far end of the kitchen. There are lights inside of them too, in case we need extra light for something.

I have been writing a food blog since 2008, and have written about food for a couple of local publications, so obviously my kitchen is USED.

It is so much more functional now,  I did write a blog post about the kitchen:  My kitchen, unveiled. Finally.

Anyway, I hope you like it–I just love it!

(Pink bathroom make-over to come!  I’ve already found the Venetian pink toilet and sink that match my tiles!)

Sarah’s resource list for her retro kitchen remodel

• Cabinets: Found vintage at the Re-Use Store.
• Round dish cabinet pulls: Original on the vintage Re-Use Store cabinets. Lucky!
• Laminate for counter tops: Wilsonart Blue Agave.
• Aluminum trim: Sarah is not sure, she says the counter tops with edging were fabricated by Bob-Leon Plastics.
• Butcher block next to stove: Ikea.
• Faucet: Dishmaster.
• Flooring:  Armstrong Classic Black VCT tile, white accent is also Armstrong white, right off the shelf at Home Depot.  Turquoise accent floor tiles were from the Re-Use Store.
  
• Refrigerator: Counter-depth Samsung.  “Much less expensive than the Fisher Paykel,” Sarah said, “and it has an ice maker (the FP did not). We like it a lot.”
• Orb pendant lights: Process lighting from Home Depot (only $60, Sarah said.)

Sarah, you did a fabulous job sourcing and reusing vintage materials and maintaining the kitchen’s vintage appeal, while at the same time enhancing the function of the space. Bravo. I’m in love with the color palette — coral, teal, white and warm wood are just gorgeous together — and the dark flooring really makes the whole thing pop. Kudos to you on a job well done, and thank you so much for sharing your remodeling story with all of us! We can’t wait to see how your bathroom turns out.

• Sarah’s blog, Undercover Caterer
• Photographer: Chantel Elder of Eleakis & Elder Photography