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
lynda says
I Love It! everything Jonny said , I repeat. including wanting a dishmaster. 🙂
Kate says
Wow. I love this kitchen! It is so warm and welcoming. The only way to describe the colors: delicious! Great work!
Lauryn says
Beautiful job! The kitchen before was pretty cute too, but it looks so much cleaner and less busy/cluttered. I particularly love the floor, which surprised me, as I’m not usually a fan of dark floors. But it looks fantastic with the wall and counter colors!
Sarah, I’m curious, were the solar tubes expensive and/or difficult to install? We have wonderful light in our house everywhere except for our converted attic and I would love to consider doing something like that.
Congratulations … the kitchen is lovely!!
Sarah says
Hi Lauren,
Surprisingly, the tubes were in and done within just a couple of hours. The larger one (14″, with 2 lights inside) was around $500. The smaller one (I think 10 or 12″ with one light) was about $400. I put one in originally then decided on a second one later. I called the company and there were here the next day at 9 and done by 10. Pretty incredible. They wire the lights into whatever switch you want, or install a new switch. We used a company called Solarise.
s
Lauryn says
Wow, thanks Sarah. While certainly not as affordable as just buying and installing a light fixture, I’m kind of shocked they were only $500 and so easily installed. Certainly would be worth it to have so much more natural light in a space. Thanks again!
Allison says
Can you tell me what model the Samsung counter depth fridge is? I love what you’ve done to your kitchen – would love to do something similar with mine!
Sarah says
Hi Allyson–
Here is the link on the Samsung website:
http://www.samsung.com/us/appliances/refrigerators/RB195ACWP/XAA
Charlotte says
Just lovely! I love how you revamped everything and made the space brighter while maintaining the period integrity. Well done!
Chris says
Love this kitchen remodel. Practical, beautiful and perfect! My kitchen cabinets are very similar. We had to take some out to make some repairs, but ours were built in place, so impossible to remove without tearing apart. We ended up keeping what we could, and replacing some of the cabinets with stock cabinets and making new doors ourselves. We ended up having to paint when we couldn’t find a wood grain that matched. After all, It turned out looking pretty good.
Maria says
Very charming and super well done — Kudos! Love the colors and floor. AND your tea and coffee pot collection. If you are like me, you wake up in the middle of the night, just to go look at it!
Mike says
Awesome renno! Love, love, love the newly-tiled floors and those counter tops with steel edging! Kate, looks like someone has followed your lead on those door and drawer pulls! Wow, what a kitchen to have for meals and late-night snacks!
Sarah says
Mike, lucky for me those pulls were original on the cabinets and I didn’t have to do a thing! What is so cool about AFB housing is that because of periodic inspections, they really maintained the cabinets and repaired them if they needed it. So even though these cabinets are 50+ years old, they are in perfect working order.
Jen says
I LOVE your kitchen! My very very favorite thing that you did was color match the wall so that you could preserve the memory of the coral countertop. I also really like the cabinets, they look fantastic. Very well done!
I have my eye on a house with wood cabinets and if we buy it I’d like to redo the counter and backsplash exactly the way you’ve done.
Lenora says
Sarah, I’ve been considering that same countertop! What finish did you get, matte or gloss?
Sarah says
Hmm. I’m not sure I had the option of matte or gloss. It must be matte.