Today, from my archive of vintage marketing materials: A tri-fold brochure showing the 18 paint colors available for St. Charles steel kitchen cabinets in the 1960s. I will estimate that these kitchen cabinet paint colors are mid-1960s because of the Harvest Gold — which I have seen before in St. Charles cabinets, dated 1966. But, hey, there is still Carnation pink — so Mamie’s sway had not completely diminished.
We’ve seen quite a few of these colors in the wild… A few are “close” to some of the colors in my 1957 St. Charles Kitchens catalog… but now we have more to look for. Apricot? Antique Gold? Black Pearl? Capri Blue? I would sure love to see these before I head to that big retro party in the sky.
The graphics are just too fun.
See all our stories about vintage St. Charles kitchen cabinets by clicking here.
St. Charles mid century modern kitchen cabinet colors 
Jeff’s retro modern accent wall design 
Understand LRVs — Light Reflectance Values of paint colors — to help make rooms lighter and brighter or vice versa 
Rollerwall: Paint your wall to look like wallpaper — 146 patterns 
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Mart says
with faded ink and paper like that you really need to correct the white balance to get an idea of how the colors were when first printed. Here: http://www.chuckmellon.com/1960s-kitchen-colors071.jpg
pam kueber says
Wow! Thank you! Can I use the photo that you created????
Mart says
of course! I can do the rest of the pix in the article too. Thank you for a great site!
pam kueber says
Thank yoU!!
Mart says
yes – delete that post and use these links:
http://www.chuckmellon.com/1960s-kitchen-colors071.jpg
http://www.chuckmellon.com/1960s-kitchen-colors071-4.jpg
http://www.chuckmellon.com/1960s-kitchen-colors071-2-2.jpg
http://www.chuckmellon.com/1960s-kitchen-colors072.jpg
http://www.chuckmellon.com/1960s-kitchen-colors072-4.jpg
http://www.chuckmellon.com/1960s-kitchen-colors072-3.jpg
Kirsten says
Does anyone know where I could find an upper 1960 St. Charles Black Pearl cabinet to complete our set. My husband has these in the house that he bought before we met and there is space for a single door upper cabinet 23″ or less in width. What would be the best resource to track one of these down?
Thanks.
Kirsten
Kate says
Search on Ebay, your local Craigslist and if you have one — Salvage yard or Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Good luck!
Matt says
I have a client that installed the St Charles Harvest Gold and Melon Green cabinets 50 years ago. Half of the doors are walnut with a fabric insert, the other half are painted embossed steel.
I need to purchase several pairs of hinges for the walnut doors. If someone has a source I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks,
Matt
pam kueber says
hi matt. this is tough. i don’t know if readers have found any new parts solutions. you can hunt for vintage – for parts. keep an eagle eye on craigslist and your Re-Store. Also you can try here but I’m not optimistic — https://retrorenovation.com/2013/08/14/replacement-kitchen-drawer-rollers/
I’m guessing you’re looking for something called a “knife hinge”???
The cabinets sound FAB! Fabric inserts!!!!! I’d LIVE to see photos of the project!!! email us at retrorenovation [at] gmail [dot] com. Good luck!
kelly says
I finally pulled my drawers out to remove 3 layers of contact paper. The bottoms are stamped m.green. now i know it’s melon green. Upper and lower boxes are metal, L.doors m.green and U.doors maple? Maybe? With a raised molding air brushed m.green.
Nancy says
Where do I find someone to repaint my St Charles steetl kitchen cabinets? Bloomington Indiana.
pam kueber says
Nancy, there are a variety of ways to get this done — see our category Kitchen Help / Steel Kitchens for our stories. You are going to need to find your own vendor….
Cyndi says
St Charles leather finish (Duralon?) cabinets were specified by the architect in the home we live in. They were installed in 1969 or
1970. The original kitchen had at least 4 colors: one wall was a light blue, one wall was Yellow Chiffon, another wall I believe was Yellow Chiffon with Plum, and the forth wall was Mellon Green. The laundry room was Avocado and Harvest Gold. Yikes!!! We had them all repainted white when we purchased the house in 1998.
The painter used a BM satin alkyd and they looked great but now need painted again. I’m a little concerned about loosing the leather finish if another coat of paint goes on. Does anyone know if the leather finish was applied to the steel or was it a paint treatment?
Also, Retro Renovation, could you please post the 1970’s ad from your twitter feed on your website so it may be easier to read? Thanks for a great site!
pam kueber says
Cyndi, I don’t know what image you are talking about. All our images are loaded into the stories.
Regarding your question, I am not an expert. That said, most brochures from the period suggest the paint was applied at the factory. Also be aware of the environmental and safety issues — such as lead paint — and consult with your own properly licensed professional to assess what you have so that you can make informed decisions.
Finally, do you have any photos of the original kitchen and laundry room? Sounds AMAZING! I’d love to see color photos !
Cyndi Kern says
Thanks, Pam for your reply. I’ll search for the photos but its been 17 years!
The twitter feed: https://twitter.com/retrorenovation/status/552138735769645056 but I did just find your website post of the same information. The copy on the brochure is hard
to read. Just the way it was produced. I’m thrilled you found and posted it!
pam kueber says
Click on the photo – it will double in size on screen and be readable — https://retrorenovation.com/2015/01/05/1970s-kitchen-design-6-styles/
Scott Peters says
I need a St Charles white drawer face 29 3/4 x 11 3/4 vintage preferred but if someone is making these that would work. Thanks, Scott
pam kueber says
no one is making them. you need to find salvage…
Scott says
Thanks, Pam: any idea as to where I would start looking? Scott
pam kueber says
craiglist, local salvage shops, ask neighbors (if these cabinets were common to your neighborhood)
Esther says
My blue St. Charles cabinets are stamped “H Blue” on the back side (we took them down to install the backsplash). My guess is that they are circa 1957. The blue is not as rich as the Horizon blue in the photo above (I’m sure they faded over 60 years) but the kitchen is awesome — the slide out shelves, lazy susan corner cabinets, spice racks. So ahead of their time.
Sarah says
I have 1952 st Charles metal kitchen cabinets. Can anyone tell me how to remove the doors? Thank you!
Pam Kueber says
Too many types of cabinets designed over the years to be able to give this specific advice. Please also be aware that there can be hazards in vintage materials and their layers — renovate safe https://retrorenovation.com/renovate-safe/