• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Kitchens
  • Bathrooms
  • Blog
  • Exterior
  • Other Rooms
  • Decorate
  • The “Museum”
  • Be Safe/Renovate Safe
Retro Renovation
Retro Renovation

Retro Renovation

Remodel & decorate in Mid Century Style

  • Home
  • Kitchens
  • Bathrooms
  • Blog
  • Exterior
  • Other Rooms
  • Decorate
  • The “Museum”
  • Be Safe/Renovate Safe
Home / Kitchen

That 70s Kitchen — by Laura Dee

pam kueber - Updated: August 28, 2021

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

illustration of a 1970s kitchen with harvest gold appliancesMuch fun always popping up on our Facebook page. Recently, reader Laura Dee shared this delight:

I just remembered that I drew this in my Architectural Design class. I called it,”That 70s Kitchen”. My teacher questioned my taste level, but I still got an A. lol.

Of course, I was entranced — she got the colors — the harvest gold, the brick red, the avocado green and the darkish woodtones, all ala denim — just right. In our little conversation that followed she added:

I should have put a scallop between the cabinets over the window. Or those curved shelves for keeping knick-knacks on.

Okay, maybe. But this That 70s Kitchen: I Love You Just the Way You Are.

CATEGORIES:
Kitchen The Museum of Mid Century Material Culture

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

  • 1970s kitchen design -- one harvest gold kitchen decorated in 6 distinct '70s styles
  • vintage drexel whimsy bedroom dresser
    1970s Drexel Whimsy campaign style bedroom dressers - $1,200 BIN
  • people in bath tub novelty wallpaper
    1970s novelty wallpapers sure to keep your guests in the bathroom a longggg time
  • vertical blinds in macrame style
    Beauti-Vue macrame vertical blinds -- New Old Stock from the 1970s
  • broyhill-premier-chapter-one
    Broyhill Premier Chapter One furniture -- 1970s dream design -- 20 photos

Reader Interactions

Comments are closed. 

27 comments

Comments

  1. Chris says

    July 25, 2014 at 9:14 pm

    Ahh … memories! So many “details” to remind me of the kitchen Kate grew up in. LOL

  2. Karin says

    July 25, 2014 at 7:05 pm

    Laura, great drawing! I’d agree you totally nailed the look. Not only are the architectural details spot on, the perspective and proportions are completely correct, which is how you got an A. I remember laboring for hours over similar assignments when I went to art school. It’s waaay harder to do than it looks, folks. Thanks for posting!

  3. Scott says

    July 25, 2014 at 6:59 pm

    Oh my goodness that’s so perfect. The darker to light paint treatment on the appliances is amazing. Thoughtful touch that the artwork is at just the perfect height for the child. Brings back a range of fun-to-nightmarish memories of a year of architectural rendering in college. I still flinch at the sight of a Rapidograph Pen.

  4. Sandra says

    July 25, 2014 at 2:27 pm

    While I’m not a fan of the 70’s style, I am a writer and story-teller, and what I really LOVE is the placement of the refrigerator magnets.

    • pam kueber says

      July 25, 2014 at 3:55 pm

      yes – wonderful!

  5. Mag says

    July 25, 2014 at 10:58 am

    Do I spy a popcorn ceiling?

    • Sandra says

      July 25, 2014 at 2:29 pm

      Yikes! Nobody ever put those in a kitchen, did they?

      • Gina says

        July 27, 2014 at 11:22 am

        Yep! They sure did put popcorn ceilings in kitchens. Every mid 70’s built house I’ve lived in (all 3 of them) has had them. They’re impossible to clean so you just kind of get used to the ick factor.

  6. Rose says

    July 25, 2014 at 10:45 am

    Perfect! It looks like my parent’s kitchen from the 70’s. They also had the harvest gold appliances, the sheer curtains. However they had striped wallpaper – harvest yellow, avocado green, orange and white.
    Then in the 80’s my mom changed everything to country blue.

    • linda h says

      July 25, 2014 at 12:29 pm

      Still my fave color combo today! Used throughout my house- harvest gold, avocado green & orange.

  7. Robin, NV says

    July 25, 2014 at 10:22 am

    The drawing is such an amalgamation of the kitchens I knew as a kid in the 70s. My grandmother had the wainscotting and flowered wallpaper (with chocolate colored sheer curtains). My mom had the harvest gold and brick backsplash. My own house, which seems to have been mildly redecorated in the 70s, had the harvest gold appliances, brick backsplash, and brick pattern linoleum.

    Pam and Kate – I vote for a wallpaper uploader. I have some great family photos showing some pretty wild 70s wallpaper.

  8. LuAnn says

    July 25, 2014 at 9:51 am

    Laura, You had to get an A. Your3D drawing is so perfect! I had the fridge and a freestanding stove. Alas, none of the other cool stuff, as they were placed in sort of a make-shift apartment in the second story of an old house. College days…

  9. Janice says

    July 25, 2014 at 9:40 am

    Laura, I can’t understand why your teacher questioned your taste level. I think it’s perfect!

  10. Steve H says

    July 25, 2014 at 8:34 am

    Yeah, I would say she nailed it. It looks like it came right out of one of those Sunset remodeling books from the period.

Newer Comments »

Primary Sidebar


Footer

Follow Along

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RENOVATE SAFE
  • About
  • Blog
  • The “Museum”
  • Kitchens
  • Bathrooms
  • Exterior
  • Other Rooms
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Notice
  • Disclosures
  • Contact

© 2026 Retro Renovation® • All Rights Reserved • Website by Anchored Design
Please do not use any materials without prior permission. Portrait by Keith Talley Photography