Yesterday we took a look at two rockin’ 1970s-style bedrooms that Ben Sander designed for a client. Today: The apartment kitchen and bathroom, equally amazingly transformed — and glory be: using World of Tile tile scooped up before WOT closed. I repeat (and forewarn): “Statement interiors” are not for the faint of design heart, so prepare your eyeballs for some eye-popping style.
From 1980s blah to 1970s fabulous — the kitchen before and after
Ben Sander describes the project:
My client didn’t want to spend as much on the kitchen. To keep costs down, we reused the melamine cabinets, which were in perfectly good shape. We removed them, pulled up the old tile floor and put down sale tile from World of Tile. I found an amazing deal on enough vintage wallpaper to do over the entire room on Craigslist, then got the idea to paper the ceiling as well in a gingham pattern vinyl found on eBay. We put it up on the diagonal. The stove and dishwasher are the GE Artistry line that I discovered right here on RR. When we reinstalled the cabinets, we painted the honey colored oak edge pulls in a green enamel to match the laminate counters, which are Decotone Surfaces Verde Acido.
A granitized 80s bathroom — gone disco
Ben tells all:
The master bath was the single most expensive room in the remodel. It’s totally tricked out in World of Tile, top to toe. Chippy helped us collect the wall tiles and all the associated trim pieces for windows, bull nose, soap dishes and toothbrush holders, as well as the beautiful floor tiles that look like the inside of a blast furnace. I had the vanity custom made and clad in glossy laminate, with a top in the suede texture. We kept the existing bath tub to save money, but put in all new fixtures from Vola. The original bath faucet was designed in 1968 by Arne Jacobsen, and the line has subsequently been expanded to include both bath and kitchen fixtures in a variety of colors. That original faucet has been copied endlessly and is now somewhat ubiquitous in chrome. What makes the fixtures we used special is the color. You’ll notice we also used the black and white Chevron wallpaper in here.
We love the amazing creativity and design daring — thank you, Ben, for sharing!
Link Love:
flyingethan says
Simply awesome!
Brooke says
I really like the kitchen. It does feel like you’re viewing something straight out of a 70’s magazine. I am however iffy on that red tile floor int he bathroom. The bathroom is only OK tome but if the client loves it that’s all that matters!
ineffablespace says
Both rooms are great. A lot of the Decotone laminate colors are nice.
The brown “Before” bathroom is still the bath du jour around here for lots of remodels, in everything from early 19th c. row houses to apartment buildings like the one featured here. I think it’s a bad fit.
The black bathroom and the kitchen both look like they could just possibly be period, as well as looking fresh at the same time.
There was a decorator here who did a number of black-tiled or silver tiled bathrooms, but the overall feel of the bathrooms was Regency, with shell encrusted gold fixtures and French-ified vanities. The disco-deco version shown above would have been done here in black granite rather than tile, but the effect would have been the same.
pam kueber says
I did not know about Decotone! I ordered some samples to take a closer look at.
Yes, that before bathroom will be someone’s Retro Renovation dream bathroom in… 30 years. Fortunately, I will be dead.
pam kueber says
“Disco-deco” — I love it!
ineffablespace says
There was that period in the 1970s that bled into 1980s post-modernism that was disco/club inspired and very urban, but it was also heavily inspired by Art Deco and Moderne–it was less MCM and definitely not the organic modernism of the 1970s. That black bathroom is the sort of room someone would have “done lines” in.
I am not really sure that the brown granite bath will be someone’s “cool time-capsule” bathroom in the future, because it’s not particularly appropriate to its context, and it isn’t really a cohesive design statement either. I don’t know when the stone tile was done originally but in the local market it could have been done yesterday, and the transitional shaker vanity is late 90s at the earliest, and still popular. If I had to call the bathroom something, I’d call it “big box store”: it’s identifiable as turn of the 21st century transitional but turn of the 21st century transitional does not have much of an identity, I feel like it’s going to be remembered as a period where much of the accessible, middle of the road design wasn’t very memorable.
Kelly Wittenauer says
Absolutely nailed it in that first paragraph!
pam kueber says
I think you two had more *exciting* lives than I did!
pam kueber says
Just add this link to the story — another bathroom with that disco-deco vibe: The disco bathroom from American Hustle — which also used World of Tile tile. https://retrorenovation.com/2014/01/09/american-hustle-interior-design-1970s/
Oh how I miss WOT!
Jonny says
I once heard the style you describe as “Miami Vice cocaine merchant bachelor pad”, not sure if that was here or not, but it seemed to fit.
Retroski says
May it not be! I hope today’s kids appreciate retro/vintage even more. And who knows, maybe you’ll be a spry 100 year old still educating the young masses on how to do it right!
Jen says
Love the decotone laminates! There are some PINK laminates. And I wonder if the red chip or red rock laminate would serve as a replacement for the red cracked ice?
pam kueber says
I ordered a sample of red chip and will report back when it arrives.
Recall, though, we do already have a replica of red mother of pearl / crackle ice — it’s not cheap but then, I don’t know the price of the Decotones either. https://retrorenovation.com/2010/08/01/where-to-find-crackle-ice-laminate/
Ben says
My client said that bathroom looked like a cow had exploded in it.
pam kueber says
hehe
Amarissa Parker says
Absolutely love it.
JeffK says
Wow, I never thought the ’70’s could be so fun!
Ranger Smith says
Oh JeffK you’re obviously too young to remember the ’70s. They were FUN! 🙂
Amber says
I LOVE Brini Maxwell!! I loved her “Now why didn’t you think of that?” Segment on her show!
Mike Smith says
Let’s not forget Ben’s brilliant alter ego Brini Maxwell…hopefully I’m not speaking out of turn about something he’d rather leave out, but I always adored that show. Always full of fun retro ideas!
I’d highly recommend hunting down episodes of that show if you’re not already familiar.
pam kueber says
No not at all — we just covered that in yesterday’s story — https://retrorenovation.com/2015/12/07/1970s-bedroom-design-ideas/
Hotlinks to the Brini sites also are at the bottom of this story.
Mike Smith says
Oops! I guess in my excitement at seeing Ben/Brini featured I missed that.
pam kueber says
Yes: THAT KITCHEN!
Every time I was at World of Tile — before and then during the liquidation, I wanted to hoard THOSE TILES. I’m SO HAPPY they went to a great project — and that we get to archive the project forever and ever here!
HAPPY! Ben — big smooches to you!!!!
Steve H says
I love both, but the kitchen renovation is especially wonderful. It was so dreary and depressing before. Now it’s cheerful and fresh looking and it actually looks bigger. It was a great idea painting the cabinet edge pulls in a coordinating color.
Robin, NV says
I agree! The kitchen is so fresh and charming now – and with just a few simple changes to bring in some color.
Ali says
I thought yesterday’s segment was cool, but that bathroom is super groovy!!!