Mary put a lot of love into the complete renovation of her kitchen 10 years ago — those vintage-looking cabinets are all built from scratch — but now love of another kind has her putting it on the market for sale: “That kitchen made me so happy,” she said, “but I gave it up for love. I guess a good man trumps a cool kitchen.” Congratulations, Mary! The kitchen got the glamour treatment for the listing photos, so let’s take a look — and Mary tells us about her planning process and the products she used. Thanks for permissions from realtor Paul Carper and realtor Bart Stockton, who took the photos, both of Carper Miller Real Estate Group.
Mary’s kitchen After:Mary writes:
I love your site and I thought you might like to see pictures of my 1950s house. I renovated the original small 1950 kitchen about 10 years ago. I wanted to keep the 50s look, but open it up and add more storage. I had a blast researching home magazines of that era. The final product was bright and fun and I love it. The original bathroom is also in tact. It’s not pink, but it’s still the style of many houses of that time. I found some great wallpaper to watch the style of the bathroom.
I recently put the house on the market and I’m realizing it’s rare to find others who appreciate the style and retro fun of the house. The realtor described it as make everyday throwback Thursday. Haha. So far the feedback I’m getting from potential buyers is not so great. Most people don’t like the original bathrooms of that era and the retro kitchen is not their style either. It makes me sad that I can’t find anyone that will dig the style, but if it doesn’t sell in a few months I may need to sell it to someone who will gut it to an ordinary trendy style that will go out of date in 10 years or less (e.g. Travertine tile. don’t get me started….)
Mary’s list of retro kitchen resources:
- Cabinets were custom made. It would’ve looked weird to try and retrofit the old cabinets with new ones so they gutted the entire kitchen with custom cabinets based on the elevations. Someone commented that my custom cabinets look like something prefab from the 50s.
- Hardware came from Home Depot. As I mentioned before, some of the old classic hardware is still available at big hardware/home stores for not a lot of money.
- Countertops — As I was researching the color palette for the kitchen I also thought about the counter color. It was hard to find unusual colors at a typical showroom, so I found some great samples at my friend’s interior designer office. They have access to way more choices that your typical design showroom. Once I settled on an orange and yellow color palette I went with solid mango colored laminate. [ Editor’s note: See all our countertop research here, including our list of 10 companies that make laminate. ]
- Metal countertop edging — I cannot remember where I got the metal trim. I guess my contractor found that. [ Retro Renovation’s research on sources to get metal countertop trim. ]
- The double sink, typical for that era was special ordered from Home Depot. You’re not going to find that stuff in the showroom, but if you know the look you’re going for it’s most likely still around. Faucet was also special ordered from a catalog at Home Depot. [ Editor’s note: Surely that’s a hudee-ringed Kohler Delafield. ]
- The stove belonged to my grandmother. I still have the receipt from when she purchased it in 1953! It has since been restored and re-chromed to look brand new. That was not cheap, but I consider it a family heirloom that deserves to be taken care of. I was lucky enough to find someone locally who does that sort of thing. If you live in the LA area, Antique Stove Heaven is a good resource.
- The Vent-a-hood is actually new. I didn’t want to try to find something retro for that so I just went with a simple white.
- The floor is blue and black Armstrong vinyl tile. [ Readers: Remember to always check the Commercial section of websites — that’s where we often find what we want. ] I got the inspiration for the color and pattern from the book Inspiring Interior 1950s from Armstrong (affiliate link). [ Pam’s original “bible”.]
- For the walls, I wanted something bright colorful, which isn’t necessarily a 50s thing so I went through lots of color and design books, like this: Color Idea Book. No need to buy the book. Check it out from the library for free! Also, paint stores have lots of color combinations for ideas.
- Under-cabinet lighting — One of my favorite parts of the kitchen is the under cabinet lighting. They’re the simple hockey puck lights from Home Depot, but when you dim the halogen lights, the orange glow of the walls and counters is wonderful! It’s like a sunset.
- Dinette — In the breakfast room, the dinette set came from a local antique store and the chairs are from Target. Several years ago, they were selling dinette chairs that I think were created by the same manufacturer as dinette sets in the 50s.
- Pendant light is the KNAPPA from Ikea.
- Art — I found a book — All-American Ads of the 50s by Jim Heimann (affiliate link) — that features a bunch of 1950s advertisements and framed them in a grid.
I live in Dallas. It’s in a part of town with some older homes, some of which are have the retro flare. My realtor appreciates the style of the house and reassures me there are people who like this sort of thing. I just need to be patient. The market is slow right now though, so it will just take time. He agrees with me that he would rather sell it to someone who will appreciate it and not gut it completely.
It was a lot of fun researching and planning. The renovation was a PITA. It took 2+ months, but worth it. That kitchen made me so happy, but I gave it up for love. I guess a good man trumps a cool kitchen. The good thing is, we bought a great midcentury modern house that has a kitchen that needs some work. I already have ideas on how to renovate it to make it look great while keeping the style of the house. Can’t wait to do the same thing — update cabinets/storage and appliances while keeping the style of the architecture. This one has the groovy (but confining) pass throughs.
Only TWO MONTHS to renovation? That actually sounds fast to us 🙂 Wonderful job, Mary — and we can’t wait to see what you come up with at your new midcentury modern house! Thank you for sharing your home, and your story. We will keep our fingers crossed that a stylin’ buyer who appreciates period style walks through your door soon!
Link Love:
- See the listing for Mary’s colorful retro 1950s home in Dallas, Texas
- Thanks to realtor Paul Carper and to realtor Bart Stockton for the great photos, both of Carper Miller Real Estate Group
L says
I’ve lurked here for years without leaving a comment – until today. I love this kitchen. The colors are gorgeous. I truly hope this house goes to a buyer who appreciates and retains at least some of its charm.
pam kueber says
Yay, out of lurkdom! This makes me very happy!
shelley says
I love it! We recently sold our midcentury modern in Fort Worth complete with turquoise kitchen, colored bathrooms, and terrazzo tile floors. I feel your pain about it not appealing to the masses but hang in there, someone will walk in and fall in love with its charm and the fact that it’s not a cookie cutter house.
virginia says
Gorgeous kitchen! I love everything about it. Must be quite a love affair to have you giving it up. Hang in there. The right folks will come along and fall in love with all your hard work and your wonderful sense of color and proportion. I would have on the spot.
Dan says
Having perused all the listing photos, I have some more unasked for advice.
Don’t touch the kitchen or bath. Someone is going to love and appreciate them as is. You will never be able to completely please those who think anything old is bad.
Do tone down some of the other colors, especially that pink bedroom. If nothing else, I find strong colors like that make a room look smaller.
Do find someone to help with some staging. As someone else noted, that kitchen cries out for some fun period accessories.
The big drawback I see is that backyard. That patio has some major cracks that almost look dangerous, and the grass is really struggling in what looks like a very shady yard. If you put any more money into readying your house for sale, I would concentrate on that yard.
mary says
Wow! Thanks for all your feedback. I was concerned about all the brightly colored walls and was prepared to paint, but my realtor told me not to worry about it. People are going to come in and paint it the color they want anyway. I do agree that it does need a bit more staging. In my frantic state of moving I packed too much of my stuff. I will bring back some of my retro appliances and knick knacks. Oh, and the stove is NOT being left in the house. No way. It’s staying in the family, no doubt about that.
Melinda says
Love all f the color choices here! Bright and bold are right up my alley. Best of luck in finding a buyer who loves it, too.
Ineffablespace – I’ve even had trouble getting realtors to understand the concept you describe. Whenever I have purchased a home, that’s what I’ve been looking for- well maintained, but not updated.
Janet in ME says
To ineffablespace and all you other commenters, I so agree with what you say. My house now languished on the market for almost two years with no takers. Even my husband didn’t like it the first time we saw it, but that was because it is in a development with small lots. We live in the “NEW” development in town, built in 1957 and although many of the houses were updated, ours was barely touched. We purchased it from the son of the original owner, who hardly ever renovated or changed a thing and lived in it until the day he died. But he maintained it faithfully and respectfully. We heard the same thing – you probably want to gut the kitchen. WHAT? Take off the four foot high plastic tile and remove those birch cabinets? Not a chance. We did take out the 70’s bathroom vanity and put in a simple sink from a motel, and put a beautiful 40″ 1957 stove in the kitchen and replaced the gold 70’s floor, but for the most part, other than fresh paint, we hardly changed a thing. I couldn’t believe they raised two boys with dogs and the house looks as good as it does. I think eventually someone like us will walk in and love the kitchen and bath as they are. You just have to wait for the right people who appreciate it for what it is!
Wendy M. says
I think your house is just wonderful! I have always been drawn to houses that have something unusual or unexpected about them. I’m sure people remember your house after they’ve toured it, which I think is better than being one of a hundred cookie-cutter houses. My husband and I still reference the houses we looked at 15 years ago based on their unusual features- the fish bathroom house, the orange counter top house (although I like your orange countertops better than the ones we saw. 🙂 Best wishes on selling to the right buyer (soon!)
ineffablespace says
I think that for a lot of people there is a basic lack of discernment between a house with time capsule elements and a house that’s all original because it’s been neglected.
I had a friend who had to sell her father’s house as an estate. The house had been built in 1977, and the father had been widowed in about 1990. From 1977 to 2014 the house had barely been touched: the ceilings and woodwork had never been repainted, and any repairs had been done on the cheap.
When she went with me to my parents’ house she said “Oh your parents’ house and my parents’ house is just the same, it’s all dated and needs to be redone.”
I grew up in a semi time capsule. It was decorated in 1969-75, and updated around 1987. But the house was constantly kept up, repainted, repaired, touched up. Much of the house was painted when my father was in his 80s–just in the same colors that it had always been. He installed a new roof when he was 90 years old.
The house, although it had some 1960s era issues, like no GFI outlets, and one bathroom without a thermostatic shower, was absolutely pristine.
But my friend didn’t really discern much of a difference. Dated was dated. Nor did some other people. I had discussed this on a real estate forum I used to participate in and a couple of people said “Well okay your parents ran the vacuum cleaner and such, but *I would assume that people who DIDN’T CARE ENOUGH to redecorate a house that looks so dated probably NEGLECTED the infrastructure as well*
Nothing really could have been further from the truth, they spent a lot of effort maintaining the house, and they had decorated the house in way they liked to begin with and saw no need to change it.
I gave up that discussion because it was pointless really, some people will not see differences in quality, only whether or not something looks “new” or something looks “dated”.
pam kueber says
I am in many time capsule, original-owner houses via estate sales in nearby Pittsfield, which had a GE plant and was built up in the 1950s. Many of the homes have “worn” surfaces (a term I prefer to “dated”) but most of them were fantastically well built — and maintained. It’s like, you can smell the quality. I just think so many folks can’t see past “worn” to see the “quality” — if they even understand what that looks like. If they did truly understand the quality, they would not likely be tearing out high-quality mud-set ceramic and porcelain bathrooms to today’s big box baloney, as one example.
Carolyn says
HAHA! “Big box baloney” – baloney is made up of whatever can’t be used as is, ground up fine to remove all personality, and squeezed into perfectly uniform links.
Well said, Pam!
Mary Elizabeth says
Your father sounds like mine, and like my father-in-law. They were constantly tweaking the things that needed to be fixed but kept the original decor. My parents’ house has the blue boomerang Formica installed in the 1950s!
Many of the time capsule houses we have seen on this site are very well maintained, which is different from being constantly “updated.” And you are right that there is no point in arguing with people about the difference.
Ali says
I grew up in Dallas—that’s a great house in a nice area. I have noticed whenever I see these houses back home that most of them, especially in this area, have been renovated into post modern urban dweller pads. I have seen a few that are original, but they do seem to stay on the market longer because you have to find that one Dallas buyer who has enough flair to like something different, or enough funds/time to turn it into another post modern dwelling. Once we are done with the holidays and the market picks up, I think you have a good chance of finding that buyer who thinks retro is cool.