Mary and John built their house in 1983 and after 32 years of cooking in the same shades-of-brown kitchen — and inspired by a fabulous vintage Daystrom dinette from craigslist — they decided it was time for a light, bright retro transformation. And this story is another good example of how we all just love to do things The Hard Way: This project was six years in the making — time well spent in planning and $aving the money to fund the makeover — lots of it DIY, but some of it hired out to pros — step by step.
Dear Pam.
I am happy to tell you the story of our groovy little kitchen, because it actually starts with Retro Renovation.
About six years ago, I found a tulip table and chairs (Daystrom) on Craigslist. It needed some help, and I was googling refurbishing tulip table/chairs and found your blog! I have been hooked ever since. (Actually, we ended up paying a furniture guy here in Austin to do the work, and he did a great job.) Like many of us on this blog, over the years we have done some of the work ourselves or saved up to do the big things we couldn’t do on our own.
We are the original owners of the house and built it in 1983. The more I read your blog, the more inspired I was to get rid of the 80s stuff and renew the kitchen with a nod to retro style. After the tulip table redo, we paid to have hardwood floors installed to replace the 30-year-old 80s linoleum. We replaced the appliances as well.
My husband John and I also refurbished a 1967 yellow princess phone — it rings and you can make calls, even dialing the rotary dial.
John installed the vintage lights I found on Etsy/Ebay. We are proudest of the NOS Moe tangerine honeycomb pendant light over the tulip table.
I found the atomic sunburst clock for $6.99 at a local Goodwill here in Austin. I could barely contain my glee when I plugged it in and it started right up. It keeps better time than any other clock we have! I read your blog daily to learn more about the retro decor. Your blog was an inspiration and a great research tool.
Time went on, and this year we were able to fund new countertops, paint the kitchen cabinets, and replace the hardware — all with a retro flair. I read everything on your blog about laminate countertops. I already had 32-year-old Wilsonart laminate — almond, of course. The 80s. Check out the u*** before picture [edited; Pam says: Mary, I don’t think your almond was u*** or a bad choice — it was what was popular in the 1980s — I think you just got sick of it before it wore out and because of the lack of any real color anywhere else in your kitchen — totally understandable!] New floors but u*** almond laminate.
I still liked laminate and wanted a fresher look. I ordered samples of retro patterns from Formica and Wilsonart. I read about the Brady Bunch orange countertops and even ordered a sample of Bittersweet from Pionite. I knew where to look and what to look for because of Retro Renovation!
- See our list of 10 companies in the U.S. that make and sell laminate.
I decided I wanted to paint the cabinets white with Amerock chrome hardware (found that on Retro Renovation too). John and I finally decided on white countertops with an orange backsplash. In the RR blog I saw White Ellipse from the Formica 100th Anniversary Collection (2013) and Greek Orange Key from the Jonathan Adler Formica collection (2015). Together they are perfect in my kitchen. We paid to have the countertop installed and the cabinets painted. John installed the sink, faucet, and garbage disposal as well as installing the brushed nickel retro style fan. Now we have the retro kitchen of our dreams!
Thank you, Pam and Kate, for inspiring the rest of us to love the house we’re in!
Happy Retro Days everyone!
Mary
Wow, Mary and John — that is quite a transformation, congrats! We absolutely LOVE how you used laminate on the wall as the backsplash, and in such a groovy color, too! The white — with all that careful use of orange: Looking at your kitchen is as refreshing as a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice at breakfast. We’re glad we could help you find the materials you need to get the job done and “Love the house you’re in!”
Trudi says
Mary & John, I too have a eighties kitchen and you have inspired me! I love how you gave it a wonderful mcm feel using existing things and working in stages. Would you share what paint you used on the cabinets and did you replace the hinges? Thanks for sharing your beautiful kitchen!
Mary says
I love the look of laminate used as a backsplash applied directly to the wall. So much cleaner looking than having a separate backsplash piece made up and then applied to the countertop. Did you use anything to cover the line where the backsplash meets the counter?
Mary says
The installer just put walk caulking. It matches the countertop. It’s ok because we had laminate before. The new looks way better than the old.
Mary says
White caulking
Mary says
Thanks!
dkzody says
Absolutely fantastic makeover.
Tom says
Very cool that a table on Craigslist inspired such a great remodel!
Mintrad42 says
Hi Mary and John,
I have read that rotary dial phones won’t work with new phone company technology.
Did your refurbish involve anything to do with that issue?
Thanks for sharing!
Mary Hutka says
Mintrad42,
We bought a pulse to tone converter. We still have a traditional landline, but they make converters for digital service. One is called Dialgizmo. Here is a link:
http://www.dialgizmo.com/
Mary
Mary Elizabeth says
We have a red wall phone in our kitchen with a rotary dial. It works just fine with the other phones in our system. You can’t do touch tone selection for most things (“To repeat this message, press 9”), but you can answer the phone and make calls. I use one of the touch tone extensions for everything else. There is no problem with the basic service.
Mintrad42 says
Thanks again!
Cynthia says
Great job! Bright, tasty (love that orange) How is the open space to the side of the stove used…for a trash can? counter stool?
So true that anything almond was totally “in” in the late 70s -80s…maybe an opposite reaction to late 60s-70s mega-colors harvest gold, avocado, and orange-red.
(Realizing that “the 80s” was 30-35 years ago reminds me of my age!)
Mary Hutka says
Hi Cynthia,
The space under the cutting board to the left of the stove- we put an Ikea laundry hamper to collect our recycle and a cute metal canister to hold the dog food. There is a hard to reach cabinet so we installed roll out drawers from the Container Store. We keep our Cuisinart and the Kitchen Aid mixer there.
Mary
Geronomom says
Nice job on turning “blah” into BOOM! We have vintage birch cabinets in our 1961 kitchen, which the previous sellers had painted white – they also installed plain white formica countertops and backsplash – where you guys were drowning in brown, over here we’re O.D’ing on white! Been toying with the idea of an orange laminate backsplash for quite some time now – your lovely photos might just give me the impetus I need to get off my bum and make it finally happen! Oh – almost forgot to mention – love your breadbox! We have the exact same thing in avocado green sitting on our kitchen countertop! Breadboxes seem to be a thing of the past – you seldom see them used anymore. Don’t know why – but we definitely use ours!
cc says
We too were stuck with ugly 80s brown cabinets and almond countertops. We painted the cabinets white, added vintage “black strap iron” handles ( yes, from the colonial craze in the 60s), took the modern handles off the fridge, and replaced the flourescent light with vintage swag lights. Looking at this edo, My frugal side is now trying to justify getting rid of those still perfectly good but ugly almond counters!
Steve H says
I really love how the cabinets go all the way up to the ceiling. Those high spots are perfect for all of the dishes and things that only get used a few times a year.
Jukesgrrl says
That dinette certainly is inspirational. The light you picked out for it is perfect and I love your choice of a backsplash. I’ve never seen that pattern before. I always wonder why people install backsplashes made out of materials that are impossible to keep clean. Nice job and I’ll bet you’re glad you didn’t go into a ton of debt to get the kitchen of your dreams.