Yesterday, Elizabeth invited us to weigh in on floor tile choices for her blue bathroom Retro Renovation. Setting up the story, I came across an earlier email that I had let fall through the cracks. She had sent me a photo of her pink kitchen refresh in progress. Good news about the time lapse, though: Her work is now finished — and goodness, wait until you see this transformation!
I asked Elizabeth about the kitchen. (It’s in a different house than the one with blue bathroom.) Following is a lightly edited version of our emails:
Dear Pam:
This house is my 1965 house. It is named Diamond Crest because it has adorable diamond shaped windows on the front side panel. (And because diamonds are a girl’s best friend.) I mentioned I was buying it in that old original article–or maybe in the comments thereafter, I don’t remember now. I bought it in October 2014!!! It’s 99% done now, but it took forever because we would get to doing other stuff. I was reading your recent “The Hard Way” awards, and thought, GEEZ! Even when all you do is throw money at a project, it still ends up being hard! My husband, who is NOT a plumber, had to install the floating toilets because no one else knew how.
It is a darling 1,774 s.f. house and my goal was to change nothing, only restore it to perfection. Plus better.
Diamond Crest had been a rent house and the landlord put in that same beige Mexican style tile that is on every current floor in Texas. I had all of that busted out even though it was brand new because THAT’S NOT MID-MOD. (Luckily the terrazzo entry hall and pink tile bathroom and mint green tile bathroom floors were left intact.)
Elizabeth shared the resources she used:
So for the kitchen and adjoining laundry room floor, I found something from the Azrock Collection: Cortina Grande Solid Vinyl Tile in the colorway “Kink”.
The laminate is Abet Laminati Rosa Crazy Horse. It replaced beige (possibly original) beat-up laminate. It was not easy finding pink floors and pink countertops, let me tell you.
The kitchen light is a Saturn Three Light Crystal Drum Foyer Pendant that I bought online from AllModern. [Pam here: Tried to find it, seems discontinued.]
But it was easy enough finding pink appliances, of course —Big Chill!)
And she continued:
The construction is 100% complete. I put in adorable pink window shades because I know it will take me forever and a day to find the fabulous floral pinch-pleat draperies I want. I bought a $5 t-shirt from WalMart about four years ago and IT has the exact pattern I would love on it! I’m never going to give that shirt away! Think Dorothy Draper, I guess. Also, I still need to curate the place with décor. I get busy with other stuff, and it just sits there for a while.
But you have heard much more than you bargained for. Do know that every single purchase was made in consultation with retrorenovation-com-staging.enwf9w61-liquidwebsites.com! (And that was a lot of purchases!) So you were my constant companion through this, even though you didn’t know it!
Thanks,
Elizabeth
Yowza! Thank you, Elizabeth. I simply cannot imagine being unhappy in this kitchen!!!
More stories about Elizabeth (shown above, from our 2014 story) and her other projects:
Khadija says
OMG I am in love and drooling over my keyboard!!!! 😀
GlenEllyn says
When I saw the first ‘after’ photo I literally gasped in amazement! I’m not a pink gal either, but this is jaw-dropping gorgeous! Though your budget was higher than we often see, yours was money very well spent! And I can really appreciate that having a generous budget doesn’t necessarily make the project any easier. It’s still a long, hard process. I would say this kitchen is truly awesome!
Elizabeth from Texas says
What a nice compliment, GlenEllyn! It’s true, those Big Chill appliances are not cheap (although LOTS of appliances are not cheap and not as cute, haha). The flooring is expensive for vinyl, but that’s because beautiful colorful vinyl is usually cheap. The laminate is probably cheaper than when people add period non-correct granite. Then slap some paint on the cabinets, get the new hardware super-cheap from Lowe’s, light fixtures $200 off the interwebs, and bah-dah-boom. A big budget does make it easier, but it’s still a long, hard process. So I REALLY admire those who can do it all themselves resourcefully! Thank you for your comments!!
Hunter says
OMG, I have never!!! This is amazeballs……. I will dream about it tonight….
Elizabeth from Texas says
Haha thank you very much, Hunter! I love dreaming about mid-mod design!!! You’re very nice!!
Char says
Your Pink Kitchen brings me Joy!!
Elizabeth from Texas says
Thanks, Char! I’m so glad!!
Palm Springs Stephan says
What an amazing kitchen! My own kitchen, now in the works for a new house that I am building, will be pink and white much like yours!
If Pam would be so kind as to give you my direct email address, I can tell you how to get those pinch-pleat curtains that you want!
Elizabeth from Texas says
Thanks, Palm Springs Stephan!! I can’t wait to see YOUR pink and white kitchen! Here’s my direct email in case Pam doesn’t see this: mrs.abwalters@yahoo.com.
Carol says
I’m so speechless over this kitchen I will only say this; “You don’t need us, but you need to feed us”. You are so fabulous when it comes to decorating that you don’t NEED our opinions, however, it’s nice that you ask. You also need to feed us with information about all the projects you do. You must be loving life and following a great passion because you are one BUSY lady. My hat’s off to you Elizabeth! I will tell you this, My Grandmother catered weddings when I was a small child. She taught me how to make roses for the cakes which I loved to do. Her kitchen was late 40’s and all white except for the jadeite green tile with a black border. Her appliances were similar to yours only all white. When I saw your kitchen, it almost made me cry. It was like looking at her kitchen on steroids with a pink icing explosion. Oh happy day!
Elizabeth from Texas says
Oh, Carol, your comment is so touching!! It made ME want to cry! Come on over and you can teach me how to make pink roses out of icing in the kitchen at Diamond Crest! Thank you!
Carol says
You are so kind Elizabeth. I could spend all day in that kitchen making roses with you if I could see what I was doing. I think I would be weepy. I have the best memories of my Grandmother, Evangeline Corlew Knox. She was so patient, kind and thoughtful. What a wonderful, lovely thought. Thank You
Elizabeth from Texas says
Aww, Carol! You’re going to make me cry again!!!
God bless you and God rest your grandma!!
kara says
OH MY GOD ELIZABETH!!!!
Elizabeth from Texas says
THANK YOU KARA!!!! Lol!
Eartha Kitsch says
Oh! This looks SO sweet! Elizabeth, now you’re down to the fun part – buying the accessories! I hope we’ll get to see a photo once all of that is done too. Great job!
Elizabeth from Texas says
Thank you, Eartha Kitsch! I need to get better about photographing!!
Brooke says
Love this kitchen! I’m not normally a pink person but this is stunning!. The floor and appliances really make it.
How do you like the Cortina Grande flooring? We’re about to order some in Black & White (lol I know, not as interesting as your pink) and I’m really excited to see it installed.
Did you install and finish it yourself? I was thinking of installing it but I’m waffling on whether I should hire a janitorial service to do the seal/polish.
Elizabeth from Texas says
Thanks, Brooke! We love the Cortina Grande flooring. You may have discovered that it’s ridiculously expensive for vinyl floor tile!! (But if you want that lovely pink shade I adore so much, it was literally my only choice.) We had the tile men from the flooring store install it, and my housekeeper waxed and sealed it. This house is in a tiny town where there’s no janitorial service, or else that would have been a good idea, because my housekeeper didn’t enjoy sealing it that much. We just got a box of white and blue and pink tiles to play around with in our new house in Austin, in our grandkids’ rooms! My husband and I both adore Cortina Grande!
Brooke says
Thanks For the info Elizabeth! It is indeed expensive for vinyl tile but as a commercial product I’m hoping the extra costs means a bit more durability. The white/blue/pink combination sounds like a fun combination! I hope you send in more photos to Pam so we can see your house progress
Melissa Hansson says
I have those same pink appliances & am thrilled to see your flooring, as that’s one of the last things we need to complete our space.
May I ask what you used for the under-cabinet lighting? Our ’58 kitchen is sooo dark. Thank you!
Elizabeth from Texas says
Hi Melissa, it’s some kind of LED bar lights that we got at Lowe’s. (Shaped like a bar, not to go in a bar.) I really love all that light in a kitchen to brighten it up. Next time I go over there I will see if I have any paperwork on those lights, but they were just the off the shelf kind so I may not. Congrats on having pink appliances also! We are blessed!!