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:
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:
Michele Alford says
Very sweet! A suggestion for the dream curtains: Spoonflower is a site that allows you to custom design fabric. They print it and mail it to you. Find out how much you need from a custom draperies company, and order your perfect fabric!
I’ve used them and they are fantastic.
Elizabeth from Texas says
Michele Alford, thanks! I took your tip and looked online at Spoonflower and their stuff is adorable! I will have to look into custom florals there!!!
Neil says
To quote the intimitable Kay Thompson in the movie Funny Face:
“Think Pink !!”
And you did, to pinkalicious effect.
Elizabeth from Texas says
Thanks, Neil! “Think Pink!” should be my motto, haha!
Love says
Oh, I just want to hug you— what an INCREDIBLE KITCHEN! Well done! We have purchased Big Chill twice— in our 1st little home, and now in our second too. This pink kitchen is just GORGEOUS! Just perfect! You can rest assured I’m bookmarking this entry. Just, WOW!
Elizabeth from Texas says
Thanks, Love! Here’s a cyber-hug back at ya!! What colors of Big Chill did y’all get??
Love says
Hi Elizabeth! We went with white in our first home, and white and blue in our current house. I really wanted pink, yellow, light blue or mint green, but I was out voted. Someday I plan on adding a little kitchenette in our basement, and perhaps doing an all pastel kitchen! ????
Bongi says
Yoh this is so nice ,Elizabeth.especially the colour.
Elizabeth from Texas says
Thank you! Pink is my “signature color”. I love it so much; I can’t get enough of it!!
Nea says
Amazzing! I love all of it? Can I ask where up got the ceiling lamp from?
Pam Kueber says
mentioned in story – AllModern, but I could not find it there any more
Elizabeth from Texas says
It’s so sad that this light fixture (or ceiling lamp, as you termed it), is not available anymore, because it’s super cute and it was only $139!!!
Diane says
beyond amazing!!!!!
Elizabeth from Texas says
Thanks, Diane!
tammyCA says
Love the pink kitchen! Oh, that floor is gorgeous..I’d never mind sweepin’ & moppin’ something so purty.
Elizabeth from Texas says
Haha, thanks, Tammy CA!!
Debbie says
Elizabeth, I love your kitchen!! Would love to have a refrigerator like that! Although I’ve never left a comment before, I wanted to leave this in regard to your curtain pattern. In the article, you said you had a pattern on a t-shirt that you would like for curtains. I don’t know what the pattern is, but you can probably use it as inspiration to create your own. You then just have to upload it to a site like Spoonflower, then have your fabric printed!
Elizabeth from Texas says
Thank you very much, Debbie! Your comment and tip are appreciated!
Cheryl says
Elizabeth, what a gorgeous kitchen! I would love to have specifics on how your kitchen floor was done. We redid our kitchen floors in 2007, and used Armstrong’s VCT. Our flooring company had a crew come in to remove the factory finish and apply some type of very shiny finish. Our floors had the high shine as yours!
Sadly, the company and crew are no longer in business, and I’m unable to find anyone in the area who knows how to come in and repeat the process. Any details you could provide would be most appreciated!
Again, I love your kitchen!
Elizabeth from Texas says
Thank you very much, Cheryl!! I will find out how it got done. My housekeeper and my husband’s assistant teamed up to figure it out, because there are no flooring companies in this town! They hate doing it, but look how great their work looks!!!
Pam Kueber says
I found the small company that does my floors every year from my dentist’s office. That is, idea: Look for cleaning companies that include floor cleaning in their list of services.
Lori Marshall says
Pam.
I have been looking for pink tile floors for years. I don’t think anyone makes them in ceramic or porcelain so I am thinking of doing what she has done. Can you explain what the conversation about adding shine and what companies to ask is about? I currently have tile floors so I don’t know how to care for vinyl floors. Will this floor last for years or will the sides curl up? Can I clean with water? I use a Bissell Crosswave now on my tile.
Pam Kueber says
Lori, on this issue, I recommend you identify the floor you are interested in using then look to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Note, we do have sources for pink floor tile — all tile research is in the Bathroom Help / Tile Ideas subcategory https://retrorenovation.com/category/bathroom-categories/tile/
Elizabeth from Texas says
Lori Marshall, when one buys the Cortina Grande Kink Solid Vinyl Tile, it is already beautiful and pink, but not shiny. So after it’s lain, one needs to apply floor finish to make it have that beautiful pink glass-like sheen. We have had it for three years and it looks seamless. My housekeeper says she mops it with Bona. (Check Azrock’s care instructions to see what all is acceptable to clean with.)
Deborah says
so fabulous I love it and can’t wait to see the rest of this house! Thank you so much for sharing.
Elizabeth from Texas says
Thank you very much, Deborah!!
Elizabeth from Texas says
I checked with my housekeeper about the shiny floor that she is now famous for and here is what she said…when the floor was lain down, she applied three coats of Sparta On an’ On High Solids Metal Interlock Floor Finish (why it has the word “metal” in it, I have no idea). She applied it with a Microfiber mop that is shaped like a long bar (not a floppy mop). One doesn’t have to take the factory finish off. It’s just about adding a shine on top. That’s where the ‘floor finish’ comes in. Once that was done (three years ago) she just sweeps and mops it with Bona.
Mary Elizabeth says
Incredible job, Elizabeth! Your pink everything is amazing, especially compared to the dark “before” photo. And good job choosing LED lights. They weren’t around in the ’50s, but they do make our 1950s kitchens bright and cheerful.