56 — count ’em 56 — vintage St. Charles kitchen cabinets, spotted for sale where all the best stuff is. Are you a super fan? You know where that is. Oh so pretty vintage St. Charles kitchen cabinets: Dreamy Chiffon Yellow paint color… and pretty little decorative French Provincial trimmed-out glass front cabinets up top. [See these cabinets from the same line, featured previously.] This kitchen surely cost a pretty penny back in the day. Mega thanks to reader Lisa for this tip!
Okay, so where’s all the Best Stuff?
All the Best Stuff’s in St. Louis, of course!
These were for sale for $5,600.
If you had it to scrape together, I think that’s a fabulous price.
$100 per cabinet.
And remember: St. Charles is / was the creme de la creme.
Above: That’s the nubbly finish that we saw on steel kitchen cabinets after they’d been popularized a while. I am presuming: That’s embossing. Meaning, the steel is pressed into this design by a plate under high heat and high pressure.
I am also pretty sure, this embossed finish was created to address the problem of “fingerprints” on shiny flat steel.
Note, my original-finish vintage Genevas have plenty of fingerprints. But, I am quite adept at ignoring “the problem.”
Howdy hudee, what is THAT going on behind these cabinets? That wallpaper scene. J’taime!
I don’t quite understand the whole story. But these belong to Laura, a longtime reader, who took these out of her kitchen and replaced them with NEW St. Charles kitchen cabinets when they were available once again in the 2000s. I will see if I can get a story on her new kitchen. Meanwhile, she says that she is using some of these vintage cabinets in her weekend cabin and will send photos when that’s done.
Meanwhile, it seems all 56 of these mello yellow glories sold pretty darned fast. Who got them? Congrats! Are you a lurker? Declare thyself and we shall heap thee with praise and adoration!
Thanks, Laura, for permission to feature the photos — we are so happy that these found a happy home. And thanks again to Lisa for this tip! Keep ’em coming, dear readers!
Galen Miller says
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater house in Mill Run, Pennsylvania has yellow St. Charles cabinets in its kitchen. The house was built in 1936-1937. In the late 1940s, a KitchenAid dishwasher with a matching yellow front was added.
Pam Kueber says
Yes, I have a photo in my history of steel kitchen cabinets! >> https://retrorenovation.com/metal-kitchen-cabinets-history-design-faq/
Katie says
Hello all! I have white St. Charles cabinets that were in a Chicago lakefront apartment designed by Mies Van der Rohe, I’ve been holding on to them thinking I’d have a kitchen to put them into! Anyway, I do remember there was a thread/post for selling cabinets years ago, does that still exist? Thanks in advance!
Pam Kueber says
That’s the Forum — it was discontinued several years ago. Head to craigslist and ebay… good luck.