Welcome to Retro Renovation® — your regular dose of mid century and vintage renovation and decorating resources… design inspiration… fun finds… and an archive of stories from an enthusiastic community of people all interested in cherishing their mid century and older homes.
Our focus here, first and foremost, is to help you find the products and sources you need to help remodel, renovate and decorate your house in authentic mid century style. We feature some sources for pre-war and post-modern homes as well. We’re here to help you get the job done — doing the research so you don’t have to.
Note: After 15 years — 3,000 stories! — this site has entered a new stage. Today, my focus is working to keep existing resource stories up to date so the site remains a solid reference. And, I want to continue to improve the site as an historical reference around things like steel kitchen cabinets, a longtime passion. To make time, I don’t blog as much, and comments are closed.
How can you make the most of the blog and its archive of 3,000+ stories about resources & inspiration:
- Dive into all our categories (in the navigation along the top of the page) and you will see, we have lots of research into all the products you might need to remodel and decorate. Along the way, we have lotsa other fun, too — always showing great gratitude and respect for the houses — and their owners — who came before us.
- And, important for anyone taking on an older home:
Renovating, remodeling and living in our midcentury and vintage homes can be gratifying, but please always remember, there can be safety and environmental hazards in the surfaces, layers, materials and products in our homes. Anything old, even New Old Stock, that you buy also may have issues. We all care very much about managing safety and environmental issues properly, so when moving into a home … when undertaking cleaning, repair, remodeling or restoration projects … or when adding old materials (salvaged, used, new old stock, etc.)… be sure to get with your own properly licensed professionals to determine what you are dealing with/working with so that you can make informed decisions how to handle, become familiar with and use recommended best practices, and also learn about the proper disposal of debris, etc. Read more: See our Be Safe / Renovate Safe page … the EPA hosts a website on lead paint in the home and a website on asbestos in the home, etc. Consult professionals regarding these materials, and also about the proper disposal of debris, etc.
<– I’m Pam Kueber. That’s me with my crazy wallpaper office … that’s my kitchen above — and this my blog, oh I luv it so. Doing all the research to find products to backdate my 1951 colonial-ranch house in Lenox, Mass., is what got me into this online escapade. In the course of my endless hunt to find products and design ideas sympathetic to my house’s undeniable mid-century bones, I got…. obsessed… I learned a lot… and I figured, why not share all my finds with other folks undertaking the same journey. And now – you have arrived!
This blog has lots about *modest, mid-century, middle-class* homes — ranches, Capes, Colonials, split-levels, contemporaries, bungalows. I also write about sleek *mid-century modern homes*… I love them all, but admit that I tend to worry more about the modest homes (themselves full of charm) being at more serious risk of being gutted, with regrets to follow later. Interestingly, both mid-century modern and mid-century modest homes shared many of the same technological features and design cues (like pink bathrooms) inside. For further info see my Mid-Century Modest Manifesto and my micro-site SaveThePinkBathrooms.com.
What’s covered here? Well: The design aesthetic of retro interiors, exteriors, culture, people, steel kitchen cabinets, colors, pink kitchens, pink bathrooms, hudee rings, pecky cypress, illustrations with people playing accordians, wallpaper, pinch pleat curtains, mint-in-box items — and readers’ fabulous jewel box houses, too. Get ready to be sucked into the retro vortex.
More info:
Above: As featured in the New York Times — yup, read all about our escapades in this 2,200-word feature story that appeared on p.1 of the Home & Garden section on Aug. 18, 2011.
Fast forward 10 years and another New York Times story called me “…the godmother of midcentury kitchens and baths, steering a new generation of homeowners to the four-inch square tiles that dominated homes for decades.” teehee
Oh, and here’s me showing off one of my office remodel. My friend Denise and I pasted about 200 squares of vintage wallpaper on the four walls, creating a crazy patchwork quilt (note: there is method in this madness) of 18 different designs of wallpaper. We celebrated by getting all Love American Style Gothic with the photo.
Hey, see me talkin’ about Mid Century Modest in this etsy.com video:
Press Coverage
2018 … I kinda stopped keeping track
2017
- Wall Street Journal: Big story on time capsule houses. I am the “subject matter expert.”
- Washington Post: Hey, we got a shout out!
2015-2016…
- HGTV.com: In Defense of Pink Bathrooms — A Q&A with me
- Chronicle TV: Big story on my house and my kitchen and the Retro Renovation Revolution!
- Washington Post: The TV-watching public’s long love affair with tray tables
- The Times of London: Something is happening in smart bathrooms — Designers say pink is back after a long absence.
- WFMJ-TV: Effort to Bring Back 1948 Youngstown steel kitchen cabinets
- Ummm: I got out of the habit of updating press coverage of the blog…. I’ll work on it again at some point… maybe.
2014
- New York Times: “When Blogging Becomes a Slog” (but not for me — I am the wise old owl)
- Huffington Post: The 10 Best Renovation Websites for Living out your Dream Home Fantasies.
- Der Standard newspaper profiled the blog. It was in German, so I’m not sure what it said. But I asked on Facebook, and a reader told me it said that, “You are now as loved as David Hasselhof in Germany.”
2013
- Fixing to Die: Retro Renovation® and a reader remodel featured on the blog inspired the setting and story line for Elaine Viets’ “restoration comedy” murder mystery, Fixing to Die. The book debuted #9 on the Barnes & Noble paperback list.
- Yankee Magazine: Six-page story in Sept./Oct. issue — 1.7 million readers! — about the blog and my house. “Fifties and Fabulous.”
- Globe and Mail: Loud and proud 1970s chalet
- Columbus Post-Dispatch: Back to the bones: Restoring ’50s homes
- California Home + Design: Celebrating Midcentury Modest
2012
- Ft. Lauderdale Magazine: Midcentury Modern Architecture Makes a Comeback
- Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Vintage Vibe
- Hamilton (Ont.) Spectator: Kitchens Cook Down Memory Lane
- msn.com: What we can learn from 1970s homess
- The Daily Mail (London) online: Give your Home the Mad Men Look! How one blogger inspires retro renovating tips.
- Blog Aids in Renovation of ‘Mid-Century Modest’ Homes. Nationally syndicated story appeared in newspapers including:
- Akron Beacon Journal
- Seattle Times
- Miami Herald
- Detroit Free Press (twice!)
- Palm Springs Desert Sun
- San Antonio Express
- Baltimore Sun
- Kansas City Star
- Toledo Blade
- Eau Claire Leader-Telegram
- Ogden (UT) Standard-Examiner
- canada.com
- …and more.
Summer 2011
- New York Times 2,200-word profile about Retro Renovation and its readers: Restoring the Retro House
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch — Preserve the Pink (bathroom)
- msn.com — New Respect for the Ranch House
- Portland (Oregon) Monthly Magazine Online — Sofa Shopping
- The Oregonian/Oregon Live — The Retro Queen
Feb 2011
Jan 2011
- Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Bathrooms Still In the Pink
- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Name that Home Fad
December 2010
October 2010
- AP interviews Pam for story, Used Building Materials a Hit Among Home Owners, that runs in news outlets nationwide.
August 2010
- Arizona Daily Star: That 50s Tile with Style
- Home is a Four-Letter Word: Penny Pinching with the Stars
- Home is a Four-Letter Word: Lovin’ the 50s
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
- Etsy.com video profile.
January 2010
- Knoxville News – Maribeth’s 1970s retro renovation
- Finalist and 4th place winner in Apartment Therapy’s annual contest to name the best home design blog of 2009
June 2009
April 2009
March 2009
- Eugene, Oregon Register-Guard on retro revival and home show talks
- Our tour of the St. Louis 1995 time capsule home covered by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Desert Living Magazine
Dec. 3, 2008
- Pam talks with the National Kitchen & Bath Association about retro kitchen design popularity
Sept. 29, 2008
March 2008
- Pam’s kitchen on Apartment Therapy
Winter 2008
Fall 2007
November 8, 2007 — News Release, PRWeb
Thanks and Credits: Many thanks to the many folks who have helped, and continue to help, make this blog possible. Including:
- The rockin’ readers who help feed the blog day in and day out with their tips and projects!
- All the advertisers who make doing this work fulltime possible.
- Margaret Roach, for all your support. AwayToGarden.com, Margaret Roach Media.
- Brad and all the Webdev and Maintainn team, for keeping the online bogeybots at bay. WebDevStudios.
- Erica Berger, for making me look good. Erica Berger Photography.
- Kit Latham, for helping me get into the dot.com world. KitLatham.com.
- Suzy Massey, for design support. PhoenixMassey Studio.
- WordPress, for a great blogging platform that has made it possible for so many new voices to find their communities. wordpress.com
Kim Doble says
Hi! I am still using the 1961 Westinghouse Wall
Oven Model 0HC-21 that is in my farmhouse. I need to replace the heating element. Does anyone know where I could find one? I don’t want to have to lose this oven.
pam kueber says
See our category Kitchen Help / Appliances for our stories on resources to help.
Also can be found in FAQs.
sharon says
On a mission to find a material used probably back in the 60’s…our grandparents used it to cover the cushions of the sofa or maybe the seats in their cars…it is clear either plastic or vinyl with a raised, textured pattern…I have no idea what that stuff is called but we all used to go ew! Well, now I’m looking for yardage of it…If anyone out there knows of where I can find it preferable 54″ wide or a transparent again vinyl or plastic that has flecks of silver glitter I can use for the same purpose I would appreciate some help! Thanks so much…
pam kueber says
Hi Sharon, I don’t know the answer to this one… I’ll keep my eye out.
Kitty Bosserman says
Where can I buy the Armstrong linoleum from 1941 “Kitchen With Pantry”?
pam kueber says
Hi Kitty, I am not sure which photo you are talking about (we have so many.) However, you can buy sheet and tile linoleum today from either Armstrong or Marmoleum/Forbo.
Start getting to know our navigation — all our flooring research is in Kitchen Help/Flooring — and our story on 25 places to get retro style flooring is in the first big box on the top — https://retrorenovation.com/category/kitchen/flooring/
Good luck!
john clouse says
Pam and Kate,
You two are a great resource for those of us who are mid century nuts. I’ve found so many great resources and ideas on your site.
One of the best resources was Tile World in N.J.. Now gone, what are we suppose to do about getting our retro tile?
I’m out in Los Angeles, but will go to some extreme measures to match my 1962 bathroom tile. Where can I turn to?
John Clouse
pam kueber says
We don’t know. There is a new seller with vintage tile on ebay. Check them out…
Sam Stone says
Hello Pam, wish info regarding the re-porcelainizing of four round cast iron/porcelain grates for my (appx) 20 yr-old Gas on Glass GE Profile stovetop (Model JPG641). I enjoy the gas on glass look but new units are 5/8″ deeper (front to back) than mine and I would need to cut 35 inches of granite to accommodate and making my kitchen very dusty. If I can get the grates re-done at a reasonable price I would prefer to rebuild the unit over ordering a new stovetop. Please advise if you can suggest where I can obtain this assistance… thanks, Sam.
pam kueber says
Sam, type reporcelain into our Search box and our story will come right up.
Jennifer Sams says
I love this site! I need a search bar to look for a 1961 (give or take) Florida bungalow type dwelling… any help, anyone?
pam kueber says
The search box is near the top – in the sparkly laminate looking area next to the social buttons.
Colleen says
Hi,
Recently I bought some unused vintage plastic wall tile, size
8 1/2 x 8 1/2 ” They take up the space of of the 4 1/4 tiles, exactly.
I have searched the web for ideas on how to use these, but can’t find any thing that even recognizes their existence. Im starting to thing I’m the only one who has them. Have you run into these? Why aren’t they more popular? I want to use them in my kitchen for a backsplash, but I don’t know how to cut them, Any advice on cutting these big ones too? Thanks so much.
pam kueber says
Yes, we have written about them several times. Put ‘plastic tile’ into the search box and our stories come right up.
Not my favorite. Had them in my three bathrooms. The showers all leaked through.
Vinnie Fauth says
Have an old home, 40 years old. Guest bathroom is the color harvest gold/yellow. Looking for toilet in this color and plus decorating tips for this bathroom. I like the old vintage style and want to keep this bathroom this way. Any help that you can give.
Thank you.
Vinnie
pam kueber says
Vinnie, to get started, check our Toilet research — we have a story on where to get vintage color toilets made new today, from two sources. Off the top o my head, I cannot remember if there is harvest gold on the list. In any case — see the research in our Bathroom Help / Toilets category. Get to know our navigation! For decor: Wallpaper, baby! That category is in Decorate / Wallpaper. You can get 60s-70s style wallpaper both vintage and new today, no problema!
Alan Forbes says
We have the Kitchen from the former Corbett Estate in Cincinnati, OH. It was featured in House Beautiful magazine in the early 50’s.
The kitchen is dismantled and on pallets. I suspect it will not go back together as easily as it came apart, however, it could still be a great install in the right property. A less desirable choice would be to part it out. It was a J Koven Hill – Frank Lloyd Wright design with custom formica (pattern never duplicated). We would love to get it some national attention to see if it can find the right home.
Here is a link to the story about saving the kitchen from demolition”:
http://www.prairiemod.com/features/2012/05/connect-saving-the-corbett-house-kitchen.html
Thoughts?
Terry Richardt says
Hello,
I purchased a 1950s home 4 years ago from the original owner that needed TLC. The kitchen is white tiled with knotty pine cabinets. The uppers are up to the ceiling with lots of storage space. The lower cabinets are not in as good shape as the upper but think with some elbow grease, can be restored. Also, the kitchen has a long knotty pine divider between the dining and working area. The counter is metal trimmed green Formica with some worn areas. Bottom line, the kitchen has not been touched. I’m torn between a demo- remodel and restoration. Part of me feels it’s my responsibility to restore the kitchen to it’s shining glory.
I need guidance and value your opinion.
Pictures are available.
Thanks
Terry