We’re already groupies of famed industrial designer Raymond Loewy, so how wonderful that Le Creuset is offering a limited edition reissue of the Coquelle — the cast iron dutch oven that he designed for the company in 1958. Mega thanks to reader Saundra for the tip!

Le Creuset is offering two vibrant colors of the sleek, oven to table design — a bright reddish orange called flame and turquoise. The reissued Coquelle retails for $375, which is spendy for sure, but golly — a fresh chance to own a simply gorgeous and well designed piece of kitchen history. Pam says she has a couple of pieces of Le Creuset — gifts from her Mom, who is a fan of the brand — and both Kueber women like them a lot, especially for slow cooking navy bean soup  and beef stews and other winter comfort foods yummy in the tummy. (They are also both #1 fans of cooking with vintage Club Aluminum.)

Loewy was the most influential industrial designer of the post-war era — designing products ranging from home goods like furniture and kitchenwares, packaging and logo design, industrial designs for trains, cars and other transportation. See his career highlights — and lookie that client list! — here. 

• Of particular interest here in Retro Renovationland, in 1954 Loewy redesigned colorways for the groundbreaking Formica Skylark boomerang pattern, originally conceived by Brooks Stevens four years earlier. Loewy also worked with architect Stanley Klein and Andrew Geller through his firm Raymond Loewy Associates to help design the American Brand steel kitchen – a longtime favorite on the blog for its easily recognizable curves.

From the Le Creuset website:

In 1958, acclaimed industrial designer Raymond Loewy created a new and unique shape to add to the world-renowned range of Le Creuset cast iron cookware. Internationally famous for his designs for some of the most well-known consumer brands, Loewy created a striking, evocative design called the Le Creuset Coquelle. To celebrate this iconic design, Le Creuset is introducing the Coquelle to a new generation with a limited release.

In addition to being a symbol of mid-century design, the Coquelle delivers the same outstanding cooking performance as every other piece of Le Creuset cast iron, ensuring that everything you stew, braise, simmer or bake will taste delicious.

Features

• Colorful, long-lasting exterior enamel resists chipping and cracking; interior enamel is engineered to resist staining and dulling
• Sand-colored interior enamel makes it easy to monitor food as it cooks, preventing burning and sticking
• Wide handles provide even weight distribution and a secure grip
• Phenolic handle is heat-resistant to 500°F
• The lightest weight per quart of any premium cast iron cookware available

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Ebay is like the Amazon Rainforest of rare vintage goodies waiting to be rediscovered — there are so many ‘species’ out there still to find. This week, Pam the Adventurer has discovered a super rare 1958 Gerrity Princess faucet with built-in dishwashing attachments for sale as part of a midcentury woddity wonder kitchen. We’ve never seen one of these before and even the Ebay seller — a longtime fan of Retro Renovation and avid collector himself — has never run across another one.

Ebay seller rethinking has been collecting bits and pieces of high end, rare and amazing parts to construct the ultimate midcentury kitchen over the years, and is now selling them off as one big wonderful set. While each part of the kitchen is amazing in its own right, the 1958 Gerrity Princess faucet with dishwashing attachments is really something special.

From the Ebay listing:

 … A vintage kitchen this over the top could not have a faucet over it’s built in stainless steel sinks.  I considered adding a vintage Dishmaster but then found something even more intriguing, and once again, it’s the only one I’ve ever seen.  It’s a 1958 Gerrity Princess faucet with built in dishwashing attachments.  It is NOS in the original and super cool wooden crate with all instructions and pieces and is in as new condition from 56 years ago. …

The seller was kind enough to send me some additional photos of the faucet, and several of the attached instruction and installation manual. How cool is that?

The instructions for use in the above brochure read:

Operating Instructions

Your Princess Dishwasher has been carefully inspected and tested and will give good service. Follow these instructions:

1. Remove white plastic cover. Pour one teaspoon of liquid detergent (not soap) into white detergent container. Fill container with cold water and replace plastic cover.
2. Your Princess Dishwasher is now ready for use.
3. Turn on the hot water. Turn on the cold water gradually until water coming through the spout is of desired temperature.
4. With the white plastic handle in hand, pull ou white diverter control knob. Water now flows through the hose.
5. Place your thumb on the white control button for rich, creamy suds, and for a clear sanitary rinse remove your thumb from button.
6. Wash glassware, china, and sliver with your nylon brush. Wash pots, pans, etc., with your brass wire brush (optional at extra cost).
7. Turn off the water and the diverter control will automatically close. The next time you turn on the water, it will flow through the spout.

Mega thanks to Ebay seller rethinking for allowing us to feature this amazing faucet.

Read about more unusual vintage faucets:

• Dishmaster factory in Mitchell, Indiana — Mom & I take a road trip
• Dishmasters & the American Dream kitchen
• Vintage Magic Queen kitchen faucet — a major new kitchen history discovery

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In this sixth edition of the series, Mike and Lindsey have called on the help of their friends at L&D Construction — the same guys that custom built the midcentury modern master bathroom vanity in their first home — to help them gut remodel the kitchen, including making custom walnut kitchen cabinets. Drawing inspiration from fellow Retro Renovators and a photo of an original Edward Durell Stone House of Good Taste kitchen, Mike and Lindsey are well on their way to creating the midcentury modern kitchen of their dreams.

Mike & Lindsey’s House of Good Taste kitchen before.

Mike & Lindsey’s House of Good Taste kitchen before.

Mike writes:

So here we are, roughly 2/3 of the way through renovations and although we have accomplished a ton so far, we are desperately ready to start seeing the kind of progress that makes it feel like a home. Our beautiful newly refinished floors are completely covered and we are ready to start the kitchen build out.

At this point we are bringing in the heavy hitters, our master carpenters from L&D construction, Joe and Kenny. We have worked with Joe and Kenny on several projects and wouldn’t trust anyone else with this job. Retro Renovation readers should be familiar with Joe’s handy work as he is the one who built the custom vanity for our pink master bath renovation.

We have several inspirations that we are pulling together in order to achieve the specific look and feel we want in our new kitchen. One of our inspirations is actually from a Retro Renovation story that ran long before the House of Good Taste was even a twinkle in our eye, Rebecca and Keith’s Mad Men kitchen remodel. When we saw their amazing walnut cabinets we made a mental bookmark in the hopes that someday we could incorporate something similar in our own kitchen remodel. Our second source of inspiration comes from a photo of the original House of Good Taste kitchen that ran in the September 1964 issue of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine (which we were able to find our own original copy of).

Here (above) is sample board of the basic finishes we have selected.

1. Full overlay slab walnut cabinets stained natural.
2. Caesarstone quartz countertops in “Blizzard”
3. Dal Tile 3×9 oval from the Natural Hues collection for the backsplash, to be laid in a stacked format. A far more budget friendly option than the similar style from Heath Ceramics we first came across

The walnut cabinets will be the star of the show in the kitchen. We feel that having them against a back drop of the polished concrete floors, white ceilings and walls, and white counter tops and backsplash, will make them a show stopper. But don’t worry, we will have some pops of color mixed in there with Lindsey’s Cathrineholm collection.

We are not making any radical changes to the layout of the modest sized 13×13 kitchen, but simply spacing things out a little bit to be more ergonomic and visually appealing.

• The double wall ovens will be replaced by a single oven built into the lower cabinetry under a induction cook top. This will free up space for a larger pantry and fridge.
• The pantry will house the microwave to keep it out of sight, which goes along with our decision to not have any wall outlets cut into the backsplash, but instead the outlets are housed under the upper cabinets to keep a clean seamless look along the backsplash.
• We will not reinstall a door in the entryway to the kitchen. There was originally one there, but we feel not having one will make things feel more open and not be interfere with the pantry doors

• Lower cabinets will mostly be large drawer units.

• A new 8′ long sliding glass door will replace the current french doors that we assume replaced the original sliding door long ago.

• A very strategically sized and placed island will serve as our kitchen table and seat 4 people on three sides comfortably.  The fourth side (near the sink) will have pull out drawers for trash and recycling. Pulling off the island that could do all this as well as allow 40+ inches of walkway on all sides took a bit of configuring.

While the guys from L&D construction execute our kitchen plans we are busy working on some of details items:

We scored 4 matching vintage perforated cylinder wall sconces by EJS, the company that is famous for their 1959 Stockholm series, which is now commonly reproduced. Sadly these were given a faux “wood grain” paint finish by their previous owner, but with a little bit of elbow grease and gold paint, they should be a stunning addition to the entryway hall.

We were also inspired by a recent Retro Renovation post about doorbell chimes and decided to reach out to Robert at ElectraChime for more information. We were trilled to discover he also is a collector/seller of original vintage chimes and was able to sell us just the perfect chime. Unfortunately we could not fit a long tube chime, but went with the short tube type commonly referred to as a resonator. We got a Rittenhouse model 8271 in near perfect condition.

We have several other significant projects getting under way in the rest of the house, which should make our next installment the best yet!

Mike and Lindsey — so far your kitchen is looking great! Thank you so very much, Mile, for continuing to chronicle and share your Retro Renovation journey.

Readers, we know you want to see the finished rooms — sorry for tantalizing you! Mike & Lindsey tell us the renovation is in its last phase — the big reveal of all their finished spaces should be coming soon!

Read all of Mike and Lindsey’s stories about their Edward Durell Stone House of Good Taste

The post Mike and Lindsey gut remodel the kitchen in their 1965 midcentury modern house appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Jacqueline and hubby Glen have tracked down some impressive vintage goodies on Craigslist in the past — but their latest find really struck gold — Harvest Gold, that is. When the couple needed to replace the selectively operational 27 inch GE stove in their new 1972 ranch home, they thought they had found an almond-colored replacement. However, after some detective work and a bottle of Citristrip, it turned out their kitchen had a colorful new treasure.

Jacqueline writes:

Hi Pam! I’ve written in before about my thrifty turquoise appliance finds and my brown 40 inch GE stove that I needed help identifying the color name.

A lot of changes in Glen’s and my life since then — we moved into a darling 1972 ranch home in Arizona. We still own our other home that is pretty small, and it is being rented by my son now. My husband likes his space, and now that we are in here, I do too!

We went from just under 1,100 sq. ft. to almost 1,700, which is nice, and we have the added bonus of a swimming pool, great for the weather around here!

My story today is that even though I absolutely love the turquoise appliances that we collected to be put into a new house that we found, it wasn’t in the cards. They will be installed in the little house. Our new kitchen won’t accommodate them and I really don’t see the necessity in re-doing a perfectly fine kitchen for that reason. So, my DH (he really is dear) has been on the hunt for 70’s appliances, ever since we moved in.

We found out that in this big old kitchen, our stove opening is only 27 inches. The original 27 inch space-maker had been replaced at some point we believe, and an almond 27 inch updated GE put in its place. We had problems with the almond one — it was giving me fits — so we started looking for the replacement with more haste. Ha! Try and find a 27 inch space-maker. No appliance makers other than GE manufacture them, and to be honest we were at the end of our rope, the new ones are $1,300-$1,400!! AND I didn’t really want “new.”

70s stove fresh from Craigslist — before they discovered the Harvest Gold hiding underneath.

Glen was on Craigslist, (his favorite past time) and showed me an ad for a free 27 inch stove in Phoenix, that said: “Remodeling, works great, don’t want it” (you know how they go.)

He called, made arrangements to get it the next afternoon, and brought it home. It’s almond…but the guy said it was a 1972?? (Same year as the house) I was puzzled, and so was Glen. It’s a P7 top of the line according to the model and serial numbers, but almond? Hmmm…

We got it inside and it looked like someone had patched a spot on the front with a badly matched porcelain paint. I rubbed at it a little and almond paint started to come off a bit. HOLY COW, I realized right then we had a stove from the early 70’s, that had been painted almond. We both looked at each other…..our stove was GE Harvest underneath all that almond!

I researched online to try to remove the paint, not a lot of info, but I remembered a post from your site, that some folks had used Citristrip to remove old paint from their bathtub and toilet in their vintage mobile home. They live close to us in Arizona, that is why I had their posting firmly in my mind!

[Precautionary Pam reminds that old paint may contain lead -- be sure to consult with a properly licensed professional to assess what you have so you can make informed decisions.]

Just finished this endeavor this morning, did the top yesterday, and the door this morning.

Oh Pam it is beautiful — and I am so happy to send you this and let you know how it turned out. It is perfect, no abrasions from sandpaper, it looks like it just came out of the GE carton. It shines, it’s full of chrome, and it is amazing. It was actually pretty easy, That stripping gel works so well (I’m so glad it wasn’t roughed up before they painted it.) We brought her back to her old self!

We do not have a Harvest gold fridge, and as you can see we are dealing with a black fridge, and a black dishwasher. Could be that is a quest for Glen..he is always looking!

The floors are a light VCT, we had it installed before we moved in… I love it, it’s Armstrong Imperial Texture, “Pebble Tan.” The walls are painted with Valspar Satin low VOC “Imagine.”  I love the pinky orange color, it may not come through that well in those pictures.

I am in the process of painting the cabinets too, you can see the bare wood under the stove area but it’s not horrible, It’s just a little at a time. I have a few done which don’t show in the pictures, they are a little more white than the others — Sherwin Williams “Creamy.”

Here is a shot of our Whirlpool Laundry pair.  We have grown fond of this color for sure!

I also included a picture of our “Roxy”  She reminds me so much of Kate’s puppy! Only she is much older than he and kinda grouchy..it’s just age!

Thank you for ALL your time and energy that you and Kate put into helping us through our projects, and all the good advice.

Wow Jacqueline and Glen, not only did you guys save a bundle ($1,400) sourcing a stove for free on Craigslist, but kudos to you for restoring this stove to its former glory. Mega thanks for sharing your success story with us.

Read more about Harvest Gold —
our 2014 Retro Renovation color of the year

.

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Reader Angela loved the vintage Amerock starburst backplates that Kate used on her bathroom vanity.  So when she needed hardware for her kitchen cabinets, Angela wanted starbursts. Angela found them on Ebay, but at $28 each it would have cost nearly $1,000 for just the 34 backplates she needed. Instead of giving up, Angela got creative — and made an army of sparkly aqua acrylic copies from one Amerock original.

Angela writes:

I really wanted atomic starburst backplates in my kitchen, but good grief they were expensive. I didn’t want the Rejuvenation Hardware version with four measly points, I wanted a vintage atomic with eight points! I found a whole hoard of new old stock on eBay, but ouch! $28 each? I needed 34 of them!

So, I purchased one of the eBay versions and got to work.  I made molds with Easymold Silicone Putty. (affiliate link)
.

Then, I cast the backplates using Craft Casting Clear Epoxy (affiliate link).  It took quite a bit of trial and error as the color I was trying to achieve was teal … not blue, not green, not turquoise, teal!  I was trying to match the original tile sizzle stick in my kitchen’s backsplash. I started by practicing with colors I didn’t care for, with the most inexpensive craft glitter, then went into the teal attempts. By the time I was done, I had more than 100 extras! Did I mention I am obsessed with atomic starbursts?  Yeah.

To get matching knobs, I purchased very inexpensive ceramic dead stock from a junk shop near my home, 0.33¢ each. I coated the knobs with the matching glitter mix, then with numerous coats of clear acrylic.

Long story short, the knobs and backplates came out great. And, they’ve been up in my kitchen for about 6 months with no issues on durability.

Two bonuses:

I traded all of the extra knobs and backplates with my favorite MCM second-hand shop owner.  I got a fabulous floor lamp … with starbursts on it!  He’s using my leftovers to googie up his finds.

This was pre-repair.  Someone else had already tried to fix the knob.

I was also able to fix the knob on my yellow Deluxe DeVille model O’Keefe & Merritt stove I bought off Craigslist from L.A.  I couldn’t find another knob anywhere.  Apparently, the DeVille model was only made for a few years, so I:

• Found an old knob with the same shaft
• Removed every piece of the shaft from the knob I wanted to keep
• Broke apart the replacement knob and sawed out the shaft
• Glued the shaft on with the right stuff and really let it dry (like a week)
• Filled the inside of the knob with acrylic to support the glued-in shaft

So far, it’s working great!

NOTE: The acrylic is really sticky!  Keep it in a safe place, away from foofy dog tails, while it’s drying!

As the fellow owner of a dog with a ‘foofy’ tail, I agree — keeping curious pups away from sticky substances — like wet paint or uncured acrylic — is a must. Wow — way to be resourceful Angela! Mega thanks for sharing your tips and tricks with us.

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Where to get those cute metal vents for a sink cabinet in a kitchen or bathroom? Yesterday, we looked at Dawn’s black-and-white tile bathroom remodel (fabulous) — and she pointed us to where to get a sink base vent. It’s quite inexpensive and kind of… perfect!  Where did she get it? –>

She found this cute metal sink base, part number WPI-12-26STN (*affiliate link*) at The Hardware Hut. It’s officially called a “ventilating louver,” and it’s by Washington Products, Inc.

This piece is just under 10.5″ wide and is well sized to look good underneath above that single base cabinet door and below the relatively small bathroom sink.

Looks like you cut a hole to size in your wood cabinet and pop the little guy right in. I tend to believe these were more commonly used in kitchen sink base cabinets — but this looks great in Dawn’s 1940s style bathroom, too. And, yes, it would be functional — allowing for some evaporation if the water pipe in the cabinet drips.

Above: This is the way the vents are set up in the sink base of my vintage Geneva steel kitchen cabinets. This sink base is 42″ wide. If your kitchen sink base is similarly wide, you might consider using two of the Hardware Hut sink vents — with a logo or some such in between, like my sink base design. What I’m saying is: Maybe don’t put in a sink vent that is “too dinky” for a wide sink base cabinet. Ugh. I am obsessive about such things. I will have Kate do a mock up to see.

Meanwhile, yay, metal sink vent discovered! Thanks, Dawn! Link love: See more of Dawn’s kitchen at her blog digadig home.

The post Where to buy a metal vent grille for a sink base cabinet appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Reader Elizabeth and her husband have been hard at work fixing up their 1920s era farmhouse in Texas — most recently completing their retro red and white kitchen remodel. To find the finishing touch, it would take a trip all the way to Ireland — where the couple found Cath Kidston cowboy wallpaper — vintage western appeal perfect for the accent wall leading into the cheery new kitchen. 

Elizabeth writes:

I thought I would send you some photos of how our summer facelift went on our 1920s era farm house, which is located on our ranch, thereby making it a ranch house??  (What are the rules for what constitutes a ranch-style house, anyway??)

Above: Here are some ancient “befores” from when we bought the place furnished in 2012…of the kitchen as we inherited it.

Next is a photo of when I got the red NorthStar for my wedding anniversary (July 2013), but with old cabinets, cabinet pulls, and counters.

We leveled the pier and beam foundation, which necessitated new floors, paint, kitchen cabinets, and ceilings.  We took up the 1990s vinyl parquet floors and laid down wood laminate; and took off the popcorn ceilings and put wood beam ceilings — taking it back in time a bit.

Here is the most beautiful wallpaper in the world–strawberries with a Delft plate, discovered in the kitchen during remodeling…it had jute backing and was estimated to be from the 1920s.  Boy, did I want some of that back in there.  Pink flowered wallpaper was also estimated to be about that old, also found in kitchen.

The countertops are dark gray with red boomerang countertops from Wilsonart.

Your recent article on what one accent wall of wallpaper can do was so true–we tried it ourselves, and like the effect. Why, yes, that IS Cath Kidston “Cowboy” wallpaper, what else??  The funny thing is that we were on vacation in July to Scotland and Ireland. While in Belfast, we walked down a street to a restaurant, and there in front of us was a real live Cath Kidston store!  I begged my husband to take me in, as I had seen her on your website, and we walked out with Cowboy wallpaper designed and made in England, bought in Northern Ireland, and dragged home lovingly to Texas where it OBVIOUSLY belongs, haha!

• See our story: Bathroom towels — 3 vintage style designs from Cath Kidston.

Next room is the kitchen, with its red Northstar refrigerator that started my obsession with your website.  And that room leads into the laundry room, where Hubby let me put my beloved red and white VCT tiles!

My husband made me go to the local hardware store today, so while there, I photographed our laundry room floor tile from the Azrock Collection of Houston. We love that it was made in USA! He chose the non-spotted/non-streaky solid colors, which unbeknownst to us cost “premium” prices. Surprise! It was very expensive for VCT tile!

• See our story 10 places to buy retro red refrigerators.

I hope these bright red photographs cheer up your broken arm, and that you continue to feel better and better.

The pink Big Chill is in my Ranchette, a knotty pine cabin in the backyard of the Ranch House.  I wanted them put together with an attached garage.  That’s what started all the trouble.  To put the attached garage on to both houses, it required the old ranch house to be leveled…which necessitated the new walls, floors, ceilings, cabinets, etc.

And the most exciting news of all, I am closing on October 27th on a 1965 traditional brick home that has been a rent house — with ORIGINAL PINK BATHROOM and ORIGINAL MINT GREEN BATHROOM and ORIGINAL KITCHEN with ORIGINAL rather boring cream colored Formica, but HEY!  It’s from 1965, so I’m happy!  The only thing new in the house is the floors where they have laid cheap indestructible ceramic tile.  EXCEPT the entry hall which is ORIGINAL TERRAZZO.  Also, the house is FULL of ORIGINAL WOOD PANELING and BUILT-INS.  I cannot wait to get in that house.  I … will photograph it and submit for a Retro Design Dilemma!!

And finally is a photo of me…a selfie taken at our historic house in town built in 1873…which is another lovely story.  But the only thing midmod about it is the fabulous closet we added on, and the mint green Northstar refrigerator.  But I digress.

Wow, Elizabeth, you are one busy remodeling maven. Yes, we want to get regular updates of your many projects in three — soon to be four — houses and/or cabins. Woot! We want to have all those historic rooms to decorate, too! You need your own HGTV show, we’re not kidding!

We love the Cath Kidston cowboy wallpaper accent wall — it  really helps tie the kitchen and the living area together,while adding visual interest and retro western appeal great for your real deal ranch house. Nicely done — thank you for sharing!

Pam adds: Elizabeth, I adore the wallpaper, and the kitchen is great. But it’s that photo of your husband that had me all crackers. I am reading in to it that he was … putting up with it all. And then you had to take a picture. Classic. Just classic. In the running for my favorite photo of 2014. The best. xoxo

The post Elizabeth’s red and white kitchen and Cath Kidston cowboy wallpaper appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Amy was at an estate sale searching for vintage goodies to stock her shop Vintage Déjà Vu, when she spotted this 1957 Harrison pink steel kitchen — perfect to use as a display in her store. She expressed her interest in purchasing the kitchen and to her surprise, a day later she received a call from the homeowners agreeing to sell it to her — yet another story showing that it always pays to ask.

Amy writes:

I own a small vintage store that I just opened in February. Just this week we installed a 1957 Harrison Pink metal kitchen as a display piece. I was told by a few people that I should contact Retro Renovation to see if you were interested in posting the story. I also hope that more people would see my story and learn to ask if these things are for sale at estate sales or leave notes to save the few that are left!

The story….

I was at an estate sale and noticed the pink kitchen, and it was love at first site! I took a chance and asked the people at the sale if it was for sale. They said they didnt think so, but they would pass along my number to the owners. A few days after the sale I got a call from the owners saying, YES, it was for sale just make us an offer! I made them an offer and picked up the kitchen. Sadly, I found out the house is more than likely going to be torn down, so it made me love this piece even more knowing that I saved it! It’s far from good condition, but perfect for a display piece to hold all my kitchen items. I would have put it in my condo if I didn’t live in a studio, but now I get to enjoy it every day at work!

You can see more of the goodies from Amy’s store and photos of the installation process of her 1957 Harrison pink metal kitchen on her Facebook page:

• Vintage Déjà Vu on Facebook

Mega thanks to Amy for sharing her story and photos with us — and thanks, too, to the readers who told her to contact us — woot!

Read all our stories about vintage steel kitchens

The post Amy saves a 1957 Harrison pink steel kitchen — now on display in her vintage shop appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Big news for retro laminate lovers — Wilsonart has revived two historic patterns from their archives: Compre from the 1960s — and Daisy from the 1970s. These designs come in 12 colorways, including several in original 60s and 70s hues. These retro revival laminate patterns are part of Wilsonart’s enlarged Virtual Design Library, which now contains some 150 unique designs produced via high-resolution digitally printing (vs. made with deco paper) available by special order. Use them for your retro kitchen countertop, bathroom countertop — or even, furniture!

Disclosure: Earlier this year I met with Wilsonart to discuss vintage laminates and laminates available today for midcentury style kitchens and bathrooms and ways we might be able to work together to get more vintage-style designs and colorways back on the market. While I was not involved specifically in the rollout of these designs shown today, I saw the original document prints, provided a few suggestions, and encouraged this effort. I continue to work with Wilsonart in this area and if any collaborative projects result, will disclose the blog’s involvement.

• While I was there I visited the Wilsonart House — nom nom pink bathroom!

Daisy laminate by Wilsonart — reproduction of a 1970s pattern

“Daisy is a design right out of our 1970’s archives. Popular in the early days of laminate, this smallscale graphic design has a random pattern of asterisks scattered on a white background,” Wilsonart says on their website. We sure like the look of this one, and can’t wait until we see the samples on their way to us.

We asked Natalia Smith, design manager at Wilsonart, about the colorways chosen — are they authentic, based on the original designs? She told us via email:

Envy Daisy, Apricot Glow Daisy, and Autumn Lights Daisy are very, very close to the chips in our archives. Tropical Daisy, Field Daisy, and Wintergreen Daisy were inspired by the colors of the 1960’s and 70’s. I actually did a search on Pinterest for fashion of the 60’s and 70’s and some really fun things popped up. Field Daisy was inspired by a crochet dress pattern from the 60’s! Of course, we needed the Ice Daisy to satisfy the group who love black and white. It’s actually interesting to see it in grey scale; it takes on more of the asterisk look than a daisy.

The scale of the pattern — the daisies and the way they are sprinkled about — are also close to the original.

Hey: Click on any of these photos — and they will enlarge on screen, so that you can see more of the detail.

Envy Daisy – pattern of lime, olive and pine asterisks scattered on a white background. Color: Very close to the original design.

Apricot Glow Daisy – pattern of tan, coral, and brick asterisks scattered on a white background. Color: Very close to the original design.

Autumn Lights Daisy – pattern of yellow, orange, and brown asterisks scattered on a white background. Color: Very close to the original design.

Tropical Daisy — pattern of pink, orange and purple asterisks scattered on a white background.

Field Daisy — pattern of yellow, blue, and green asterisks scattered on a white background.

Ice Daisy — pattern of silver, taupe and battleship grey asterisks scattered on a white background.

Wintergreen Daisy – pattern of mint green, aqua blue, and pewter scattered on a white background.

Compre laminate by Wilsonart — reproduction of a 1960s pattern

“Compre are designs right out of our 1960’s archives,” Wilsonart said, “It is a medium-scale retro pattern featuring abstract botanical designs of stylized trees on select backgrounds.”

Regarding the colorways, Smith told us,

In regards to the Compre design, from what we can tell, the design was on an overlay and paired with our solid colors of the time. Think Gold Lame or Glitter. Glitter was an overlay paired with solid color papers. Our Compre designs today are printed which allowed us to get as close as possible to original colors, but not exact. It is very difficult to match a printed color to a solid color paper that is made from a color slurry.

Pink Compre — with a pale pink background.

Cadet Compre – a pale blue-grey background.

White Compre — a white background.

Yellow Compre — a yellow background.

Mint Compre — a pale mint green background.

Full text of our Q&A with Natalia Smith, design manager for Wilsonart:

Q. Are new patterns exact replicas of the originals? 

As close as possible. In the case of Daisy, the scale is the same. In the case of Compre, the scale is slightly smaller.

Q. If not, why did you decide to change the patterns in scale/pattern? 

In both cases, we did not have a lot of original material in order to be completely faithful to the original scale/pattern. We’re talking just chips. We had a lot more Daisy chips which made it a little easier to piece together. With Compre, we have even fewer chips. We were actually quite jazzed with the idea that we were “rewriting” history. We gathered the information we did have, and attempted to create a design that looks authentic.

Q. Are some of the colorways exact replicas? If not, how did you choose the new color ways? 

For some, as close as possible, for the rest we really were inspired by the era and had fun experimenting with color. Envy Daisy, Apricot Glow Daisy, and Autumn Lights Daisy are very, very close to the chips in our archives. Tropical Daisy, Field Daisy, and Wintergreen Daisy were inspired by the colors of the 1960’s and 70’s. I actually did a search on Pinterest for fashion of the 60’s and 70’s and some really fun things popped up. Field Daisy was inspired by a crochet dress pattern from the 60’s! Of course, we needed the Ice Daisy to satisfy the group who love black and white. It’s actually interesting to see it in grey scale; it takes on more of the asterisk look than a daisy.

In regards to the Compre design, from what we can tell, the design was on an overlay and paired with our solid colors of the time. Think Gold Lame or Glitter. Glitter was an overlay paired with solid color papers. Our Compre designs today are printed which allowed us to get as close as possible to original colors, but not exact. It is very difficult to match a printed color to a solid color paper that is made from a color slurry.

Where to order Wilsonart Daisy and Compre vintage design laminate

Anyone can order 8″ x 10″ samples via Wilsonart’s website.

We also wanted to know whether consumers can order laminate directly from Wilsonart. In short — no — but you can order through normal retail channels. Marketing elaborated in response to our question:

I don’t think we can support customers calling us directly to order – at least not at this stage. On the other hand, they’ve always been able to order these products through a designer, a distributor or through the home centers.a consumer can order the VDL designs through Home Depot and Lowe’s.

The complete Wilsonart news release:

Wilsonart Expands Design Library with 150 New Designs
A Whole New World of Pattern is Just a Click Away

TEMPLE, TX (November 4, 2014) – For centuries, designers have searched for more design choices – in fabrics, wallcoverings, furnishings, and no less so, in laminates. Now Wilsonart has an answer – but it’s not on the wallboard, it’s online.

A leading manufacturer of decorative surfaces for more than 50 years, Wilsonart responds to the designers cry for more with 150 new designs, all available as part of a Virtual Design Library (www.wilsonart.com/VDL), an evolving, curated collection of laminates available in just 2-3 weeks from order.

“We’re already used to finding more products, more conveniently online in our personal lives,” said Gwen Petter, director of surface design at Wilsonart. “We thought ‘why not offer that same flexibility and easy access for laminate?’ So we started with a range of designs, some whimsical, some trendy, and some larger scale that really reposition laminate. Our long-range plan is to grow this ‘extended design offering’ to literally thousands of designs.”

The expanded design library was developed with two guiding factors: make it different and make it easy. “We make it different,” says Petter, “by sourcing designs from artists, from trends and even from photographic real life images. We make it easy by doing all the work for you. Unlike “custom” programs, our graphic designers have done all the work ahead of time – the color matching, layout and image adjustment. You get more without having to do more. We think that’s what designers really want.”

By visiting www.Wilsonart.com/VDL designers can access this curated library with patterns ranging from photorealistic imagery such as food and floral patterns to abstract and artistic graphics that subtly set a mood. Think color and bold graphics. Think fun with artistic flair. Those are the themes of the first iteration of designs to join the expanded Wilsonart® Laminate collection.

“It’s like that magical moment when music lovers discovered iTunes,” remarked Natalia Smith, design manager at Wilsonart. “Designers can begin to have access to design selection that will continue to grow and evolve with year-round additions from our design team, as well as emerging artists, illustrators, and designers we’ve sourced from around the globe.”

The first 150 designs fall into 9 themed collections: Geometrics, Folk Art, Retro, Sports, Woodgrains, Youthful, Study Hall, Delectable and Nature. Wilsonart plans to expand the online library with additional collections throughout 2015 and beyond. Many of the curated patterns in this collection are also available in broad colorways, providing even more choice and inspiration.

“Take Geometrics, for example,” says Smith. “They are a great way of adding interest in a trend-savvy way. So much of what we see today is a skillful, yet casual mix of ideas and color. You can have a space where historical, time-worn features form a backdrop for an eclectic mixture of flea market finds and bold pops of large-scale color and pattern.”

Selection is one thing. But what about delivery? Wilsonart’s new offer comes with speedy turn-around on everything – just 2-3 weeks from factory to fabricator. Samples are readily available online at www.wilsonart.com/VDL  or through Wilsonart’s stellar Customer Service Center at 800-433-3222.

Don’t forget, Wilsonart also offers retro boomerangs as part of this collection, which we’ve covered before, too.

This is beyond exciting folks! Kate and I have requested samples already so we can see these fabulous new options in person — we’ll surely be back with more about these fun new patterns!

Link love:

• See Wilsonart’s retro designs in their Virtual Design Library — you can order samples here, too

The post Wilsonart reissues two vintage laminate designs from the 1960s and 1970s — Daisy and Compre — 12 colors appeared first on Retro Renovation.

The sheer ridiculousness of my latest acquisition for *the Retro Renovation museum* is amusing me to no end. Yes: This vintage St. Charles kitchens model toy truck. I will guestimate, from the graphics, that it is from the mid-80s.

I spotted it on ebay and snapped it up, tout suit.

The truck looks to be all steel — like the cabinets, I am sure. The wheels turn… the back doors open… the back part hooks onto the front part. It’s all very fancy.

• Read all of our stories about vintage metal kitchen cabinets — we’ve identified more than 70 brands made in the postwar era — here. 

It was made in the USA by the Ertl Company — a fascinating company in business since 1945 — but which I knew nothing about until I went to look just now. From the Ertl Co.’s history page:

Fred Ertl Sr. started making toy tractors in the furnace of his home, in 1945. He was a journeyman molder at a Dubuque firm that was temporarily idled by a strike. With a wife and five sons to support, he started taking defective aluminum aircraft pistons and melting them down. He poured this aluminum into sand molds, and started making toy tractors.

By 1946, the basement wasn’t big enough, so the business moved to a 1,040 square foot building in Dubuque.

By 1947 Ertl was incorporated and moved into a larger 11,000 square foot building. Mr. Ertl met with people at Deere & Company and was able to get approval to produce toy tractors with the John Deere name. The first John Deere toy tractor produced was a Model “A”.

In 1959, Ertl built a larger facility in Dyersville, IA and moved all production to that facility. The Ertl Company was acquired by Victor Comptometer Corporation in 1967 which was subsequently purchase by Kidde, Inc. in 1977.

By 1980, Ertl was producing close to one million die-cast tractor items per year. In 1982, Ertl’s line consisted of over 60 different John Deere items alone.

In the late 1990’s both Racing Champions and Ertl produced replicas of the John Deere racing cars as driven by Chad Little; Racing Champions and Ertl merged forces in 1999.

In the last 20 years, Ertl—now RC2—has produced over 58 million die-cast tractors and implements to delight kids and collectors throughout the world.

Heck to the yeah! We had little John Deere tractors at my house growing up, for sure! So fun to know this history!

Surely, this must have been made for retailers to display?

DH saw this sitting in my office. He loved it and wants to display it in the kitchen. This is the most excited I’ve seen him about an addition to my vintage hoard treasure chest in ages!

The post St. Charles kitchens toy truck — made by The Ertl Company appeared first on Retro Renovation.

After we featured where to buy the metal sink vent that Dawn used on her bathroom sink cabinet, the Retro Decorating Gods delivered unto Pam this ebay stash of NOS cabinet sink vents — including double-wide versions. Manufactured by Washington Steel Products of Tacoma, Washington, these were officially called “cabinet ventilating louvers.” The New Old Stock stash includes vents in a variety of sizes and colors. 

This is how they should look, once installed. Reader Brian believes these are original to his 1958 ranch house kitchen. Nice! Thank you, Brian, for giving us permission to show your photo!

From one of Heirloom Hardware’s listings:

This auction is for 1 new old stock unused primered gray steel louvered cabinet ventilating cover.  It comes pre-primered and can be painted any color of your choice. This would look nice in a vintage travel trailer, below the kichen sink or above the refrigerator.   Manufactured by washington steel products, inc., Tacoma washington, U.S.A. Louver size: height: 3-1/4″ , length: 17″ Opening size: height: 2-7/16″ , length: 14-1/4″

This featured vent is primed only — so it can be painted to match the cabinets in your kitchen or bathroom. Heirloom Hardware also has a variety of other NOS vintage cabinet vents in finishes like silver, copper, black, gray, red, brass and bronze — in addition to loads of other vintage hardware goodies from the 40s through 60s.

Another added bonus — this NOS cabinet ventilating louver comes in its original packaging — which is always fun to ogle.

Mega thanks to Ebay seller okatiedid aka Heirloom Hardware for letting us feature these photos.

• See Heirloom Hardware’s entire stash of NOS cabinet ventilation louvers on eBay (affiliate link).

The post Stash of NOS kitchen sink cabinet vents made by Washington Steel Products appeared first on Retro Renovation.

As we like to say here, “There’s more than one way to retro.” This circa-1974 St. Charles Kitchens catalog — just added to my personal collection — proves it, yet again. St. Charles trots out their interior design experts and shows one harvest gold kitchen … decorated in six different styles of the day. From Early American to Mediterranean to 70s Contemporary — and more — they show us how to get our 70s style cookin’.

1. 1970s country style kitchen:

Use checkboard wallpaper, delft backsplash tile and butcher block cabinets to create a Dutch “Country Charm” kitchen.

• Viewing tip: Click on the photos – they will double in size on screen.

2. Contemporary 1970s style kitchen:

Dig the stainless steel backsplash and appliances, the woven wood shade, smoked glass table and oh my, the fabulous floor in this kitchen that St. Charles anointed “Contemporary Sophistication.”

• Note: There is no date anywhere on my catalog. I’m guestimating 1974 based on… the clothing.

3. 1970s Early American kitchen:

There’s an ox yoke in one of the other photos that goes with this kitchen design. Did I ever mention: I have an ox yoke. It has a mirror in it. It came from Grandpa. I think he made it. From an old implement used on the farm. Shoot me. I am sure I will never be able to throw it out. St. Charles officially called the style “American Heritage.”

4.  1970s flower power kitchen:

Of course, the flower power kitchen is my favorite. The cabinetry in this design is painted Dover White, St. Charles says. The design is “The Now Look.”

Note: Harvest Gold was introduced to kitchen appliances in Spring 1968. It was one of the longest enduring color trends — popular through at least 1984. Above: Other colors available from St. Charles this year. And YO: The cabinets are textured steel, “St. Charles DURALON finish” with a “soft-to-the-touch feeling of fine-grained leather.” Why did steel kitchen cabinets introduce texture to their cabinetry? I hypothesize: To better mask fingerprints and better hide dings. There also may have been a desire to make them appear more organic, less… antiseptic.  I’ve also talked about steel cabinet maker’s introduction of wood door fronts, too.

• See my History of Steel Kitchen Cabinets — 70+ designs identified so far!

5. 1970s Mediterranean style kitchen:

And of course, we have the “Spanish Villa,” or as we have been known to call it, the “Casa de Torquemada” kitchen style. Ya gotta love the creativity.

6. 1970s Asian style kitchen:

I feel like this “Oriental Influence” kitchen concept is something you’d have seen in Florida. Don’t forget the electric wok!

Memories of the 1970s, anyone?

The post 1970s kitchen design — one harvest gold kitchen decorated in 6 distinct ’70s styles appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Breaking news and first on the interwebs, yay: We discovered today that the new Formica® Laminate Jonathan Adler Collection — nine designs in all — was posted on the Formica website in advance of its official introduction scheduled for Jan. 21 at KBIS. AFTERNOON UPDATE: But whoopsydoodle, Formica published the page accidentally, and it was immediately taken down. So, you had like a one hour window to see all the goods. Didja? Meanwhile, because we were cautious about using images from the website that we … guessed … were not supposed to be live yet … Formica’s PR rep sent us some super special sneak-peek images. We are told this is on the only place on the web where you can see all the designs — woot! Brenda Starr reporting.

Jonathan Adler designed three patterns — in nine colorways — for Formica

Note: For this special sneak peak we only have the thumbnails, above.

Lacquered Linen:

There are four colorways for Lacquered Linen, the most “useful” of all the designs. Colors are Crème Lacquered Linen, Green Lacquered Linen, Orange Lacquered Linen and Charcoal Lacquered Linen. Likely, they’ll sell a lot of those Creme and Charcoals, but you know us: We are digging that burnt orange and rich avocado big time. Funky and rich retro classiques.

• Note, other companies have introduced linen-pattern laminates over the past few years. See all our laminate research in our Kitchen / Countertops category here. 

Greek Key:

Greek keys are a signature Adler motif. While we’re not big fans of the pattern — too contemporary for us — we do appreciate the relatively small scale. Colors are Orange Greek Key, Blue Greek Key and Charcoal Greek Key.

And, among all the three new Jonathan Adler designs for Formica we also like that he created (1) tone-on-tone prints and (2) made them multi-directional. That is, the pattern runs both horizontally and vertically in the same measure. Faux butcher block notwithstanding, this is what we like to see in a patterned laminate: Tone-on-tone, multi-directional prints — abstract, ideally, because laminate is a man-made material, it does not need to pretend to be something else.

Malachite:

Okay so maybe these aren’t tone-on-tone, well, not in namby pamby way. We like ‘em. Cuz we like krazy. Colors are Blue Malachite and Charcoal Malachite.

Nicely done, Formica and Jonathan Adler! In particular, we appreciate the COLOR.

Pricing and where to buy:

Formica PR says this will be available to order and purchase at Big Box stores. The designs are rotagravure-printed — this is the method used for mass production. Which means, I will speculate, that these design will be available at a typical retail price — around $100 or less per sheet, similar to other production laminates. If I’m right, that’s great news. Officially, here is Formica’s estimate of retail pricing, installed:

Samples:

We presume these will be available after official launch Jan. 21.

Jonathan Adler, photo by Maura McEvoy

More information:

Official launch is not until Jan. 21. Here is info from Formica’s October news release:

Formica Corporation, the inventor of laminate, has partnered with iconic potter, designer, and author Jonathan Adler to create nine bold new designs exclusively for Formica’s 2015 Residential Line. The new laminate patterns will be unveiled at the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) in Las Vegas in January 2015.

The collection will include many of Jonathan’s signature patterns in an array of hues ranging from subtle to bold. Perfect for countertops, accent walls, cabinets and more, each style will reflect Jonathan’s spirit of iirreverent luxury and represents a bold update of a classic material.

The post Exclusive sneak peak: Jonathan Adler’s new Formica laminate collection — see the 9 designs appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Reader Shannan and her husband are in the midst of stripping paint from their original wood cabinets.  Shannan’s dilemma: She has asked for our advice on flooring, countertops and paint to complement the lovely woodtones, copper accents and aqua appliances. Bring on your ideas, readers — and Pam and I will be back at noon with our thoughts and some mood boards.

Shannan writes:

My husband and I peruse your site regularly for restoration ideas. We bought our 1959 ranch in 2013. We knew right away that this was the one. It was the most intact 50’s ranch we found. Most of them have been torn apart. We have painted every wall in the house and replaced the flooring. It was all carpeted, and we wanted something different. We are sticking to period appropriate flooring. We choose cork flooring for the bedrooms. We are in the process of replacing the carpet with red oak hardwood floors in the living room.

Shannan’s pink bathroom.

We even have a PINK bathroom upstairs. Still need a little work accessorizing, but that just takes time. We still have A LOT to do, but it will all come in time and money!

Here are some photos of what our kitchen looks like now. As you can see, it needs some help. We started two summers ago stripping the paint off our kitchen cabinets! We didn’t realize how much work it was and how little time we actually have…. So that project came to a halt. This winter we will be restoring our kitchen with period appropriate flooring and refinishing our birch cabinets, having a contractor come in early in the year to do the whole kitchen for us. Our plans in our kitchen ‘retro restoration’ include stripping cabinets and adding drawer glides and cabinet pull outs.

Also, we are trying to think of a way to better utilize the corner. A new boomerang countertop from Heffrons in Glacier is going to be installed. We are going with a neutral countertop color, because this summer I was lucky enough to find the turquoise cooktop to match the oven!

I have been struggling with a floor pattern. We know we want a VCT floor but are not sure of the color scheme. It needs to complement the original hotpoint turquoise oven and copper backsplash. This where we need some help. We definitely want to go with a VCT that won’t clash with the copper backsplash. We will replace the fridge at a later time. Any recommendations would be helpful too.

I asked Shannon — which Glacier laminate was she contemplating? The grey and white or the turquoise? Her response:

I guess we are still trying to decide between the two for the laminate countertop. I assume we will be putting metal banding too around the edges. Also need some help with a paint color for the contrasting picture window. Or any other paint options you may have in mind. I was looking some old posts of kitchen remodels last night and found one I really like:

• Sarah’s “super economical” retro kitchen remodel featuring salvaged vintage wood cabinets

I also attached some pictures of some of our vintage copper light fixtures.

Then, Pam and I noticed the GOLD SPARKLE LAMINATE countertop that Shannan currently has — the envy of many a Retro Renovator — and wondered why she was replacing it. Was it in bad shape? Shannan replied:

Yes, it is in terrible shape. Do you know of a way to clean it? There are some pretty gross stains on it. It’s not so sparkly anymore.

Okay, readers — Shannan needs your suggestions for what flooring, countertops, refrigerator and paint to use in her retro kitchen restoration. What do you think?

Pam and Kate respond:

First — Can you love the laminate you have?

Before we get into the possible solutions, Pam and I both wanted to drive home the point that fundamentally, we love the gold sparkle laminate countertop that Shannan already has. She says it is stained and not in good shape, but … it’s so desirable, can she live with any imperfections? When Pam and I were discussing the solutions for Shannan, we both agreed that if it were available today, gold sparkle laminate would be the perfect solution for Shannan’s countertops — that was before we realized they already were gold sparkle. See our story on Formica’s recommendations for six products to clean laminate. Of it that fails, perhaps cover the stained area with a drop in cutting board or trivet with hudee ring from Vance Industries?

• Gold sparkle laminate countertop — all mine after years of searching
• 70 vintage Wilsonart samples, including “Gold Satellite” shown above
• How laminate is made

All that said, we did consider replacement options…. on to our suggestions…

Some fundamental thoughts: Mixing warm and cold can be tricky

Pam here now. I had a tough time with this one — as I did in my own, turquoise-cabinet kitchen. The reason: Your aqua stove is a “cool” color. Your cabinets, cabinet hardware, backsplash, lighting and current countertop: “warm.” I think that getting warn and cool colors to harmonize — especially when you are dealing with very large swaths — such as the mass of cabinets and how they combine with the mass of floor — is tricky.

I drove Kate a little nuts making mood boards to try and begin to assess how to balance warm vs. cool colors. For sure, I would get all the samples, put them in my space and torture myself and DH for a good long time, before I made a final decision.

Here you go:

Option 1a: Cool Glacier countertop, Cool Raw Silk floor

Above:

• White GE Artistry refrigerator
• Vitros Glacier boomerang laminate from Heffron’s
• Azrock TexTile VCT floor in Raw Silk
• Paint — aqua color to match the vintage appliances

This option is Kate’s favorite. It would make for a light feeling kitchen with the light flooring, white and grey countertops and white refrigerator. Making the wall turquoise would add color to the space along with the vintage aqua appliances that Shannan already has. The cabinets and copper backsplash and light fixtures help warm up the space. Shannan could also add a few more pops of orange or pale yellow to bring more visual warmth to the room.

• Note: Congoleum also offers four colorways of streaky retro style ‘jaspe’ tile. 

Option 1b: Cool Glacier countertop, Warm Autumn Haze floor 

Above:

• White GE Artistry refrigerator
• Vitros Glacier boomerang laminate from Heffron’s
• Azrock Cortina VCT floor in Autumn Haze*– like in Pam’s kitchen
• Paint — aqua color to match the vintage appliances

See how the warm floor and the cool countertop are competing, compared to 1a? Pammy no likey.

*Ugh. After doing all the work on these mood boards, we discovered that Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze has been discontinued. However, there are other colors in the new(ish) Azrock TexTile line that are good substitutes, so we’ll continue as planned…

Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze in reader Julie’s kitchen — wood cabinets, aqua dishwasher. Uploaded to our story about finishing longterm projects.

But, I like the warm floor with the warm cabinets.

• See Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze in four kitchens.

Option 2: Cool turquoise Glacier countertop, Warm Autumn Haze floor

Above:

• White GE Artistry refrigerator
• Vitros Turquoise Glacier boomerang laminate from Heffron’s
• Azrock Cortina VCT floor in Autumn Haze – Haze – like in Pam’s kitchen
• Paint — aqua color to match the vintage appliances

Even though the countertop is still technically cool, Pammy likey better, because there’s more color in the countertop — the aqua — and for some reason, that helps.

YES: In this kitchen, Pam loves the idea of stainless steel edging. It will look great.

Option 3a: Cool Charcoal countertop, Cool Raw Silk floor

Above:

• White GE Artistry refrigerator
• Formica charcoal boomerang laminate
• Azrock TexTile VCT floor in Raw Silk
• Paint — aqua color to match the vintage appliances

Pam is liking the charcoal Formica. The darkness is picking up on the blackhandles etc. of the stove.

Option 3b: Cool charcoal countertop, Warm Autumn Haze floor

Bradbury and Bradbury’s Atomic Doodle wallpaper, in turquoise, could look great on the soffits and back wll of this kitchen!

Above:

• White GE Artistry refrigerator
• Formica charcoal boomerang laminate
• Azrock Cortina VCT floor in Autumn Haze – Haze – like in Pam’s kitchen
• Paint — aqua color to match the vintage appliances

To ensure an all-brown/beige interior does not look too drab, (1) be sure the space is well lit and (2) add pops of a well saturaged cool color as an accent.

Option 4: Warm butterscotch countertop, warm Autumn Haze floor

Above:

• White GE Artistry refrigerator
• Wilsonart retro butterscotch boomerang laminate — like Amber used in her kitchen.
• Azrock Cortina VCT floor in Autumn Haze – Haze – like in Pam’s kitchen
• Paint — aqua color to match the vintage appliances

Those butterscotch boomies look great with wood cabinet, but we’re not so sure when your appliances are aqua.

Option 5: Cool solid aqua countertop, cool Raw Silk floor

Above:

• White GE Artistry refrigerator
• Abet Laminati laminate in Azzuro Mary (or coordinating aqua color — we’d likely try to get as close in color to the ovens as possible — get samples to be sure) – like Betty Crafter’s kitchen
• Azrock TexTile VCT floor in Raw Silk
• Paint — light yellow to bring more warmth to the space

A solid countertop aqua could look good.

Option 6: Cool solid aqua countertop, warm Autumn Haze floorAbove:

• White GE Artistry refrigerator
• Abet Laminati laminate in Azzuro Mary (or coordinating aqua color, get samples to be sure) – like Betty Crafter’s kitchen
• Azrock Cortina VCT floor in Autumn Haze – Haze – like in Pam’s kitchen
• Paint — light yellow to bring more warmth to the space …
• Or.Pam says, this one would look good with the Bradbury Atomic Doodle wallpaper, too. She says that this is also a favorite combo — because like the charcoal countertop, the aqua countertop reads like a new graphical element — and is a stock/deco paper (vs. special order/digital print) laminate.

Paired with the warm floor.

So there you go, Shannan. We bet that helped. Or confused you more. Which?

What do you think of these mood boards, readers?
Which would you choose?
Go “all warm” — or okay to add “cool” countertop and/or floor?

The post Flooring and countertops for Shannan’s 1950s kitchen appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Alas, after some 40 years on the market (at least), Azrock has discontinued my favorite retro floor — Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze. That’s the floor in my kitchen, above. And based on reading about it here, many readers have put it in their homes, too. I love this floor because of it’s “jaspe” design — the streakies and slubbies. But do not fret too much, those of you looking for a similar design. Tarket,  maker of Azrock, two years ago introduced 15 similar designs in their Azrock TexTile line.

There are two creamy beige colorways that look to be a good substitute for Autumn Haze, and 13 other colors ways.

• See all the colors, big, in our story here.
• Here is the Azrock site – they have numerous other styles that you also should check out, if you are in the market.

Props to Shannan for letting us know that really truly you could no longer get Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze. I didn’t believe her — readers have been told so many times by their local dealers that this was not available. Shannan’s dealer was so adamant, though, that I checked with the company yet again. And yup, this time is really seems like it’s discontinued. The story seems to be: Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze was “officially” discontinued two years ago. At that time, I was told by the company, ‘don’t worry though — it’s been such a popular floor historically that we will still make it for replacement tile purposes.’ But, even that seems to have ended. Like I said — go to TexTile.

In addition, check these out:

• Congoleum  has some jaspe designs.
• Armstrong has “Striations,” a 12″x24″ tile that you could use as is or conceivable cut in half to make 12″ x 12″s. See it in Sarah’s parent’s kitchen here.
• And okay, it’s not jaspe, but lookie this terrazzo-like Fritztile, spotted by reader ShannonV. Me likie.

 See all our Kitchen / Flooring research here.

The post Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze — discontinued — but fear not, there are proxies appeared first on Retro Renovation.

2014 was a great year for reissues of classic midcentury product designs.  Still, there are three very basic products — I’m trying not to be greedy — that I would love to see brought back to the market, mass produced for cost, quality and availability. My list is based on seven years of blogging about midcentury modest and modern homes, hearing about what Retro Renovators need and have been excited about whenever the products come up. 

1. Glitter laminate:

The absolutely positively #1 item on my list is glitter laminate. Made with deco paper — with real glitter inclusions, just like they were starting around 1950 all the way through the early 2000s — yes, this stuff was available for more than 50 years, non-stop. Today, this deco paper is still available — I have personally seen where it is made! Laminate manufacturers: I won’t even be greedy and ask for different colorways. Just give us a white (check the historic examples to get the rightish white) with gold glitter. The white field glitter laminate will solve for MULTITUDES of Retro Renovator kitchens and bathrooms.

• See all our stories about glitter laminate.

Alas — this neeeeds to be a production laminate — it can’t be digital special-order run.  As far as I know, the metal glitter cannot be replicated with current on-demand digital printers. That means this must be done with paper with real glitter inclusions. Laminate manufacturers must buy minimum (lotsa) size rolls of the deco paper… once they make the laminate, the sheets must be stored flat, in climate-controlled warehouses… and then there’s the whole marketing machine to get it out to the public. Note, I also tend to think that laminates made with deco paper (on a rotogravure press or as in the case of sparkle laminate, with real inclusions) are nicer looking — the ink saturation will be more intense… AND production laminates are much less expensive than on-demand digital prints because they are mass produced.

Pretty please with sprinkles on top: Will some laminate manufacturer take a big gulp and take a market risk on this? We’ll buy it! Maybe there are enough of us!

Gold Satellite had crackles in it. Cool. Super cool. But I just show this for a close up of the glitter. If we can have ONE design, just give us plain glitter, sans crackles.

 .
2. Double-bowl, dual-drainboard, metal-rimmed, cast-iron kitchen sink:

Number two on my list: A double-sink, double-drainboard, hudee-rimmed, porcelain-on-cast-iron kitchen sink. The photos above show vintage Kohler sinks from our story about 16 vintage Kohler kitchen sinks.

And above: A 1956 ad for the Kohler “Clearfield” sink — now we know its name. Thanks to ebay seller splittinimagecards for giving us permission to show this photo of this ad for sale, we love having it for our archive.

Note, we love the hudee-rimmed Kohler’s Delafield sink currently available today — it’s a go-to recommendation for a replacement kitchen sink. But oh dear Kohler, can we have a design with drainboards?

Hey, I’d even settle for a double bowl with one drainboard. OR, a single bowl with one or two drainboards. Must have the metal rim, though!

3. Armstrong #5352:

From a 1963 catalog in my personal collection. Some of the other colorways, which I pretty sure varied over time. Lookie the one with the pink!!!!

Armstrong Floors, can we have #5352 — believed to be the most popular flooring of all time — back, please? Unbelievable: This floor was made from at least 1935 through to the mid-1990s — 60-some years!

This classic rich brick red color would be fine if we can have only one color. But if you can do other colors, how about something light and creamy (predominantly warm, rather than cool)?

Armstrong #5352 started off as an embossed linoleum. We’ve spotted it in catalogs as early as 1935…

… As manufacturing techniques and the market changed, the floor was printed on vinyl. We have a reader who worked in the flooring department at Sears and said it was sold there through the mid-1990s.

Note: I am not saying Armstrong #5352 floor should be paired with a glitter-on-white laminate countertop. To me, the brick red screams “put me in a warm cozy midcentury modest kitchen” with a rich-colored countertop. But maybe I’d pair glitter laminate with a light, creamy colorway of the floor.

Updated: Like in Lori’s kitchen, photo below, thanks, Lori! Well, she says that floor originally had green squares, but they’ve faded with use. Still, you get the idea of how a monochrome meet-up between a beige 5352 floor and the glitter laminate could look:

And another update:

Reader Jan provided this photo (above) and the history:

Re: the Armstrong Brick flooring among the things we’d like to come back – I found this photo of the side porch at my grandmother’s house. This photo was taken in the late 1950s. My mom can’t remember when this floor was put down – she was born in 1934 and just always remembers it being there. I remember that it was a green colorway -very pretty! (The dogs are Come Here on the bench, Buster in the middle and Kilts on the right – Kilts was a full Scottish terrier and mom to the other two, who were “accidents” with a neighborhood dog – before spaying and neutering was the right thing to do!)

Thanks, Jan!

Some historical images from our files:

What do you think of my list, readers?
I’m wary of pushing our luck by being *too greedy*…
but for the “next wave” of we-wannas, what else?

The post 3 midcentury home design products we wish they’d bring back NOW appeared first on Retro Renovation.

It’s that time of year! We invite you to help us choose our “The Hard Way Award” winners for 2014. In our Kitchens category (Bathrooms, tomorrow) Pam and I chose four four finalists from among all the reader kitchen remodels we spotlighted last year. Take a look — and then vote now through Tuesday night for your favorite. Your vote will help inform our final selection, which we will announce in one week. 

#1 — Molly’s cross-country kitchen cabinet crusade:

Reader Molly got an 1,800-mile adventure along with her vintage steel kitchen cabinets. This intrepid retro remodeler commandeered a rental truck — and the help of a good friend — to pick up two different sets of vintage steel kitchen cabinets from Missouri, took them for powder coating in Illinois, and then drove them cross-country to her vacation home in Palm Springs before having them installed in her kitchen. One thing is for sure — there were no shortcuts on Molly’s renovation journey.

• Read the full story and see all the photos of Molly’s cross-country kitchen cabinet crusade and remodel here. (opens in a new window)

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#2 — LuRu’s midcentury sci-fi dream kitchen with tiles she made by hand:

LuRu — a ceramic artist — knew she had to do something to make her home’s tiny kitchen more visually interesting. She had a limited budget for the remodel, but she got creative and used her talents to hand make 64 square feet of tile for her kitchen backsplash. Not only are the tiles LuRu made gorgeous, but she also made a special ‘stovescape’ depicting an atomic space theme. LuRu’s hard work and vision transformed her tiny kitchen a real work of art.

• Read the full story and see all the photos of LuRu’s sci-fi dream kitchen with handmade tiles here. (opens in a new window)

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#3 — Luke and his family rebuild and restore a 1953 kitchen:

Reader Luke and his parents made restoring the flood damaged, poorly maintained kitchen in their new 1953 home a family affair. Instead of gutting the space, the family realized the value of the kitchen’s original features. They chose to instead repair, rebuild and refinish the kitchen cabinets and add new appliances, new flooring and laminate countertops. Even Luke’s grandmother got into the restoration by sewing curtains for the space based on a design she saw in our post on cafe curtains. This family labor of love helped to turn this once sad space into a sparkling midcentury kitchen once again.

• Read the full story and see all the photos from Luke and his family’s loving remodel of their 1953 kitchen. (opens in a new window)

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#4 — Sara’s super economical retro kitchen with salvaged vintage wood cabinets:

Reader Sarah — an avid cook and food blogger — needed to remodel her tired kitchen, making it more user friendly, cleaner and more inviting all at once. With only a limited budget, Sarah got creative — finding a whole boatload of wood cabinets taken from a local Air Force base for $200 at her local Re-Use store. To complete the budget-friendly renovation, Sarah used aluminum edged laminate countertops, inexpensive but reliable appliances, and VCT flooring. With ample storage and counter space, Sarah now has a fun, cheery and functional kitchen she loves.

• Read the full story and see all the photos from Sarah’s super economical kitchen remodel. (opens in a new window)

***

Vote for your favorite — through Tuesday night:

The post Vote for our The Hard Way Award — Kitchen Remodel winner for 2014 appeared first on Retro Renovation.

I scan, therefore, I am. For our reference and enjoyment today –10 photos — six kitchens — excerpted from a 1953 American Kitchens catalog in my personal collection. American Kitchens was the brand name for steel kitchen cabinets made by Avco Manufacturing Corp., of Connersville, Indiana. Avco American was among the major brands of the day, and we see these cabinets fairly often in the wild — in their natural habitat or on craigslist, etc. This brand also is noteworthy for its porcelain drainboard sink with the unique faucet — I get questions regularly about to get this faucet, new, which until quite recently was possible, can you believe it.

“Postwar” design really is split into two periods

When we talk about design in post-World-War II America, we really need to split those years into two distinct eras.

Postwar Design – The Carryover Years — In the immediate aftermath of World War II — 1946 through to 1953 — colors and designs were more pre-war-carryover in look and feel. There were still material shortages. Manufacturers were still using designs created before the war (they had not innovated on consumer goods during the war, when all efforts were channeled to building America’s arsenal.) Also, people were still quite tight with their cash; those Depression years still weighed heavy, and folks liked their savings accounts. These Avco American Kitchen designs? I would describe them as prewar-carryover style. In addition, the Avco American Kitchen cabinets themselves have a very streamline look. I need to check authoritatively, but my aging brain is leading me to recall that they may have been designed by Raymond Loewy and/or his firm!

Postwar Design – The Populuxe Years — 1953 is recognized as the start of the “Populuxe” (*affiliate link) years — a term invented by author Thomas Hine. Beginning around 1953 and running through 1963, colors and designs in America became more exuberant, more experimental; these were heyday years for America in a variety of ways, and our rising affluence was communicated in our interior design and architecture.

• My story about 1950s design style.
• My story about 1940s design style.

Back to the catalog.

All of the countertops in these kitchens are “vinyl plastic bonded to steel,” it says. Colors were quite saturated, quite rich:

• Greenwich Green
• Grenada Gray
• Baltic Blue
• Redwing Red
• Yosemite Yellow

I’m thinking they must also have offered black. To replicate this look today, check out linoleum sheet — check specifications, though. And there may occasionally be a laminate to mimic the look.

The catalog also promotes a hard maple cutting board — note the adorable roll-out serving cart shown under it in many of the kitchen designs. This is a classic Avco American kitchen feature.

Above, the brochure asked:

TV or not TV… that isn’t the question in a house of today with this beautiful L-Shaped kitchen as modern as tomorrow. Here the busy homemaker can watch TV without disrupting her regular kitchen activities….

This TV kitchen was promoted as an “ultra-modern kitchen.” The first image (where the walls look so bright red) was on the cover of the brochure. Golly, could you even get a TV this small in 1953?

The catalog shows six kitchen design styles. Can you match the title with the photo(s)?:

• Westward Ho!
• TV or not TV
• To Grandmother’s House We Went
• Southern Hospitality
• City Gal
• Down on the Farm

A few years later, Avco American gave us the famous wood+coppertone Pioneer Kitchen, color-styled by Beatrice West.

Some of the images toward the back of the brochure (where product details are outlined) are quite amusing — and graphically interesting n that they appear to be combinations of photography and illustration. And of course, we get the occasional “Caption This” opportunity. Because, oh my gosh, new kitchens for America! New kitchens for America!

The post Six kitchen designs from 1953 — Avco American Kitchens appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Frankly, I think that grandma’s cafe curtains nailed it for Luke and his family: Yes, the people have spoken, and Team Luke’s family-affair restoration of the flood damaged, poorly maintained kitchen in their new 1953 home has earned them our The Hard Way Award – Kitchen Remodel for 2014.  Instead of gutting the weary space, this family embraced its vintage heritage and repaired, rebuilt and refinished the kitchen cabinets — a grueling DIY job that turned out great and demonstrates the incredible beauty to be found in prosaic birch wood cabinetry.

Finishing off with new appliances, flooring, countertops and yup, two windows full of utterly charming homemade curtains — and wow — a warm, inviting, architecturally suitable kitchen, once again.

Congratulations, Luke, to you and your family — and a big Retro Renovation group hug to your grandmother, stat! Thanks to our other kitchen finalists — Molly, LuRu and Sarah — all of your efforts were amazing! xoxo to all the readers who voted!

The post Best Retro Renovation kitchen remodel of 2014: Luke and his family win The Hard Way Award appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Photos hot off the presses!

Need new countertops for your midcentury kitchen or bathroom? If so, you might want to hang on until summer, when Wilsonart will introduce two new abstract designs — “Betty” and “Endora” — for sale. Hmmm. With their colorways, scale, and well-designed retro pattern, Wilsonart Betty and Wilsonart Endora skyrocket to the top of my list of  laminates to consider for countertops in a midcentury modern or vintage-style home. (Fingers crossed that I like the colors when I see real samples.) Also good news: These will be standard residential laminates — so the price should be very affordable. 

Tip to view photos: Click on any photo, and it should double in size on your screen, so you can see more detail. Keep clicking anywhere on the enlarged photo, and all the photos in the story should run as a slide show. Hit anywhere off the photo or hit Escape, and you return to the story. This feature should work in all stories here on Retro Renovation.

Wilsonart says these will be available nationwide “this summer.”

Wilsonart’s 4972-38 Betty laminate:

Wilsonart says:

Betty is a small to medium scaled abstract pattern overlapping box and square in retro color blend of teal and orange.  The name is indicative of the mid-century names to connect to a moment in time when women named Betty and Endora would work in their very modern kitchens.  This pattern reflects the quirky optimistic quality that reflects that period in time.

From their vignette shown at the recent KBIS show, it looks like the so-called “teal” in this pattern will harmonize quite nicely with aqua cabinetry or accessories. The field looks to be grey (golly, I’d prefer an off white) — but I certainly understand the choice considering the continuing popularity of gray in the contemporary mass market today.

We’ve asked to see samples as soon as we can and will report back as soon as we have them in hand.

Wilsonart’s 4973-38 Endora retro design laminate

So… will the pinks in “Endora” go with all the Mamie Pink tile in millions or American bathrooms?We can’t wait to get a look-see and let you know.

Endora is a small to medium scaled abstract pattern overlapping box and square in retro color of pink and gold.  The name is indicative of the mid-century names to connect to a moment in time when women named Betty and Endora would work in their very modern kitchens.  This pattern reflects the quirky optimistic quality that reflects that period in time.

Formica’s Nassau pattern from the 1960s:

The new Wilsonart designs remind me of Formica’s Nassau design introduced in the 1960s (?) Note: I need to check this date. I have it somewhere…

Again, my view on the best laminate designs for a retro kitchen: Tone-on-tone, multidirectional, small-to-medium abstract patterns in colorways that will harmonize with our “real color” interiors. The new Wilsonart Endora and Betty designs look to be a great step in that direction.

The complete new “Stylistic History” collection coming from Wilsonart

There are additional patterns in the Stylistic History collection that includes Endora and Betty. The other designs in the collection are moving to the Residential line from the Contract (Commercial) line or another country in the Wilsonart family:

Stylistic History

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde

Personal styles evolve and change.  These 8 fresh new patterns are an exciting nod to our collective stylistic history.  Baby boomers are searching for those things that feel like simpler, more innocent days, while the millennials incorporate optimism and originality.  Fun patterns, unusual textures and bold colors represent this direction, without being bogged down in the past.  Think individuality, difference and distinction.

These easygoing, aspirational lifestyles are centered on both the meandering road and the techno highway.  Plastic laminate was originally used for its low cost versatility and has grown up to be the perfect material for these unique forms of self-expression.

These bold and whimsical new colors and patterns offer an updated nod to historic and vintage patterns while being firmly rooted in the present.  There would be no denying that these new patterns are anything but.

4942-38 Crisp Linen (Standard)

A neutral background with crisp white warp and weft “threads”.  Reminiscent of a woven fabric, it has evolved into a compact small pattern that provides texture and highlights.  Crisp Linen is a crossover from the contract line.

4943-38 Classic Linen (Standard)

A taupe background with lighter taupe warp and weft “threads”.  Reminiscent of a woven fabric, it has evolved into a compact small pattern that provides texture and highlights.  Classic Linen is a crossover from the contract line.

4944-38 Casual Linen (Standard)

A brown background with lighter brown warp and weft “threads”.  Reminiscent of a woven fabric, it has evolved into a compact small pattern that provides texture and highlights. Casual Linen is a crossover from the contract line.

4962-38 Gesso Tracery (Standard)

The quatrefoil is a conventionalized representation of a flower with four petals or of a leaf with four leaflets.  The small scale quatrefoil motif is repeated and fades in and out and is rendered in a warm white with hints of grey.  Gesso Tracery is a crossover from the contract line.

4973-38 Endora (Standard)

Endora is a small to medium scaled abstract pattern overlapping box and square in retro color of pink and gold.  The name is indicative of the mid-century names to connect to a moment in time when women named Betty and Endora would work in their very modern kitchens.  This pattern reflects the quirky optimistic quality that reflects that period in time.

D502-60 Ocean Matte Finish (Standard)

The colors in the mid-century were a reaction that went against what was there before which was very somber, subtler, quieter colors. Colors in the ’50s and ’60s became brighter and stronger — anti-establishment, but optimistic.  Colors were mixed in ways they hadn’t been put together before, such as black, turquoise, and red, a clear example of all the rules being thrown out the window.

This color comes from one of our international sister companies.  Ocean can be found in Polyrey’s collection as E026 Emeraude, as well as in Shanghai’s and Thailand’s collections as 0028 Emerald Sea.

D501-60 Orange Grove Matte Finish (Standard)

The colors in the mid-century were a reaction that went against what was there before which was very somber, subtler, quieter colors. Colors in the ’50s and ’60s became brighter and stronger — anti-establishment, but optimistic.  This dynamic orange perfectly reflects that sentiment.

This color comes from one of our international sister companies.  Orange Grove can be found in both Thailand’s and Shanghai’s collections as 0387 Orange.

4972-38 Betty (Standard)

Betty is a small to medium scaled abstract pattern overlapping box and square in retro color blend of teal and orange.  The name is indicative of the mid-century names to connect to a moment in time when women named Betty and Endora would work in their very modern kitchens.  This pattern reflects the quirky optimistic quality that reflects that period in time.

The post Wilsonart Endora and Betty laminates — two terrific new retro designs for countertops appeared first on Retro Renovation.