I built a new vanity for my guest bathroom about about three months ago, but we held the story, because lookie: I was able to use one of our seven new Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart® boomerang laminates — the delicious “Retro Renovation® Delightful Jade” design. By the time I got going with this project, the colorway was locked in, so Wilsonart printed a sheet for me [disclosure: they provided it no charge as part of our collaboration]. I love all the colors in our boomerang laminate collection, but ‘Delightful Jade’ is one of my favorites, so I’m super excited that I found a place to use it in my home.

The color coordinates nicely with my circa-1962 original American Standard green bathtub and similar green wall tile accents.

Pam and I think this color also will look great in kitchens and baths stretching back to the 1940s.

The verdict — I absolutely love it. Every guest I have had over to the house since I finished renovating the bathroom has remarked about how much they like the countertop — whether they are into retro decor or not. Plus, how many people can say they not only fabricated their bathroom countertop, but also helped to create the colorway?!

More info on all the work I did in this bathroom yet to come. In the wake of yesterday’s big huzzah, we wanted to show this new laminate off right away!

The post Kate uses our new “Retro Renovation Delightful Jade” boomerang laminate for her vanity countertop appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Thanks to a tip from reader Nancy, we discovered that the company that makes Pyrex — which recently celebrated their 100th anniversary with a special collection — has released yet another vintage revival collection. Vintage Charm™ Inspired by Pyrex® — is a new brand and features sets of three decorative, nesting prep and serving bowls — each inspired by the Popular Patterns of Pyrex® Opal Glass from the 50’s and 60’s. Super cute!

Note these aren’t for use in ovens. The company news release says: “All bowls are dishwasher, freezer and microwave safe for ease and convenience while entertaining” — and the company confirmed via email:

“To confirm, these bowls are microwave, freezer and dishwasher safe but should not be used in the oven.”

6 charming vintage-inspired designs

Above: Vintage Charm Rise ‘n Shine: Inspired by Butterprint, one of the most popular vintage Pyrex® opal patterns of all time, this set of bowls pays tribute to the heydays of the 1950’s.

Above: Vintage Charm Golden Days: Inspired by the Butterfly Gold pattern of 1971. Also known as the pattern found in almost every American kitchen in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Welcome home!

Above: Vintage Charm Birds of a Feather: Inspired by the popular Friendship pattern from 1972, grab some friends and throw a party with these Friendly Birds.

Above: Vintage Charm Memory Lane: Come back down to earth with these bowls that were inspired by the 1964 pattern, Terra. Cheerful, new colors instantly brighten up your kitchen table!

Above: Vintage Charm Spot On: Over the past 50 years, we’ve learned a lot. People love vintage Pyrex® glassware and
Dots never, ever go out of style. Inspired by the New Dots pattern from 1967.

Above: Vintage Charm Tickled Pink: Inspired by 1956’s Daisy pattern, Tickled Pink bowls are the sugar to your spice. Mix up something nice!

Press release:

WORLD KITCHEN UNVEILS NEW VINTAGE CHARM™ BRAND
Inspired by the Popular Patterns of Pyrex® Opal Glass from the 50’s and 60’s

ROSEMONT, Ill. – October 14, 2015 – World Kitchen, the company behind iconic housewares brands such as Pyrex®, Corningware®, Corelle®, Snapware®, Bakers Secret® and Chicago Cutlery®, is introducing a new line of vintage-inspired prep and serve bowls called Vintage Charm™ Inspired by Pyrex®.

Taking a cue from the beloved designs of the classic Pyrex “opal glass” bowls from the 50’s and 60’s, the Vintage Charm brand puts a modern twist on the popular patterns that evoke feelings of nostalgia. These vintage-inspired pieces come in six patterns including: Birds of a Feather, Spot On, Rise & Shine, Golden Days, Memory Lane and Tickled Pink – trendsetters can add a little flair to their home décor to achieve a retro-style entertaining experience.

“There are countless examples in today’s marketplace of nostalgic design making a comeback with consumers, especially with the millennial target,” said Carl Warschausky, CEO of World Kitchen. “The Pyrex brand’s iconic patterns of the past bring back memories of our mother’s and grandmother’s kitchens. The fun patterns from the new Vintage Charm line are a fresh twist for younger generations to fall in love with and create their own memories with family and friends.”

The Vintage Charm bowls are available in select housewares and grocery stores now, and will be available at mass retailers in time for the 2015 holidays. The patterns will be sold separately and as a three piece set including one small, medium and large bowl for MSRP: $29.99. The patterns will also be sold as a six piece set including one small, medium and large bowl with lids for each for MSRP: $39.99. Open stock products range MSRP: $6.99-14.99. All bowls are dishwasher, freezer and microwave safe for ease and convenience while entertaining.

To learn more about the Vintage Charm line and for classic retro-style design tips inspired by the patterns, check out VintageEntertaining.com.

Above: Mega thanks to reader Nancy for spotting these at her local Kroger grocery store and snapping a picture for us.

Where to find Vintage Charm™ Inspired by Pyrex® collection:

• To purchase >> You can find these on  Amazon (affiliate link) … Or, check your local houseware or grocery store (I saw “Dots” in my Stop and Shop)…  or visit World Kitchen.

The post Vintage Charm™ Inspired by Pyrex® collection appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Our Las Vegas Laminate KBIS 2016 Adventure last week was a whirlwind of meeting many interesting people (including readers!), seeing tons of new home-building products — and yes, some of them were retro-styled — and of course, launching our new Retro Renovation® for Wilsonart® boomerang laminate collection. All this, while wearing our pretty vintage-style dresses and shoes. Here are some highlights from our two days at the show — there are more product stories in the works, too. 

Disclosure: As part of our collaboration on the new laminate collection, Wilsonart paid our travel expenses to this show. No specific coverage beyond our launch announcement was promised as part of “the deal.” You can read how Publisher Pam makes money with the blog to pay Kate and sometimes even herself here.

What we wore

First of all, we must answer the million-dollar question: What did we wear? On day-one, we both tried our best to look good — despite our 5:30 a.m. wakeup call! We had to be at the show at 7:15, so Pam could get miked up for the first media presentation at 8 a.m. I wore the classic black Hell Bunny crepe swing dress from unique-vintage.com. Pam chose her Emily & Finn dress, paired with brown platform shoes, both from ModCloth. (For the formal media presentations, ahe also wore a navy jacket from her former corporate wardrobe.)

Back at the hotel that night, Pam tried on my Hell Bunny dress — she said it also looked divine on her, and she ordered one for herself when she got home. This is ONE FANTASTIC DRESS!

Oh yes, and my shoes — those Miz Mooz red shoes were a huge hit. I received so many compliments that I lost count. Pam said they stole the show! On comfort, the verdict was: They are not bad at all for 3″ heels. I do not wear heels often at all — maybe 3-4 times a year — and I wore these shoes straight out of the box for about 6 hours, standing most of the time, but also doing some walking around the show. They were quite comfortable for the first 5 hours, but that last hour had me searching for a chair and a pair of flats, which could be due to me not being used to wearing heels instead of these fabulous shoes. Pam said she kept slipping out of her brown platforms — she has a high arch — but she loved the way her shoes looked.

On day two, Pam wore her plaid Hell Bunny dress with her oh-so-comfortable Sacha London black suede shoes. The weekend before our trip, she scored the black Anne Klein blazer for $2 at a Goodwill. She added a red enamel flower pin (both days) for pizzazz. She LOVES these shoes. When she arrived back home, she also ordered these same Sacha Londons in brown suede. For my outfit, I opted for the teal Hell Bunny skirt paired with the black button up retro styled cap sleeve blouse and a black cardigan to chase off the chill. My shoes are my Seychelles heels, which were shorter than the Miz Mooz heels from the day before. We both want to mention: WE LOVE HELL BUNNY DRESSES and SKIRTS. The fabric has that vintage rayon feel – but with a little bit of modern stretch – it’s not too thick not too thin, Goldilocks just right.

Our laminate collection at Wilsonart

It’s an understatement say that it was exciting to see our laminate display at the Wilsonart booth at KBIS 2016. The boomies were displayed on a two-sided, freestanding board with a large sample of Retro Renovation® Delightful Jade on one side and the same-sized sample of Retro Renovation® First Lady Pink on the opposite side. The other six colors were mounted on the Jade, which sat at the corner of the entire Wilsonart display, facing into two intersecting aisles. 

We were entered to be in the running for “The Best of KBIS”, too! We didn’t make the finals, but woot for the retro!

Pam held four (or was it five?) media presentations right in front of the full sample board. Media generally include groups of 20 — there were “long lead” shelter magazines… at least two big groups of bloggers on a special media tour… and we met with two groups of “30 under 30” designers. We think. Pam’s head was kerfuffled, they just put a mike in her hand and off she went with the entire story!

Pam had five to eight minutes to speak to each group, depending on the length of their tour. To prepare, she wrote out her remarks, read them aloud a bunch of times, rewrote them, then memorized them. Want to see the final version, here it is:

Good morning (or afternoon). Over the next few days here at KBIS 2016 we will all be seeing the latest, the greatest, the future of kitchen and bath design. But for the next few minutes, it’s throwback time — we’re going to be talking about 1950s-design laminate. But here’s the twist on this story — these laminates would not be possible if not for the latest, the greatest, the future of made-to-order laminates available today from Wilsonart.

Hi my name is Pam Kueber, and I am the publisher of RetroRenovation.com, here with my colleague managing editor Kate Battle. Our jobs — day in and day out — are to research and report on products that owners of midcentury and vintage homes can use to remodel and decorate in a way that’s sympathetic to their homes original architecture.

Over the 10 years I’ve been blogging, I’ve found that one of the greatest wants and needs, consistently, of Retro Renovators is replacement countertop materials. Ironically, though, this also has been one of the products most difficult to solve for — even though retro design has been an important trend, it’s still a niche market. Mind you, we prefer abstract-patterned laminates in just-right colors, because that’s what was used back in the day.

Now though, modern technology is coming to the rescue. On a visit to Wilsonart’s operations in Temple, Texas, I saw, first-hand, the capabilities of their Virtual Design Library — their growing collection of curated laminates made-to-order – unique-design laminates that can help meet the needs of niche markets… ever-fragmenting markets.

When we met, Wilsonart was genuinely interested in my ideas for creating more laminates for the Virtual Design Library that would appeal to midcentury enthusiasts. To start, I suggested we pursue some new retro classic colorways for their existing boomerang design.

And today it’s exciting to unveil the new capsule collection – Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart — seven colorways derived from popular 1950s kitchen and bath palettes in a crowd-pleasing abstract, tone-on-tone Googie pattern.

The seven new designs include:

• Retro Renovation® Delightful Jade inspired by vintage jadeite milk glass and iconic color and collectible.
• Retro Renovation® First Lady Pink, a warm pink popularized by Mamie Eisenhower that was super popular in pink bathrooms. Some of you also know about our microsite, SaveThePinkBathroooms.com – hey, here’s another product to help.
• Retro Renovation®  Creme Caramel should look great with wood cabinetry including our beloved pnotty pine.
• Retro Renovation® Aqua Ripple also plays well with blue.
• Nostalgic Grey and Friendly Beige are our two warm neutrals .
• And Retro Renovation® Rock and Roll Ruby — the only design that’s not tone on tone – channels diners with waitresses on roller skates.

Of course we all have our favorites. Wilsonart sent Kate the first full sheet ever printed — in Retro Renovation® Delightful Jade — and she installed it in her guest bathroom – check out the photo in your media materials. Kate, by the way, has mad DIY skills – she did her own tiling and built the vanity and countertop; she is a real star! Visiting for Thanksgiving, Kate’s mother-in-law, totally unsolicited, told her that she absolutely loved it – and this, before she even knew Kate had helped design it. Of course, this is just the kind of market feedback we want to hear.

This project has been really gratifying — a real labor of love for everyone involved. We are both so pleased and grateful that Wilsonart was willing to come out to play with RetroRenovation.com to give homeowners seeking out retro style even more countertop options.

Yup, she pretty much said this over and over, with some variation for timing and such, with no notes. It was stressful — but that’s showbiz!

A special shout-out to our good friend, design historian and materials specialist Grace Jeffers. Like us, she was part of the Wilsonart presentations. Moreover, she’s the one who introduced Pam to Wilsonart to get the conversation going about how we might work together to get more retro-style laminates to market. Thank you, Grace, much love from us to you!

Some of our favorites from KBIS 2016 North Hall

There was plenty to see at KBIS, including Vent-A-Hood’s cleverly designed booth, which made us giggle!

Surrounded by a sea of quartz countertops and grey kitchens — yes, low-chroma greiged out everything still appears to be the “aspirational” mass market norm — any booth that used color magnetized us. Oooooh, lookie these cute little AGA stoves, which came in a variety of lollipop pastel hues…

Pam got to see Northstar Appliances from Elmira Stove Works in person. We were impressed with how heavy duty they felt…

And, though it is modern, this orange stove from Bertazzoni really caught our eye! Oh, and you can see Pam’s navy jacket here. The platforms came off for the big walk around KBIS and even then, she got blisters.

As you would guess, we absolutely loved the colorful, diminutive refrigerators at SMEG.

There were plenty of neat-o sinks to be found too — like this stainless steel drainboard sink from Australian company Oliveri…

And we spotted one of NBI Drainboard Sinks’ vintage style cast acrylic sinks in a cute MasterBrands Cabinet display, too. Yay to Disclosure: this Retro Renovation advertiser! Everyone loved this laundry room mockup — what a super happy space! This was the first time we’d seen an NBI sink in person — the cast acrylic finish looked nice, Pam thought — definitely a contender if you can’t find a pristine-condition porcelian-on-cast-iron or -on-steel drainboard sink.

Our friends at Strom Plumbing had some new vintage style sink and faucet options…

Plus, a great spot to take a load off and rest!
Phew! And this was only a short Day #1 North Hall walk!

Selfie Madness!

Whenever we got the chance, we took selfies… with each other with our laminates…
Pam and Tammy Weadock, PR manager for Wilsonart, who was our key contact and who took great care of us and who WE LOVE…

Grace Jeffers and Pam; Pam thinks she and Grace are 2nd cousins 10 times removed with shared Irish roots…

30-under-30 spotlight designer Jillian Sarkis, a kitchen and bath designer based in Rochester, NY — and a fellow retro enthusiast and cute-dress-wearer.

Roger, whose refurbished St. Charles kitchen we will be featuring soon!

Scott, who was working the show, but also was trying to squeeze in time to scope products for the famous Northcrest neighborhood of midcentury homes in Atlanta, Georgia…

Pam pulled Scott right into one of her media presentations:

“Scott, will the midcentury modern fans in Northcrest like the new Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart laminates?” she asked him.

“No, Pam, they won’t like them…”

[☹ What!]

“…They will LOVE them!”

[☺ Hurray!]

Retro Renovation fan Eric from California…
And finally, Kate happened to notice TV host Scott McGillivrey standing near the Wilsonart booth on day-two before the show started and was able to snap a quick selfie with him before he was wisked away to safety from his adoring lady fans. Kate’s mother-in-law is so jealous!

We’ll be back with more stories that spotlight some of our new finds from the show — products that are new or which we didn’t know about — that might help you get your kitchen or bath project done!

Are we having fun yet?

The post Retro Renovation on the scene at KBIS 2016! appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Howdy, hudee — Wilsonart has started rolling out samples of the new boomerang laminates we designed in collaboration with Wilsonart are now available as samples. As of this moment, two colors are available. All colorways: Samples now available!

Note, there are other boomerang colorways already in Wilsonart’s collection — “ours” are the one with that happy little “Retro Renovation®” in the name. The tone-on-tone pastels, above. Who’s ordering samples? We’re excited to know!

To order the samples:

• To order the samples, jump over to Wilsonart’s Virtual Design Library.

Read all the stories about the new collection, “Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart,” here.

Disclosure: I want readers to know: I do not make money if you buy this laminate; “the deal” that I have with Wilsonart includes other elements of consideration. For example, on Feb. 1 they will launch an advertisement on the blog, for which Retro Renovation is compensated. So, I do not have any incremental financial reason to promote the laminates in this collection over other options — see all our research on countertop options to find the product that’s right for you! – Publisher Pam.

The post Boomerang laminate samples of our new collection — “Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart” — now available appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Color, color, color! Are we just imagining things, or are we seeing a return of pretty colors in home decor available from mainstream market manufacturers? Well — here’s hoping!

The latest evidence: Le Creuset’s new Oasis Collection.

I’ve always been a fan of Le Creuset, so when I received their latest email blast promoting their midcentury ‘Oasis’ collection, it piqued my interest. The collection combines three of their existing colors: Soleil, Palm and Caribbean with a new color — and it’s pink! ‘Hibiscus’ is a light midcentury pink that would look oh-so-cute in a vintage kitchen, maybe even one with our Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart® First Lady Pink boomerang countertops? Squee!

From the Le Creuset website:

A Bright New Paradise
In midcentury America, a new kind of optimism swept the nation. From Palm Beach to Palm Springs, people everywhere lit tiki torches, mixed cocktails and let the party spill out onto the patio. The backyard became the suburban paradise. On patios and by pools, open-air entertaining captivated the country as hosts embraced outdoor cooking and exotic island flavors in their own personal oases.

Tiki Torches Not Included
The crisp, refreshing shades of Oasis mingle effortlessly in any combination, just like guests at a great party. And what does a great party require? People to gather, food to share and a place to relax. Decades after midcentury’s heyday, the backyard still makes a perfect escape — and the timeless allure of outdoor entertaining still draws us all outside.

Cocktails by the Pool? Yes, Please.
As part of our celebration of all things midcentury, we redesigned our pitcher with a clean, modern sensibility. Grab a long bar spoon and channel your inner mixologist, or simply fill it with your favorite lemonade.

What do you think, dear readers: Are happy retro pastels — including Mamie Eisenhower-inspired pinks — making a comeback?!

Link love:

• Shop the Oasis collection at Le Creuset

The post Le Creuset’s midcentury-inspired Oasis collection — including the new hibiscus pink! appeared first on Retro Renovation.

I love old houses because they come ready-filled with a history of love. Today: Judy’s lovely story about the 1958 kitchen that her mother Doreen still uses today, after moving in when it was brand new.

Yes, 58 years in the same kitchen… which even after hearty duty serving up three squares a day to five children, remains in great condition … with the same pots and pans, same glitter laminate, same checkerboard tile… little changed from the day it was built. What a testament to quality — and to tender loving care. Judy’s key question — in return for sharing this story — is: Can we connect her with someone in Calgary, Alberta, who would be interested in visiting, documenting, and perhaps even agreeing to remove the kitchen and set it up somewhere so it can be visited? This is a time capsule story she would like to see endure.

I asked Judy if she could tell us the story of the kitchen. She wrote:

We quickly outgrew the two bedroomed bungalow my father and his brother built in the northern outskirts of Calgary, and moved in 1958 to a new four-bedroomed ‘split-level’ in the city’s expanding southern suburbs. We soon became five children surrounded by countryside, biking everywhere, and always came home hungry.

My mother’s kitchen was her domain – organised, clean, polished, and productive with home-made bread, tins of cookies, three meals a day, plus snacks like popcorn and fudge for seven of us. The ages from father to youngest child were spread over 52 years; this may explain why no changes were ever made, there was never a break in the cooking. At the age of 91, my mother still cooks for herself, as well as her middle son and grandson who look out for her.

A 25 lb. turkey was slow-roasted for seven hours when an extended family of up to 14 gathered for Thanksgiving and Christmas. (We’d have to take turns for the roasted skin flap, which meant the prize came only every couple of years). For New Year, we would tuck into her homemade noodles and turkey broth.

Her cupboards still hold to the same arrangements as in the beginning: tea, coffee and crackers above the gas stove, flour, sugar and other baking needs above the single square metre of workspace she had.

The original, giant, Whirlpool fridge, working until recently, is now stored in the basement.

The linoleum floor, regularly waxed is still in great condition.

Formica work top, mahogany plywood cupboard doors with copper knobs and pull-down copper pendant lights are just as they were in the beginning; even the full set of heavy, aluminum, Wear Ever pans with copper lids and Bakelite handles.

Wall-mounted knife holder and rotary can opener have been in place since the beginning. Tappan oven and gas stove top still work perfectly.

Is it exceptional for a kitchen of this period to exist, still be in use, and be almost intact? I’d love to know. Also, I’d love to think that the kitchen might be preserved. Anyone buying the house after she’s gone will tear it out. Can anyone help? My main question is this:  Would anyone be interested in visiting, documenting, and perhaps even agreeing to remove the kitchen and set it up somewhere so it can be visited? I’m grateful to find a like-minded, knowledgeable and enthusiastic ear for this. It would mean a lot to have someone in Calgary look at it.

Judy, I do know someone in historical preservation in Calgary. I will be sure to email her this story, to see if she has any ideas for you. Meanwhile, I take a stab at one of your questions:

Q. Is it exceptional for a kitchen of this period to exist, still be in use, and be almost intact?

A: Yes. We do see them, but they are getting more and more rare. Your mom’s kitchen is particularly notable, I’d say, because it still has the laminate countertops and original flooring — these often get replaced over the years. I see that you have changed out the fridge and the dishwasher, possibly the faucet, too; but these are easier to replace with authentic vintage if that is a goal. Flooring and laminate: Not so much. In fact, there is no known source, worldwide, for glitter laminate right now. So this kitchen is a delight to see. It’s also so incredibly heartwarming — and again, rare, I’d say — to see cookware and decor still in place, still in use. Such a testament to enduring quality, care and thrift.

I will also say: Unchanged vintage kitchens and houses — time capsule houses — have become increasingly desirable over the past few years. Many readers here are actively seeking them out. We want the original glitter and floor tile and wood cabinets and appliances — all of it! So don’t give up hope that the next people who live in this house won’t love it as much as you do; it’s possible. That said, yes: Gut remodels happen. More often than not, that’s the harsh reality. So we will do what we can to help you — maybe a museum WILL be interested. We’ve seen it happen before.

An incredible portrait of Judy, full name: Judy Simmonds. She tells us, “I’m a basket maker, watercress grower and we make cider and have two holiday cottages here overlooking the Yarty Valley in Devon in England. My mother, Doreen Willis, is from Victoria in British Columbia.” The photo is by Pauline Rook.

Thank you so much, Judy, for sharing this story with us. It’s just wonderful. xoxo

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When we walked the show floor at KBIS 2016, Pam and I noticed right away that there were a lot of booths that were almost entirely white, grey and beige. So when we spotted the colorful AGA stoves booth, it was a breath of fresh air with big smiling lollipop sprinkles on top. Color, color and more color — plus, they even had a retro inspired kitchen setup. Oh happy day!

AGA’s luxurious ranges are heavy duty cast iron and oh so cute…

This little lemon yellow model was the first one of AGA’s stoves to catch our eye…

And look — they have pink and aqua too! Plus, how cute is that little metal tin on the right side of the photo that looks like a miniature AGA stove?

This AGA City24 range is only 24 inches wide, made to fit in small apartment or home kitchens.

Where would we use these classic AGA cast-iron cooker styles?

• Pam suggests: These would be very cool in a sweetheart prewar vintage style kitchen… but maybe not so much for a midcentury kitchen, at least in the USA; she gets design cognitive dissonance at the thought because these would not have been common in midcentury American kitchens. But continue on with this story — because AGA is introducing some new options that might be a better fit, aesthetically, for our post-World-War-II kitchens.

AGA has been around since 1922, and the company shares a lot of fascinating historical information on their website:

Most people associate the name AGA with good food and fine living. And although it’s often thought of as quintessentially British, the Aga actually began life in Sweden. The celebrated Cast Iron Range found in 750,000 households worldwide was invented by Dr Gustav Dalén, a blind Nobel Prize-winning physicist. Appalled that his wife and their maid had to constantly tend to their old-fashioned range, Dalén set out to design a modern range that would look after itself. It’s unlikely Dalén could have predicted that his invention would go on to be widely acclaimed as a design icon, but it has.

In the year 2000, the BBC published a retrospective of the 20th Century highlighting what it considered to be the top three design icons: first was the Coca-Cola® contour bottle, second was the VW™ Bug and third was the Aga Cast Iron Range.

Over the last 80 years Aga has built on that iconic design, creating new products for the day’s needs. Additions to the Aga family like dual fuel and electric cooking products, as well as refrigeration, have brought us a long way from Dalen’s first range in 1922, but close to our heritage.

AGA Elise and Falcon models — coming in 2017:

We turned the corner of the display, then saw these more contemporary-looking ranges set within a retro-modern kitchen display. This AGA range has a more appropriate look for many of our kitchens — and lookie the colors!

When we returned home, we could not find these design on the AGA website. So, we reached out to the AGA PR department, which in a flash explained:

The center range pictured is the AGA Falcon, which is flanked on both sides by the AGA Elise (shown with gas and induction cooktops).  All three are new prototypes we unveiled at KBIS for feedback, and all are slated for release in 2017.

We also liked the combination island and seating area shown in the booth. It was made of a large slab of butcher block countertop, edged in aluminum edging with a checkerboard metal insert [same as used on the backsplash] in the center of the island to act as both decoration and a handy trivet.

Also notice: The simple edge-beading of the slab coors — a nice touch, more fancy than simple radius edges but still simple. And, we liked the vintage style metal cabinet pulls with ribs that mimicked the ribbing in the countertop edge.

AGA stoves are not inexpensive, but having seen them for the first time in person, I can say they are a thing of beauty — and for sure, another great option for Retro Renovators to be able to consider.

Link love:

• Find out more about AGA ranges on their website

The post AGA colorful ranges and a retro kitchen at KBIS appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Now that our Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart® collection of seven color ways of boomerang laminates is officially available, we thought it a good time to update our core one-stop-shopping resource story about all the boomerang laminates in the market today. We now calculate four different designs — in 29 different colorways — of boomerang laminate. This is all in an effort to make it as easy as possible for you to find the boomerang laminate countertop of your dreams — and hooray for all of these wonderful choices! 

Four designs — 29 colorways — of boomerang laminates available in the U.S. today:

So you want boomerang laminate? Today, there are an astounding 29 color ways in 4 different designs to choose from. NOTE: We do not keep this pricing updated in real-time; PLEASE do your own comparison shopping:

• Formica boomerang in charcoal (1) – Under $100 sheet online via big box stores including online via Home Depot, as one example. Formica ONLY has charcoal — NO MORE aqua, blue or coral; discontinued; kaput.
• Wilsonart Retro boomerangs (12) – High contrast, punchy colors of retro boomerang laminate. Check for latest pricing from Heffrons [disclosure: a longtime advertiser on this blog], Bars & Booths, Home Depot and/or other suppliers, who also may/should be able to get this laminate. In our experience, there can be significant pricing differences, so do your homework and shop around.
• Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart® boomerang collection (7) – Tone-on-tone midcentury appropriate colors made with Retro Renovators in mind. Check for latest pricing from Heffrons, Bars & Booths, Home Depot and/or other suppliers, who also may be able to get this laminate. In our experience, there can be significant pricing differences, so do your homework and shop around.
• Vitro boomerangs laminates (9) – Check for latest pricing from Heffrons [disclosure: a longtime advertiser on this blog], Bars & Booths, Home Depot (?) and/or other suppliers, who also may/should be able to get this laminate. In our experience, there can be significant pricing differences, so do your homework and shop around.

The $$$ benefits of shopping around:

Again, shop around — it can really pay off. Note this comment from Suzanne just two days ago on our story about ordering samples of our boomerang collection:

Just ordered samples of all of them! Wish these would have been available when I was choosing my colors for my sewing room! I recently used Wintergreen Daisy for a newly created bathroom (former laundry room) in the 1905 farmhouse we are restoring, Yes, 1905 is a little before retro / MCM but the former owners told us that there was no plumbing or electricity until 1948 so I think some retro finishes will be just fine in keeping with the character of the house.

I ordered my countertop from a local lumberyard; I only needed 6 feet but I ordered a 12 foot piece so I would have extra if I wanted it for another project. I think it was around $200 total for the formed countertop; Lowe’s had quoted me almost $800 for the same thing and HD couldn’t figure out how to order from the VDL [Wilsonart’s Virtual Design Library]! I did have to wait about 8 weeks for the countertop but it was totally worth it! Those daisies make me smile every time I go in there! I still have two more bathrooms and a kitchen to do in that house – so glad to see these new boomerang color choices!

Other tips on getting samples and finding fabricators:

• When you order samples from the Wilsonart Virtual Design Library, I noticed that when I got to the Cart checkout, there was a list of dealers along the right-hand side.
• Get samples of the Wilsonart Retros and the Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart® collection directly from Wilsonart.
• Samples of the Vitros are only available from Heffrons, Bars & Booths, etc., as far as Pam knows.
• Get the Formica sample from Formica.

Lots of laminate research here on Retro Renovation

Peeples, we cover laminate choices EXTENSIVELY on this blog — if you are looking for laminate see our Kitchens / Countertops category — we have many many stories on where to find the “best” retro options.  We try to stay on the topic of laminate selections like hawks. Go through our Kitchens / Countertops category if you want red laminate counter tops, Carrara marble laminate, still-made 1960s laminate, linen-look, crackle ice, orange laminate, etc. etc. etc.

 Disclosure from Publisher Pam:
I want readers to know: I do not make money if you buy the laminates in our collection with Wilsonart; “the deal” that I have with the company includes other elements of consideration. For example, on Feb. 1 they will launch an advertisement on the blog, for which Retro Renovation is compensated. So, I do not have any incremental financial reason to promote the laminates in this collection over other options — see all our research on countertop options to find the product that’s right for you! – Pam.

The post Update: 4 designs – 29 colors of boomerang laminate now on the market appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Yet another bright and colorful spot at KBIS 2016 was the Northstar Appliances display from Elmira Stove Works. In fact, even though the booth was tucked away against a back wall of the convention center, it was still a very popular spot. It was difficult for me to get pictures of the products because they were constantly surrounded by people oohing and aahing over their magnetic retro radiance. 

Yes, right away we were drawn to these colorful, retro styled appliances. And such yummy colors! Robin’s Egg Blue, Buttercup Yellow and Candy Red — another great option for a vintage-style kitchen. 

We liked the look of everything we saw at the booth, and made sure to inspect each piece. This Robin’s Egg Blue electric stove has a spacious interior and an easy-to-clean, flat cooktop. 

The coordinating refrigerator reminded me of one that my grandmother had…

There’s the gas model of the stove in creamy Buttercup Yellow, sitting next to a lovely red Candy Red refrigerator.

Also on display, this French door retro style refrigerator with a bottom freezer for the vintage kitchen that needs some serious refrigerator space. It’s available in either a  24.8 or 19.8 cu. ft. total capacity, with loads of adjustable shelving and even an in refrigerator filtered water dispenser.

We also noticed that in part of the display, Elmira Stove Works used some fun modern laminate from Abet Laminati, finished with aluminum edging. (We can’t seem to find this colorway on the Abet Laminati site, but there are two others.)

As part of their display, there was also a bar-height round retro diner styled table next to the booth that used Vitro’s Red Glacier boomerang laminate. Way to accessorize!

Of course, we think that our Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart® boomerang laminates would look fantastic in a kitchen paired with some of these fun Northstar Appliances, too! Hey, they even have a nice “Mint Green” color that might be a good match to our ‘Delightful Jade’ … and what about a Flamingo Pink range with countertops finished in our ‘First Lady Pink’ boomerangs?

• Shop Northstar Appliances at Elmira Stove Works

The post Northstar vintage style kitchen appliances from Elmira Stove Works appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Breaking News: Wilsonart just let me know that our new Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart boomerang laminates — all seven colorways — are available via Home Depot including online. Prices appear to be the best I’ve ever seen for Wilsonart Virtual Design Library laminates — and shipping is free to store correction: free to your home! To get to the laminates, I went to HomeDepot.com then searched Retro Renovation Wilsonart. The laminates came right up.

For this story, I took screen shots of the available sizes. A 48″x 96″ (4′ x 8′) sheet is $123.36, while a 60″ x 144″ (5′ x 12′) sheet is $231.29.

As usual, though, if you want to see samples first (please, do, before ordering), you get them free online directly from >> Wilsonart’s Virtual Design Library.

And note: On the Wilsonart VDL site, the laminates are listed as available in both Vertical (thinner, for walls, backsplashes, etc., I guess) and Horizontal (thicker, for countertops) applications. Check your order before you throw down that credit card! I looked at a couple of the Home Depot listings — they all seem to be for the Horizonal/countertop application; again, though, do your own checking!

Read all the stories about the new collection, “Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart,” here.

Disclosure: I want readers to know: I do not make money if you buy this laminate; “the deal” that I have with Wilsonart includes other elements of consideration. For example, on Feb. 1 they launched an advertisement on the blog, for which Retro Renovation is compensated. So, I do not have any incremental financial reason to promote the laminates in this collection over other options — see all our research on countertop options to find the product that’s right for you! – Publisher Pam.

The post Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart boomerang laminate — now available online at Home Depot appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Is there anyone out there who can honestly say that they don’t drool just a little bit when they see one of these adorable, colorful SMEG refrigerators? I admit, my mouth was watering while standing next to these two lovely hued refrigerators at the KBIS 2016 show in Las Vegas. I mean, c’mon — the red one matched my shoes! That’s a good enough reason to bring it home with me, right? 

Above: Also on display, this impressive looking gas stove…

And then we saw the most adorable small kitchen appliances from SMEG with retro style — and color!

The stand mixer looks as though it was the love child of a KitchenAid mixer and a ’57 Chevy…

And then there was this adorable, mint green toaster. And it also comes in pink!

• Check out SMEG’s retro appliances — big and small
• And… SMEG on Amazon (affiliate link)

The post SMEG appliances at KBIS appeared first on Retro Renovation.

We met many awesome Wilsonart people at KBIS — seriously, how fun is it to talk boomerang laminates — but this was a particularly happy connection: Sally Chavez, a senior designer, introduced herself, we got to talking, and she mentioned that the “Betty” of Wilsonart Betty laminate (a welcome design here) was named for her mother. That’s Betty (center) with daughters Sandy (left) and Sally in a circa 1964 photo taken at the family home in Dearborn, Mich.

(Note: The original photo is blurry, it’s not your monitor:)

As a member of the Wilsonart design team, Sally works to select and determine patterns and colors for the company’s residential and contract laminates. She was new to the team when the laminates soon-to-be-known-as-Betty and -Endora were gearing up toward introduction.

Betty installed in Nancy’s kitchen

And in Patti and Darin’s kitchen

And look what else Patti made using some pieces of leftover Betty laminate!

The turquoise colorway immediately reminded her of the wallpaper and paint in her precious family photo, so she asked if they could name the laminate Betty, for her mother, who had died just a few years earlier. Yes, they could! So they did.

How was Endora, the name for the pink colorway chosen? Sally said the team then researched and considered other popular names of the era, and chose Endora.

Thank you, Sally, for sharing this wonderful memory! It makes us love Wilsonart Betty all the more!

Link love:

• See all our stories about Wilsonart Betty and Endora laminates
• Order free samples of Betty (a stock laminate from Wilsonart)
• Order free samples of Endora (a stock laminate from Wilsonart)
• All our stories about Kitchen Countertop options

The post Meet the “Betty” of Wilsonart’s Betty laminate appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Options for cast iron drainboard farmhouse sinks just got bigger — errr, smaller — with this new design — the 42″ Whitney — from Strom Plumbing. We spied this cutie while walking the floor at KBIS 2016. Strom Plumbing is also maker of Pam’s all-time-favorite midcentury style faucets, the Mississippi. New for 2016, Strom Plumbing also has some nice porcelain bathroom sinks.

As we recall, Strom Plumbing told us that this sink is meant to be installed onto a counter, rather than mounted on legs. The introduction PDF on their website also indicates it can be wall-hung [check specs before committing!]

• See our big resource page on Farmhouse Drainboard Sinks here.
• And see this — Laura used a different 42″ cast iron sink — similar design, about $1000 on Signature Hardware right now — in her adorable kitchen remodel.

We also spotted a wide porcelain console sink with legs. The width of this sink — 39-1/4″ is nice — reminds us of our beloved American Standard Gracelynn sink. However, for a midcentury bathroom, we’d need to get it off those big porcelain legs and onto sleeker chrome-plated legs. We presume this would be possible — it’s our experience that it’s the wall-hanging bracket that provides the lion’s share of support for sinks like this. Even so: Check with Strom regarding their recommendations before you consider doing this.

Above: The smaller version of the console sink, also showing off the Mississippi faucet with lever handles. Also of note, all of the grey countertop areas in the booth were Formica Charcoal Boomerang Laminate. Boomies rule!

Our last stop in the Strom Plumbing booth was this tub couch and matching mini tub coffee table…

…that provided an excellent spot for me to sit down and kick up those pretty red heels. Phew!

Link love:

• Browse Strom Plumbing by Sign of the Crab products on their website here.

Read more of our stories about Strom Plumbing:

• Retro bathroom faucets — Comparing Strom Plumbing’s Mississippi vs. Element of Design’s Metropolitan
• Vintage style drainboard sink — Clarion by Strom Plumbing
• Wall mount faucet for a kitchen sink — handsome design from Strom
• 8 vintage style wall-mount kitchen faucets
• Farmhouse sinks – two sources for authentic early-1900s reproductions

The post Small farmhouse sink — 42″ cast iron — new from Strom Plumbing appeared first on Retro Renovation.

“…Ironically, it would be loaded on to a rail car and shipped back by rail to Ohio. Probably the same way it was shipped from Ohio to California 70 years ago.” — Ben Casado

When we broke the story last fall that a complete set of New Old Stock 1948 Youngstown Kitchens cabinets — plus Cusheen countertops — plus GE Airliner range — had been found in storage in California, many of us agreed it should end up in a museum. And guess what: It did! A reader of the blog started a campaign to buy it… the local TV news picked up the story… and overnight, donors came forward. Now: These cabinets are back home in their native land, Youngstown, Ohio, on display at the Tyler Mahoning Valley History Center. 

A shout out to all the folks who made this chain-of-love story possible, in the order in which the saga played out:

• Ben Casado, who found the cabinets and contacted Pam about them….
• Pam is taking a bow. She got excited, jumped on the story and went back and forth with Ben — 93 threads in 43 emails! plus a phone call or two — and then published the story… Pam says that I also get a high-five, because I’m the one who processes all the photos, including wading through the selected emails for text, and then sets up the stories…
• Christian Rinehart, a reader who saw the story and started a Go Fund Me campaign to bring them back home to their birthplace, the Warren, Ohio, area….
• TV station WFMJ, which responded when Christian pitched the story and ran a feature on the evening news…
• Michael and Jeanette Garvey, who quickly responded to the request for funding to bring these cabinets back to Ohio. More on their donation below….
• H. William Lawson, Executive Director of The Mahoning Valley Historical Society, also became involved. They would provide a new home for the cabinets…
  
• Once the deal was sealed, Ben built special crates to hold the cabinets [so he gets double props in this list!]…
• Helping further — coordinating and helping toward the cost of shipping to help the museum out: The management and staff of B. J. Alan Company, a nationwide wholesaler and retailer of fireworks owned and operated in the Mahoning Valley, and Historical Society Board member Scott Zoldan. B. J. Alan happens to have a distribution center close to Ben’s.
• And, we’ll bet there were a good number of staff and volunteers who helped out, too!

So that’s how history gets saved! What a happy ending story, don’t you think!

1948 Youngstown Kitchens cabinets — still in their boxes — make their way to their hometown museum

After our story broke, Ben (the seller) received many offers to purchase the set. He was… deluged, actually. Ultimately, he decided to sell this amazing piece of history to The Mahoning Valley Historical Society. 

Mega thanks to Ben for both rescuing this set and finding a new home where it will be cherished, taken care of and on display for everyone to see!

Once the set arrived in Youngstown and was unpacked and set up, we heard from H. William Lawson, Executive Director of The Mahoning Valley Historical Society, who wrote:

Hello again Pam,

It’s been a while since we last chatted, but I wanted to inform you that the Mahoning Valley Historical Society (MVHS) is now in possession of the nearly new 1948 Youngstown Kitchen set that Ben was offering last year, and was featured on your website!

Here is a press release with more details:

Vintage Youngstown Kitchen Steel Cabinet Set Returns to the Valley

A collection of pristine Youngstown Kitchen cabinets was recently acquired by the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, and are now on exhibit at the Tyler Mahoning Valley History Center.

Last fall, through the power of social media, the Mahoning Valley Historical Society in Youngstown, Ohio, received a donation to purchase a set of mostly unused, new old stock Youngstown Kitchen porcelain steel cabinets and countertops. The cabinets were ordered in 1948 for a kitchen installation that was never completed, and were sitting, still in their shipping boxes, in a home in California.  After a blog post on the site www.retrorenovation.com, the seller was bombarded with offers, and was thrilled when the Historical Society showed an interest.

The Historical Society received the generous gift from Michael and Jeanette Garvey, owners of M-7 Technologies in Youngstown.  They made the donation in memory of the late George E. Whitlock, who was President of Mullins Manufacturing Corporation of Warren and Salem, Ohio, from 1937-1956, which made the Youngstown Kitchen brand of porcelain steel cabinets.  Mullins merged with the American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation in 1956, and the Youngstown Kitchen line became a division of American-Standard.  The Garvey family were Mr. Whitlock’s next-door neighbors in Warren when Michael Garvey was growing up.

Ben Casado, the seller in Galt, California, built custom crates for all of the components in the kitchen cabinet set.  The crates arrived in Warren in late-December, through coordination of shipping by the management and staff of B. J. Alan Company, a nationwide wholesaler and retailer of fireworks owned and operated in the Mahoning Valley, and Historical Society Board member Scott Zoldan. B. J. Alan happens to have a distribution center in Sacramento, CA, which is near to Mr. Casado’s residence.

The crates arrived at the Tyler History Center on Tuesday, January 17, 2016, and the Youngstown Kitchen components and GE Airliner electric range were carefully unpacked and inspected.  The cabinets were installed in a temporary exhibit in the first floor Exhibit Gallery at the Tyler History Center  that opened Saturday, January 30.  This preview exhibit runs through April 30, 2016. The Tyler History Center, located at 325 West Federal Street in downtown Youngstown, is open to the public Tuesday-Sunday from Noon to 4:00 p.m.  Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors (over 60) and college students, and $2 for children.  For more information, visit www.mahoninghistory.org or call 330-743-2589.

We asked Bill Lawson what the reaction in the community has been, and he replied:

Reaction from our community has been very positive…lots of visitors have been drawn to the Tyler History Center specifically to see the Youngstown Kitchen set.  In the future, we want to work with other local historical agencies, libraries, museums, etc., in the Youngstown-Warren area on traveling installations so that more people have an opportunity to see this nearly perfectly preserved kitchen set.

So great to hear!

Shipping: A return trip on the same rail line?

Pam also reached to Ben — who is a friend by now — to ask how he felt now that the cabinets had found a new home. He replied right back:

Hi Pam!

I think the last time we spoke, I was in the process of closing the deal with Mahoning Valley Historical Society. I was pleased to announce to you and to all others concerned that this kitchen set was bound for Ohio its place of origin. Little did I know: The work was about to begin!

Working with Bill Lawson from Mahoning Valley Historical Society was a real pleasure, and things were moving real smooth. I think we both felt that this transition was going to be easy. Well, it’s so happens that shipping an entire kitchen set, a very fragile 1948 kitchen, across United States wasn’t going to be that easy for us. Our first thought was using a moving van (Mayflower etc.), but that idea fell through… Our next idea was maybe to use a common carrier, the problem with that was the expense $$$.

So, Bill Lawson went to work on the transportation situation, while I stayed busy packing and palletizing making ready for the journey.

To make a long story even shorter! Two months gone by, everything is palletized and under a tarp and ready to hit the road. I finally get the call from Bill, his first words were, “Good News!” We found somebody to help us get the kitchen set back to Ohio. This was a real relief for me — the rains had just started to fall in Northern California, and I was really concerned with the threat of an El Niño winter (lots of moisture on a fragile old kitchen set covered with tarps)…

I said goodbye to all that old/new kitchen stuff as it was riding away on the back of a semi flatbed truck. From what I understand, from my property it would be delivered to a truck terminal, from the truck terminal it would be moved to a railroad yard. And ironically, it would be loaded on to a rail car and shipped back by rail to Ohio. Probably the same way it was shipped from Ohio to California 70 years ago.

Ben.

It makes us SO HAPPY that these cabinets found a new home — one where they can be seen and appreciated by many for years and years to come.

Link Love – Read More:

• Read more about the history of the Mullins Manufacturing Corporation and the NOS Youngstown Cabinet exhibit at the Tyler History Center in Youngstown, Ohio on the Mahoning Valley Historical Society blog.
• See our original story about the discovery of this set of NOS Youngstown Steel Kitchen Cabinets.
• Read more about Steel Kitchen Cabinets on our History, Design and FAQ page.

The post Found in boxes never opened, 1948 Youngstown Kitchens cabinets go home to Youngstown, Ohio appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Before we headed to KBIS 2016 in Las Vegas, we heard from Kent Nelson, owner of Nelsons Bathtub Inc. that one of his company’s vintage style acrylic sinks would be on display at the show. Nelson’s is a longtime advertiser on the blog, and Pam and I both have long wanted to see one of these sinks in person. So, we made sure to visit the Master Brand Cabinetry display — which featured one of Nelson’s sinks in an adorable laundry room display. And hey — we really liked both the sink — and the adorable aqua cabinetry! 

The sink we saw on display is one of the company’s new early century models (#3624) — which you can by alone or in a bundle that includes the sink, a Kingston Brass faucet and a drain basket.

After inspecting the sink, Pam and I both agreed that it was very nice, shiny and felt substantial. If I were in need of such a sink, I would not hesitate to consider one of the models available at Nelsons Bathtub Inc.

These sinks are made from premium-grade cast acrylic sheet – you can read about the material/process here. No, these sinks aren’t porcelain-enamel-on-cast iron — which as purists, we would prefer — BUT these are available in a wide variety of styles at a relatively accessible price point.

We count eight different designs available today (we remember when there was just ONE!) — including several featuring our beloved drainboards:

A cute vintage-style laundry space:

We also fell in love with the adorable laundry room setup from Master Brand Cabinetry. The vintage feel of the cabinets meshed well with the sink and faucet, plus did we mention how much we love the soft aqua color?

As we recall, the back of the cabinets were lined with fabric. This would be great to do with vintage wallpaper.

Just another testament to how using color in your home can make you feel — you know as opposed to that other colorless noncolor we always talk about — even the little dustpan hanging over the sink was happy!

• See all the vintage acrylic sink styles available from Nelsons Bathtub Inc.
• See our ginormous research page about where to get drainboard sinks — new, vintage, in different materials, and even where to get them professionally refurbished (maybe).

The post Checking out the Nelson’s sink on display at KBIS appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Prepare your eyeballs for this gem — a rare 1959 ‘Spartan Carousel’ trailer that, as its name suggests, includes a fabulous circular kitchen. This beauty was spotted for sale in Arizona and posted on the Vintage Mobile Homes for Sale Facebook page by midcentury travel trailer enthusiast Pete, owner of his own gorgeous 1964 Shasta Astroflyte trailer. 

Folks, this mid mod mad trailer has it all — amazing circular kitchen with warm wood cabinets, a pink wall oven and sink, lovely copper accents, pendant lights — and topping it all off (literally), a circular dropped ceiling with a cutout featuring a sputnik chandelier. Oh, and it has a pink bathroom, too. Overall, it looks to be in pretty good shape — with some sensitive restoration (get the white paint off that original coppertone backsplash, please!), we can then imagine redecorating this Spartan Carousel in any number of retro ways to make this the grooviest tiny house on the planet. Who else is ready to downsize? 

I emailed the seller of the trailer, Steve, who was more than happy to let us feature this beauty on the blog. Thanks Steve!

Steve writes:

From what I know the trailer was purchased new in Mesa, Arizona, and then was moved up into Northern Arizona in its current location sometime in the late 1960’s or early 70’s. It has been used as a summer getaway/cabin since then, as it is up in the pines and 25-30 degrees cooler than Phoenix in the summer months.

From the Craigslist post:

I am selling our extremely rare 1959 Spartan Carousel 10 x 50 mobile home trailer. This vintage trailer is on three axles from the factory and can be moved. This vintage mobile home has been an Arizona trailer since new and has the original manuals, which are almost non-existent.

If you are looking at this ad you likely are already fully aware of just how extremely rare the Spartan Carousels are. Only a few of these have been offered for sale in the past decade, and I have never seen another Arizona trailer listed at any point. Arizona gives you the advantage of no rust issues and pitting issues, due to the dry climate.

This trailer has often been referred to as the ultimate midcentury tiny home or Eames in a box. You cannot get anymore midcentury modern or atomic in styling than this. This trailer would make a fabulous home-office, guesthouse or tiny house for full-time living. It is a one bedroom, one bath, with the living room and, of course, the stellar rounded kitchen with Sputnik lamp fixture.

The trailer is original and is never been restored. The interior has been painted, and the carpet part of the flooring has started to be removed so that new flooring can be installed. The trailer is sold in as, is-where is condition. The trailer is located in a park that is approximately three hours north east of Phoenix, Arizona.

$40,000 obo
Serious inquiries only please!!

There’s even a pink bathroom!

Link Love:

• See the Craigslist listing for the Spartan Carousel trailer on the Northern Arizona Craigslist

The post Eames in a Box: A 1959 Spartan Carousel trailer with a fantastic circular kitchen appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Here’s something I didn’t know existed and turns out to be a great product to consider for our midcentury homes: “Unit block” oak flooring. 9″ tongue-in-groove solid pieces (rather than in the finger block style that we have profiled before.) In a big coincidence, we received tips on two places to buy these in the span of the same week — and once I was able to figure out some of the terms to describe this style of flooring  — “unit block flooring” seems to be the generic, “K-Block may be the more specific, or possibly a brand name — I was able to search these term and find a variety of places to buy it. 

Source #1: Wood Floors Plus

The first place I spotted these tiles was via midcenturyrichmond on instagram. She has an original floor made of these tongue-in-groove tiles, but needed some replacements to repair some damage. The photo above is hers. She searched and searched and finally found them at WoodFloorsPlus.com.

I called Wood Floors Plus twice to ask about the product. Jordan — very helpful! — told me that starting in the 1960s or 1970s, the industry started moving away from fingerblock parquet to this single-block designs. He said these blocks today are engineered red oak with a veneer on top.

In my followup with Amanda — also very helpful — I also learned there are TWO options to purchase these parquet blocks:

1. Unfinished — at $4.09 s.f.
2. Finished with a natural color — $4.19/s.f.

Note, Wood Floors Plus told me that these engineered floors are topped with veneer. As such, there will be a limited number of times you can refinish them. That is: If you try to refinish more than twice, you risk sanding through the veneer to the less pretty engineered oak substrate. Talk to Wood Plus about this.

If you want a wood parquet floor that can be refinished multiple times, the finger block parquet option is composed of solid wood, so it can be refinished over and over.

BUT, engineered wood does have other benefits — it can be installed below grade, on concrete, because its “engineered” substrate is designed to wick moisture. Solid wood floors typically can not go down on concrete. Also, the Wood Floors Plus engineered parquet floor is less than half the price of the solid parquet we found online.

BUT BUT me no expert! For complete specifications and instructions, talk to Wood Floors Plus and any other potential retailers directly to select the floor that’s right for you.

Note, Wood Floors Plus said this floor is manufactured by Indus Parquet; I could not find it on their website.

Nice find, midcentury richmond!

Source #2: K-Block Flooring available from numerous online sources

Next, I heard from reader Alesha — she found her unit floor blocks — K-Block flooring on ebay (affiliate link). Above: That’s her original floor with the yet-to-be-installed K-Blocks alongside. She wrote:

Pam,

I thought I would share this with you just in case people are looking for 9″x9″ wood tiles for their midcentury house. Our living room floor is made of 9″x9″ red oak tiles that are tongue and groove and a half inch thick. Our kitchen floor meets this floor, but is covered in awful peel and stick. I keep my eye out for wood tiles on Ebay, but usually it’s too expensive for us. This is extremely affordable, and we ordered just a few to make sure it would match well enough for us. I just ordered 70 more tiles to do our kitchen in and have extra! They have three different pre-finished colors to choose from. We went with the natural and it worked out just fine. The seller has good communication and has to set up an auction tailored to your specific needs.

Search online for lots of place to buy unit block flooring

• “Wood block” refers to flooring like this generically. However, wood block flooring can get very spendy depending on the species and cut and if it’s solid wood.
• “Unit blocks” are wood blocks, but unit blocks seems to refer to the more affordable, mass-market building material — oak, as the best example, that has been built up into one unit.
  • “Fingerblocks” are are a type of unit blocks — they are slats built into one unit then installed.
  • “K-Blocks” are a second type of unit blocks. Built up wood with a single piece of veneer on type. I remain unclear on whether K-Block is a generic term or a brand name.

If others can clarify the terms, ya know how I love to know this stuff!

The post Unit block wood flooring — 9″ oak tongue-in-groove floor tiles — and where to find them appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Another new product introduction at KBIS 2016: Two new Jonathan Adler for Formica patterns, in a total of four colorways. Pam and I made sure to check out the Formica display, where it was fun to see large samples of the laminate up close and in person. 

From the news release announcing the new 2016 designs:

Formica® Laminate Jonathan Adler Collection
Formica Corporation continues its relationship with the world-renowned potter, author and designer Jonathan Adler into 2016, resulting in four new chic, eclectic and bold patterns.

Lime Grasscloth

Natural Grasscloth

Slate Grasscloth

Grasscloth – Grasscloth was styled using Jonathan Adler’s real grasscloth wallpaper to create a visual texture that is unique, yet timeless. Available in Natural Grasscloth, Lime Grasscloth and Slate Grasscloth.

Gray Josef Linen

Gray Josef Linen – a simple, yet complex pattern inspired by Josef Albers. Reminiscent of Midcentury Modern, this pattern features geometric shapes in shades of charcoal, smoke gray and white – all under a fine gray linen texture.

>> There were three patterns in a total of nine colorways of Jonathan Adler for Formica designs introduced in 2015. See this story — in which we scooped the entire internet!

The new Jonathan Adler patterns are what we’d call “retro-contemporary.” The new grasscloth designs appear to be virtually photographic in quality, rather than abstract, which is what we’d have seen in midcentury America.

The scale of the Gray Josef Linen is quite large and graphic, as you see in much of contemporary design; in midcentury America, patterns were smaller — designed to be “optical solids.” We recently learned this term from our good friend, materials expert and historian Grace Jeffers. Optical solids are typically small-scale, tone-on-tone patterns that (1) viewed at close range, clearly have a pattern, (2) at mid-range, you can sort of see the pattern… you see motion, and (3) at a greater distance look like a solid. 

The linen laminates introduced last year were also on display. Vintage linen laminates are among our favorite and most useful vintage designs. These Formica interpretations are more photographic in quality. We like the colors!

The orange might look nice in a tiki bar, what do you think? Pam says that she thinks she spotted the laminate in Vinyl, in Devon’s Connecticut kitchen. Anyone else catch it? 

above: Lime Grasscloth.

The lime looked good on this small run of countertop. 

Forever on the lookout for a place to take a load off and rest, we also discovered these fun geometric benches in one corner of the booth. We liked the contrast bold of color against white, and that they were both entirely clad in one of our favorite materials — laminate!

Link love:

• Jonathan Adler for Formica laminates

The post Jonathan Adler for Formica laminates — two patterns, four colorways new for 2016 appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Weekly update: Stephanie and her family have continued unpacking, cleaning up, and counting and measuring all the New Old Stock cabinet parts found in the family’s warehouse full of New Old stock Hardware store stuff (affiliate link). <— Click that link around 3:30 today (Friday) Central and her ebay store will be loaded up with sneak peek HERE ON RETRO RENOVATION: New Old Stock Youngstown Diana countertops [note the integral edging and backsplash] topped with Formica Charcoal Skylark laminate sections…. Youngstown countertops topped with Formica White Skylark countertop sections…. Youngstown countertops topped with Formica Green Linen countertop sections… Youngstown cabinets… Whirlpool cabinets… even some Universal-Rundle cabinets… oh my. 
Stephanie writes:

I have 8 pieces of charcoal Skylark…

2 pieces of white Skylark…

and 5 green Linens….

Cabinets:

10 meridian blue Youngstown…

12 white Youngstown…

4 Sunset Copper Youngstown (sitting in front of the counters, which are Green Linen)…

3 Yellow Dawn Youngstown…
3 Sandalwood Youngstown…
35 Monterey Sandalwood oven housings with pull out drawer…

7 white RCA Whirlpool cabinets…

2 Youngstown sinks…

And more — see our slide show below.

And again, all the action will start around 3:30 p.m. Central Friday here (all affiliate links):

• Lots of NOS from an old hardware store 
• Mac and Iphone and IPad users try this link instead — when you get there, look for the Search box that says SEARCH WITHIN STORE, then type in New Old Stock to narrow search.

Tips to view slide show: Click on first image… it will enlarge and you can also read any captions… click anywhere to move forward and look for previous and next buttons within photo to move back or forth… you can start or stop at any image:
 [See image gallery at retrorenovation.com]

The post NOS warehouse full of Youngstown Diana countertops, vintage steel kitchen cabinets, and sinks — unpacked ! appeared first on Retro Renovation.

The product that started it all — the blog, that is: Vintage steel kitchen cabinets. I wanted to renovate my kitchen. I wanted vintage steel kitchen cabinets. I went on a five-year quest to find them. Along the way I also obsessively researched how to put a 1950s-1960s kitchen together. When I was all done, it turned out so well that I started the blog to share what I had learned. In my kitchen-quest, I already had identified many brands of steel kitchen cabinets made back in the day. And in the years since — very often with the help of readers — we have identified a total of 79 different brands of metal kitchen cabinets built before, during but most after World War II. 78 brands of steel, one brand of aluminum; 75 brands in the U.S., four brands in the U.K.

Over the weekend, I pulled the complete list together into this annotated list. One of my next big projects for the year will be making stand-alone pages on each brand. I have scores of catalogs, will organize them, scan them, and post them. Plus, I will see what I’m missing and search to fill those gaps. In addition, scroll on down — I’ve created an uploader, I’d love to see your vintage steel kitchen cabinets, too — I can add them to the specific pages on each brand to come.

79 brands of metal kitchen cabinets — pretty amazing, huh!

1. Ace
2. Acme Metal Products Corp.
3. Admiral
4. Alden
5. American
6. American-Standard
7. American Central Division
8. Ampco
9. Anemone Kitchen Furnishings
10. Art Metal Cabinets
11. Beautycraft Custom
12. Beauty Queen
13. Berger
14. Briggs Beautyware
15. Capitol
16. Columbia
17. Cox
18.  Crane
19. Crosley
20. Dieterich Steel Cabinet Corp.
21. Dupont-Dulux
22. Elgin
23.  English Rose
24.  Frigidaire
25. GE
26. Geneva
27. Gennesee
28. Hotpoint
29. Harrison Steel Cabinet Co.
30. Hobart
31. Hoffman
32. Homart
33. J&L Steel
34.  Jamestown
35. John Lewis of Hungerford
36. Jubilee
37. KBC
38. Kitchen Kraft Steel Kitchens
39. King
40. Kitchen Queen
41. Kelvinator
42. Kohler
43. Lyon
44. Leisure Made
45. Marvel
46. Morton
47. Midwest Mfg. Company
48. Morgan Kitchen Cabinets
49. Murray
50. Miller Metal Proucts, Inc.
51. Morhand Kitchens
52. Montgomery Ward
53. Olympia Aluminum Kitchen Kabinets
54. Palace
55. Palley Manufacturing Co.
56. Paul
57. Peerless-Mayer
58. RCA-Whirlpool
59. Regency
60. Republic
61. Reynolds
62. Roberts & Mander Corp.
63. St. Charles
64. Servel, Inc.
65. Sears
66. Shirley
67. Signature
68. Stewart
69. Swanco
70. Thriftee
71. Tracy
72. Universal-Rundle
73. United Lifetime Kitchens
74. United Metal Cabinet Corp.
75. Westinghouse
76. Walters
77. Whitehead Monel
78. Yorktown
79. Youngstown

Read more:

• A short history of steel kitchen cabinets
• Our complete steel kitchen cabinet category
• BE SAFE / RENOVATE SAFE — get informed when using vintage products

Upload photos of your metal kitchen cabinets:

1. Be sure to tell us what brand of cabinets you have!!!
2. If you can figure it out, set your camera to no bigger than “medium” images, so files aren’t too large — large files really slow down the slide show. 
3. Uploader DOES work but message you get on screen *may be* funky and confusing. Upload ONCE and trust the image it there — I just need to “set new photos free” from my control panel and will be checking hourly to do so. 
4. Terms of Use apply — by uploading you agree to them.

The post From Ace & Acme to Yorktown & Youngstown: 79 brands of metal kitchen cabinets made after World War II appeared first on Retro Renovation.