Recreate yesterday’s sunny coral-yellow-green 50s style kitchen

I've moved: Please see my dramatically improved site: RetroRenovation.com

Today: Modern day products to recreate yesterday’s flashback kitchen. My finds include:

Formica microdot laminate in yellow: http://www.formica.com/publish/site/na/us/en/index/laminate/colors_collections/microdot.detail.6900.0001.html

Wilsonart brushed yellow laminate: http://samples.wilsonart.com/p-134-maroochy-brush-4745-60.aspxmples.wilsonart.com/p-134-maroochy-brush-4745-60.aspx

Sherwin-Williams Pink Flamingo Paint from the Suburban Modern palette: http://www.sherwin-williams.com/do_it_yourself/paint_colors/paint_color_palette/color_themes/suburban/int_suburban.jsp

Armstrong’s Marmorette (true linoleum) sheet flooring in Green Parrot:http://www.armstrong.com/commflooringna/product_details.jsp?category=linoleum&item_id=2770

Pretty cool! If this kitchen wouldn't make you happy - nothing would!

Mixing countertop surfaces - right out of retro design history

I've moved: Please see my dramatically improved site: RetroRenovation.com

In this photo of my kitchen, I want to point out what I think is a great tip about using different countertop surfaces.

To the left of the stove -- you can see we used butcher block. Just to the right of the stove - we used same-sized sheet of stainless steel. The rest of the countertop is laminate (Formica boomerang, in aqua.) The mix of countertop materials really breaks up what could otherwise be a long, boring stretch of same-colored laminate. The stainless steel piece in particular is also very useful - we can set hot pots from the stove or oven right on to it. We don't actually use the butcher block for cutting, it's decorative in nature.

We took this idea straight from 50s advertising, and the '63 Geneva cabinets had countertops that used the stainless steel piece - just as we've replicated it.

This is an easy-to-do kitchen design tip that really makes a difference!

Please also see my previous posts on countertops - go right to them by clicking on Countertops in Labels, at the left.

Stainless steel edging for your laminate countertop

I've moved: Please see my dramatically improved site: RetroRenovation.com

My husband hunted down the only place we could find -- in Astoria, Queens -- that still made the exact stainless steel edging that we wanted. We installed this very easily and successfully on our new countertops. We purchased 1.5" U-style eding for the counter edge, a little piece that married the counter to the backsplash, and finally, 3/4" ss for the top of the backsplash. This is EXACTLY what we saw used on the 1963 countertops that we threw out, and the guy from Dave Sanders agreed - they've been making it since the 1950s!

The photo used is from someone else's kitchen that I saw on ebay. The edging is the same... Also see the final product in my kitchen post of 9/16/07.

Here is the url for the company. However, please note, the edging is NOT featured in the catalog, you have to call for information: http://www.davesanders.com/

To anyone near western Massachusetts - I have a lot left of this stuff, as we had to order in commercial quantities. If you're interested in buying the leftovers directly from me, post a comment and I'll be happy to sell it to you at cost.

Stainless steel edging for laminate countertops

I've moved: Please see my dramatically improved site: RetroRenovation.com

This is another alternative for countertop edging -- although I prefer the edging from Dave Sanders (see my other post on stainless steel edging for countertops).

http://www.outwater.com/catalog04/outwater/opi19.htm

Tile 50s style for your kitchen or bath: Go Canadian

I've moved: Please see my dramatically improved site: RetroRenovation.com

It was very difficult to find tile in the correct 50s shades. My best source: A Canadian-based company, Olympia Tile, had a selection of 4.25 x 4.25 "Maple Leaf" tiles in appropriate shades. Good news, their distribution network in the U.S. is growing. Go to olympiatile.com to see where you can buy this tile. No photos online - watch this site and I'll post my bathroom pics at some point.

Colors I used in my bathrooms: Heron Blue and Fawn Beige. I used the 4x4s for field tile and for edging, trimmed them with a basic United Ceramic white 2x6 from Home Depot. I used Olympia's matching 2x6 cove base to meet the walls with the floor. Note, we installed the cove pieces flush with the floor tile (rather than 'sitting on top of it' -- but struggled because the room was not perfectly square (by a long shot.) This is a trade-off decision.

Other colors I like in the Olympia line: Primrose (yellow), Teal Blue and Lake Blue, Salmon (would be great with black or grey trim) Terra Cotta, Bone and four shades of Grey - Thunder, Platinum, Silver and Tender (my favorite.)

This tile was all very inexpensive. Note, I bet you can go much higher-end -- to a Waterworks or Ann Sachs -- and probably get a better selection of colors. However, this will be at a much much higher price.

Finally: For my floors, I used American Olean Chloe, a "pinwheel" pattern evocative of the 50s, with the gloss black dots in one room, and with plain satin white in the other two. To be honest, I prefer the all-white. Use warm grey sanded grout -- it's a nice look. You must seal the grout, though - an arduous (but worthwhile) task.

Countertops with 50s style

I've moved: Please see my dramatically impoved site: RetroRenovation.com

The countertops I removed from the two vanities in my 1951 bathrooms were both laminate, edged in metal. One - a soft aqua tinged green - imitated a really beautifully, nubbly linen weave. I could not identify any current laminate to replicate it in either style or color. (Greens really differ in popularity by era, I've found.) In the other bathroom, there was a marbleized pink -- and I found a good match for this one (see below).

Ultimately, these are the best choices I found for bathroom laminates:

- Wilsonart Bleu Windrift - a light, marbleized blue. Special order.
- Wilsonart Tearose Illusion - this is the pink marbleized laminate described above. Special order.
- Wilsonart Beige Illusion - also shown above. Special order.

Now, you can also get Formica 1950s replicas for the bath or kitchen. They all look terrific:

- Formica Boomerang - in four colors, shown above.
- Virrvarr - in two colors, light blue and white. This is a reproduction of a popular European pattern. I think it's terrific, and may use it in my upcoming kitchen reno if the salvaged aqua-with-gold-fleck counters I'm hoping to use don't work out.

Other details:
- I edged my bathroom countertops with the laminate, simple square edge. My husband the neat freak again begged me not to use the metal edge. I think this worked out fine, it certainly is 'softer' than the metal. I'll do a future post on where to find metal edging.
- The original countertops had a special piece of metal molding, a narrow T molding between the edge of the counter and the tile that ran up the wall alongside it. I saw at my local lumber store, this was still available. I skipped it.
- I ordered a high-gloss finish, although I think matte or a soft gloss would be fine and certainly less likely to scratch.

Finally -- if you really don't want laminate and prefer something more durable, I recommend you look at Caesarstone, a solid surface material. I thought their "Blizzard" was beautiful, a bit off white with some nubble but not overwhelming or a major contemporary statement. You could design around it.

Next: Tile.