Sarah Perdue’s Mid Century Kitchen

[sarahperdue]

Lino vs formica?

I started another thread and am including the link. I figure it might be helpful for future AW users to have the lino vs formica discussion all on one thread.

I'm posting sample formica pictures here for those of you who are following my kitchen but don't have advice to offer on choosing a material for countertops.

Best,
Sarah

 

[sarahperdue]

Geneva kitchen cabinet pull

I'm looking for the same or similar replacements as the one pictured with a wood background for the Geneva cabinets. Some of the cabinets are newer and have the pulls in the second picture. As far as I can tell, these pulls are original to the cabinets.

I'm happy to trade..

 

[ea56]

I can recall some kitchens having linoleum counter tops, especially in Red, and they seemed to hold up OK, after all, linoleum is meant to be walked on with shoes, so it is pretty durable. This IMHO would give the most authentic early 50’s look.

If you decide to go with formica for extra durability, I would choose the first sample, the grey, crazed pattern. The boomerang patterns are more appropriate for a late 50’s, early 60’s look, but they would work too.

You also can’t go wrong with tile counter tops, like were used back then, but finding that style of tiles would probably be like looking for a needle in a haystack. All the tile for sale now is usually subway tile, which would be close, but no cigar.

Anyway Sarah, you must be having a ball getting this retro kitchen done.

Eddie

 

[sarahperdue]

Removing the addition

So, a little Photoshop and here's an idea of what the house will look like without the addition. It amazes me how much bigger the porch looks without the addition behind it. It's the same photograph...

 

[sarahperdue]

Oh, my lord...

David Allen here in the Tuscaloosa area has offered to go check out a GE that is listed here in Northport as "Working" but, according to further contact with the seller, does not cool... In what universe is a refrigerator that is not cooling working? Anyway, the price $100 is good, other than the not cooling part, the fridge is in beautiful condition. And, did I mention that it's nearby?

I was thinking it would be a good starter fridge until I find my dream...then I saw this--a Hotpoint combo that is one of the rare fridges to open from right to left...

Of course, it had to be 12 hours away in St. Louis...

And the stainless Hotpoint combo with the built-in look trim is still available in Louisiana...

I'm linking to the Hotpoint and including pictures of the GE and both Hotpoints. As some of you may remember, the stainless Hotpoint appears to have damage to the butter conditioner and compartments inside the door. Also, the seller tells me that it is plugged in and working--but it just does not look plugged in in the pictures.

Sarah

https://kansascity.craigslist.org/app/d/shawnee-mission-vintage-1952-hotpoint/6928222374.html

 

[sarahperdue]

Evolution

The east wall of the kitchen--where the windows and sink are--is very short. I wanted to have the fridge on the left side of the sink and counter on the right, then cooktop and ovens on the south wall, but the east wall is so short, I would have very little counter space to the left of the sink wiht the fridge.

Enter John (mixrman)'s turquoise GE wall fridge. I've still got to work out the measurements, but if the wall fridge fits to the left of the sink, it will be fantastic.

I've purchased (but not received yet) a vintage 6' stainless Elkay Lustertone double drainboard, double sink. I forgot to save a picture before the seller pulled down the ad. It's got some pitting and someone took a rotary sander to the drainboards. It's going to take some elbow grease, but even with freight, the price beats a new one by about 1,600. That's worth a lot of hand sanding and polishing, but I think it is fantastic that seventy years later, Elkay is still manufacturing this same sink.

Sarah

Now, I'm looking for the right wall ovens. There was a marvelous Thermador side by side double wall oven in Georgia. I was still wrestling with whether I was going to get a 40" double oven range or use the stainless cooktop with wall ovens. It finally clicked--I want wall ovens so that I don't have to bend down for ovens on a range. I missed the Thermadors by one day.

I'm undaunted. So far, it seems like everything I've considered and missed has been OK because as the plan evolves I find better options. I'm going to have faith that the same thing will be true of my ovens.

Best,
Sarah

 

[dermacie]

Sarah,
I am behind looking at the pics. The house is just beautiful! I can't wait to see the progress you make. It really doesn't need much in my opinion.

 

[sarahperdue]

Gonna need more

turquoise and probably an extra fridge.

because the GE wall fridge is small and turquoise. It's going to need some turquoise friends...

 

[goatfarmer]

$100.00 is way too much for a non working 'fridge, vintage or not.

 

[goatfarmer]

maybe worth a call?

https://dothan.craigslist.org/atq/d/midland-city-vintage-ge-refrigerator/6928693641.html

 

[goatfarmer]

or this one

https://mobile.craigslist.org/atq/d/fruitdale-antique-refridgerator/6941026292.html

 

[sarahperdue]

Thanks!

I will call, but it most definitely bugs me when people don't post pictures.

Sarah

 

[sarahperdue]

Progress report

I'm getting my friend John, mixrman's, white Americana for my second fridge. The fridge in the picture is not the one I'm getting, but mine is also in very good shape. I keep thinking that the Americana would have been perfect for my grandfather's midnight pie raids. He was a cattleman, and always put his hat on the marble top credenza to the left of the refrigerator. I walked in on him many times during my childhood. He'd be stark naked in front of the fridge eating pie straight out of the dish. He would put down his fork, pick up his hat and cover himself until I got my water or whatever it was and left. Presumably, once I left the scene, he recommenced eating pie.

My sink arrived on the Greyhound from New York today. I will post pictures when I unpack it. Although it won't be vintage, I'm planning to use a commercial spray faucet. Their functionality just cannot be beat.

I'm really leaning towards a turquoise and red theme. My question of the moment is, would it be a sin to paint a white Americana red? In another departure from authentic vintage, I'm considering using mirrors as a backsplash. I never, ever would have thought of it except that our current house has them. They brighten up the kitchen and make it look bigger. I can also see and chat with who ever is hanging out in the kitchen with me while I cook.

I've been looking at vintage kitchens online, and this one is my favorite so far. The cabinets upper cabinets seem unusually low. I will probably want to incorporate more white in the plan because my kitchen is very, very small and only has one window.

And yes, I'm having fun yet,

Sarah

https://retrorenovation.com/2012/11/27/nancys-metal-kitchen-cabinets-get-a-fresh-coat-of-paint/

 

[mattl]

It's your kitchen, have some fun and add the red - but it needs to be the right red.

 

Just curious, have you ever posted a floor plan of the kitchen?  Curious to see the layout and window/ door placement as well as dimensions.

 

[sarahperdue]

floor plan

Not yet.

Will do cursory measurements today. My craftsman and I will be working on cabinet, appliance layout and where to put the doors from the kitchen to the breakfast room and from the breakfast room into the hall on Saturday.

I'm attaching pictures of the house floor plan that I did on the Home Design 3D app. The first floor plan is the original footprint with the '6os addition removed. The second includes the addition which I plan to demolish and use for donor parts to repair the rest of the house.

Sarah

 

[sarahperdue]

Elkay Lustertone!

My sink arrived, and it is beautiful.

It's going to need considerable sanding and polishing, but I'm confident that it is going to turn out beautifully. It's a very heavy stainless and well worth the effort. Starting with a high quality product makes it worth all of the work.

70 years later, Elkay still makes the Lustertone sink. A new one costs about $1,900. So far, I've spent about 16 minutes with 400 grit sandpaper on a small portion of it, and it is going very well. So, I've paid $150 for the sink, $100 to the seller for his trouble and $134 to Greyhound for the shipping. I can do a lot of sanding for $1,500!

Sarah

 

[sarahperdue]

More Geneva cabinets seem meant to be

I started playing around with kitchen cabinet and appliance placement and realized I have an extreme shortage of base cabinets--like only seven. Most of y'all have seen the pictures of the cabinets in their original kitchen. There seemed to be tons of them, but when I went back to the pictures, sure enough, only seven.

Enter a set of Geneva cabinets in St. Louis as if on cue. It's not much further to make the round trip for the refrigerator and cabinets as it is to just get the fridge. St. Louis and Ft. Knox are reasonably close to each other so it makes perfect sense to pick both the cabinets and the turquoise GE wall fridge in the same trip.

I'm attaching a link to the cabinets in St. Louis, pictures of the cabinets, my new Americana--which I think I'm going to paint turquoise instead of red, a floor plan of the kitchen and that gorgeous turquoise Frigidaire Custom Imperial double oven that I'm leaving in the morning to pick up in North Carolina. For one pained minute, I thought the Americana did not have a butter conditioner...then I found the switch, yes? The Americana didn't work when plugged in, but John Gillum tells me that the main switch is in the freezer compartment. I'm expecting her to start right up when I get to the country this weekend.

Thanks for all of your encouragement and enthusiasm!

Sarah

https://stlouis.craigslist.org/hsh/d/saint-louis-retro-white-geneva-cabinets/6963640232.html

 

[sarahperdue]

Updates

Hi All,

The Americana fridge is working fine, and I have a tentative floor plan for the kitchen

Sarah

 

[vacbear58]

Sarah

Is their anything going in the space to the left of the door into the dining room? If you like to bake it might be worth putting the Americana there and extending the counter round from the bar to the Geneva pantry with cupboards under which would give a really good space for a "baking centre" - lots of room to spread out and yet it's fairly close to the oven. The small sink there would also mean if you had someone working with you they could use that area for preparing veggies and the like without getting in each other's way. You may also be able to fit in some more wall cabinets there too

 

[sarahperdue]

Ideas, please!

Alistair,

Thank you very much for the idea of putting the Americana to the left of the dining room door. I had planned to put a comfy chair or loveseat there, but now I'm going to have to make some major changes. I realized there isn't enough room between the kitchen windows for the wall fridge.

Please, y'all, bring on the ideas! I'm struggling with the new plan.

Sarah