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.

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.

Over the years, we have received many questions about where to get various fixit parts for steel kitchen cabinets. But with 70+ vintage brands out there, these questions are tough indeed — we’re really dependent on readers discovering and testing options. Today: Reader Shawn hit some pay dirt, and was able to find new door pin ballstud catches that he could use to close his wall cabinet doors snugly.

Shawn says these catches worked for both the Geneva and Youngstown cabinets that he is using in his project — and he has extras, if you need a few, too:

I found a solution for missing door pins/ballstud catches. I found that these work on Genevas and Youngstowns. Thread size 8/32. I have about 90 left. PM or Email me swolfe1@neo.rr.com. $1.00 ea or 12 for $10.00

These thingies are called “Lift the Dot” Stud catches – the company that makes them says they were originally developed to hold canvas tops on horse and buggy carriages in place! 

Shawn found them on ebay here.

I don’t know how Shawn got these into the doors themselves — presumably he was using pre-existing holes (replacing door pins that had been there before), so they cozied right in.

Push-in stem door / drawer bumpers, too:

Also — Shawn found a source for “push-in stem door/drawer bumpers” — those little rubber baby buggy bumper black dots on the inside of a kitchen cabinet door that let it rest gently against the metal cabinet box.

Golly.

Thank you, Shawn!!

See all our stories about vintage steel cabinets here.

The post Where to find door pin ball stud catch thingies for steel kitchen cabinet doors appeared first on Retro Renovation.

For this update, I did some more digging and discovered that The Mullinaires were all Mullins employees — they were officially “The Mullinaires — Mullins Manufacturing Corporation Chorus.” Mullins, being: the company that manufactured Youngstown kitchen cabinets. Above: One of the several awesome historic photos of The Mullinaires in the Warren-Trumbull County (Ohio) Public Library’s Trumbull Memory Project site. Here’s my guess regarding the purpose of the video: Filmed — with very high production values, not to mention the bouncing sing-along ball — to play at a salesmen’s convention. An instant midcentury Americana classic!

TGIF, it’s been a long winter. Let’s take it from the conductor, prepare to sing along:

“Now we are going to sing a song dedicated to Youngstown Kitchens, which is the theme of this whole program!

Now you join with us, let’s everybody sing:

 

Here’s the word, here’s the flash

That will roll up loads of cash

Youngstown kitchens are keeping the lead.

 

Diana style is the key

To our new supremacy

Youngstown kitchens are keeping the lead.

 

We make more history

In the kitchen industry

Sales records we’ll pile up by the score.

 

For we’ve led the pack

Now we have what others lack

Watch the public come running for more.

 

Sinks are sleek, cabinets smart

Kitchens new in every part

Youngstown kitchens are keeping the lead.

 

Built-in look, smart designs

Smoother flowing modern lines

Youngstown kitchens are keeping the lead.

 

We will make history

With new flexibility

Our kitchens no others can exceed.

 

Just watch us sell

Give the competition hell

Youngstown kitchens are keeping the lead.

Many thanks to archive.org for making this video available, and to the Warren-Trumbull Public Library for giving us permission to show this photo! 

Read our history of vintage steel kitchen cabinets —
70+ brands identified to date! — here

The post The Mullinaires sing the praises of Youngstown kitchen cabinets, 1953 appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Here’s a rare bird for our archive of vintage steel kitchen cabinet — a vintage 1948 “Acme” sink base (with American Standard “Hostess” drainboard sink) for sale on ebay. What’s unusual about this design is the stamped, deco-style design on the front sink plate. We only tend to see this kind of ornamentation on early designs of metal sink bases — designs likely originating before World War II, but which continued into the market for some period after. Reminds me of the Dupont Delux, which also has deco styling. Also notable: Wile E. Coyote worked for this company; beware: Does it explode?

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From the ebay listing:

American Standard “Hostess” 1948 vintage porcelain sink with metal Acme kitchen cabinet. Measures 42×25. In excellent working condition! Still in use today! Made in the USA.

Mega thanks to ebay seller laursickler for allowing us to feature these photos.

• See the ebay listing for this 1948 Acme sink base with American Standard Hostess drainboard sink
• Read more about steel kitchen cabinets on our history, design and FAQ page

The post Acme steel kitchen cabinets — Wile E. Coyote would approve! appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Three days before closing, a pipe burst in Sam’s soon-to-be 1950s brick ranch house — making a gut remodel of the kitchen Job #1. Sam wanted to reuse the original Geneva steel kitchen cabinets, so she found a local powder coating company. They did a great job, and she’s thrilled with her modern-meets-retro kitchen remodel.

Sam writes (edited):

We’re in the early stages of a complete renovation of a 1950 brick ranch. I can’t tell you enough how much of a help your site has been. A little back story on the original kitchen pictures: A pipe burst and flooded the house 3 days before we closed on it.  Since no one was living there, the plumber estimated the water ran for 5-6 days.  That’s why everything is pulled out from the walls and there are fans and cords everywhere.  We were planning on gutting the house anyway, so it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.  And the flood did reveal asbestos flooring, so the house also had to be asbestos abated. At least it was under the seller’s home owner’s insurance and not ours!

We had the home’s original steel cabinets powder coated, and I’ve learned more about the door warping issues some people have had from powder coating.

The warping was most likely not caused by the powder coating, but by the paint removal process. Some coaters prefer to “burn” off the existing finish using a burn oven. Burn oven temps start at 750 degree and can go over 1,000. In comparison, powder coating “bakes” at 390 degrees. Media blasting is a safer way to remove paint for hollow steel doors.

The bottom line is to talk to your coater, and make sure you’re dealing with an experienced professional. Our coater has done steel cabinets before and has been a great help. They also have fabrication capabilities to repair severely rusted cabinets.

[Editor Pam notes: Thanks, Sam, for sharing what you learned about the powder coating process —  and also for echoing my longstanding cry to ensure you’re working with competent professionals. READERS: I am not an expert on this issue, so am not formally weighing in one way or another on what Sam learned. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH on this issue, with your own properly licensed professionals. That said, I think this is a good conversation and consistent with some of the chatter I have heard over the years, that:  Yes, we’ve had readers who have said their doors warped; high heat at some point most certainly seems the be the culprit.]

For all of the cabinets pictured, media blasting and powder coating was $2,500. The lowers cabinets are vintage turquoise in high gloss.  The uppers are high gloss white.It would have been cheaper had we gone with an in-stock color instead of the turquoise, since that had to be custom ordered. But the turquoise was worth it.

If anyone in the Kansas City area is looking, I highly recommend Liquid & Powdercoat Finishes. I can’t say enough good things about our powder coaters. They did an absolutely fantastic job.

The cabinets turned out beautifully! I lucked out on the back plates.  I found a guy (through Retro Renovation) who was selling back plates and pulls that were basically in pristine condition.  I was able to replace all of mine that were severely cracked or chipped and have a few extra for future replacements.  The upper hardware was in good condition, and none needed to be replaced.

The countertops are concrete and the new cabinets are walnut.  All of the new cabinet pulls are similar shape to the original pulls to keep similar lines.

Sam, the finished kitchen looks fantastic. You did a really nice job melding the vintage cabinets with several more modern elements, including the concrete countertops, subway tile backsplash (yes, we’ll call that a modern revival in this use) and the flooring. Selecting the walnut for the pantry cabinet also worked really well. You also get extra double brownie points given you had so little time to work with! Glad the resources here could help — and thank you for sharing all your results and experience right back with the community!

The post Sam has a great experience with powder coating her vintage steel kitchen cabinets appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Over the years, we have received many questions about where to get various fixit parts for steel kitchen cabinets. But with 70+ vintage brands out there, these questions are tough indeed — we’re really dependent on readers discovering and testing options. Today: Reader Shawn hit some pay dirt, and was able to find new door pin ballstud catches that he could use to close his wall cabinet doors snugly.

Shawn says these catches worked for both the Geneva and Youngstown cabinets that he is using in his project — and he has extras, if you need a few, too:

I found a solution for missing door pins/ballstud catches. I found that these work on Genevas and Youngstowns. Thread size 8/32. I have about 90 left. PM or Email me swolfe1@neo.rr.com. $1.00 ea or 12 for $10.00

These thingies are called “Lift the Dot” Stud catches — the company that makes them says they were originally developed to hold canvas tops on horse and buggy carriages in place! 

Shawn found them on ebay here.

I don’t know how Shawn got these into the doors themselves — presumably he was using pre-existing holes (replacing door pins that had been there before), so they cozied right in.

Push-in stem door / drawer bumpers, too:

Also — Shawn found a source for “push-in stem door/drawer bumpers” — those little rubber baby buggy bumper black dots on the inside of a kitchen cabinet door that let it rest gently against the metal cabinet box.

Golly.

Thank you, Shawn!!

See all our stories about vintage steel cabinets here.

The post Where to find door pin ball stud catch thingies for steel kitchen cabinet doors appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Plus: a Cusheen countertop and a GE stove — both NOS!

What mysteries await, inside these crumbling old boxes???

Howdy hudee: 10 New Old Stock Youngstown Steel Kitchen Cabinets — untouched by human fingerprints for 66 years — straight from the factory in 1949. I so want to be there when these little time capsules are opened!

Oh –> And there’s there’s a 1949 GE stove, also New Old Stock (NOS), to match!

–> And a Cusheen countertop!

Reader Ben emailed us about this discovery:

Hi there, I happened upon a time capsule, while helping a friend straighten out her family’s storage garage. The garage had been locked and forgotten for many years.

As we snooped through the piles of keepsakes from her family, all long passed, we found approximately 10 unopened boxes of Youngstown steel kitchen cabinets. During the process of moving these boxes I found a newspaper in between the boxes that was dated 1949.

In a different location sitting since 1949, there is a General Electric stove that is also unused in pristine condition — still has the price tag dangling off the handle. It’s really a cool looking piece with a clock and looks like a deep fryer maybe built into it. Again it looks to be brand spanking new, and I know it is unused. I’m pretty sure the stove was bought at the same time cabinets were purchased, probably all part of the same kitchen upgrade they were planning at the time.

I plan to unpack these cabinets as soon as possible, I can’t wait to see what’s inside. I did take a peek in a couple of boxes and yes they look brand-new, regardless of what the rats and termites did to the cardboard boxes.

Thanks again, Pam,

Ben

Thank you, Ben, for thinking of us and sharing these photos! What a fabulous find! I’ll stay in touch, for sure, to find out what you decide to do with these treasures!

Wow: There’s also a  42″ black marbleized Cusheen countertop — see our story on Cusheen here.  Oh my word, I want to see this!

See all of our stories about vintage steel kitchen cabinets by clicking here.

The post Untouched for 66 years in their original boxes: 1949 Youngstown steel kitchen cabinets — and more appeared first on Retro Renovation.

What was inside all the boxes?
We now get to see!

Close your eyes. Imagine it’s 1948. You recently ordered a big set of Youngstown Steel Kitchen cabinets. The delivery truck has just arrived. The delivery men tote the big boxes into your garage. They begin to open them up. You are so excited!

Now: Open your eyes. It’s 2015 — not 1948 — but we all get to experience the thrill of opening up all the boxes! Yes: Today we get to see the very first photos of the big set of New Old Stock Youngstown Steel Kitchen cabinets that reader Ben recently discovered in storage. As you may recall, we first showed these cabinets — but still hidden in their boxes — in this story earlier this month.

They are just as pretty — just as shiny and new — as they day they were packed into their boxes. So pretty! So shiny! So new!

And woah, Nellie, hang on, because, there is a 1948 General Electric stove to go with. It is brand new, too.

Ben said the price tag was still on it: $270.

In case you didn’t catch that: Brand new. Reader Janet in ME piped right in and said it’s a GE Airliner. A GE Airliner! Woot! Our readers are So Smart. Thank you, Janet in ME!

Not one crumb new.

Apparently, not one scratch new. It was all crated up.

Brand spanking new. Oh my goodness.

Never messed with new.

New new new new new. It doesn’t get much better than this.

But wait, it does get better than this. The best part, imho: New Old Stock Cusheen vinyl countertops to match up with the Youngstown Steel Kitchen cabinet bases.

There are a lot of steel kitchen cabinets around (of course, not NOS), and there are a lot of GE ranges around (ditto) — but pristine Cusheen countertops? These are flipping amazing.

The Cusheen countertop from the underside — the vinyl is adhered straight onto steel!

Ben says that the Cusheen vinyl is adhered straight onto steel. As you can see in the photo above, there is a steel channel underneath and multiple short channels behind the backsplash to reinforce the structure. What I mean to say: There is no wood substrate to these countertops! They are Cusheen-on-steel. Ben says it’s 16 gauge. It’s honking heavy stuff.

You screw the countertops right onto the cabinets. I think those are the screws, above.

Note: The drainboard sink was used; Ben says it’s in great shape, though. Also: The sink front was used and needs some work; Ben says the paint has yellowed, and it will need to be repainted to match the other cabinets. Back story seems to be: The complete kitchen was purchased back in ’48 or ’49 with a remodel in mind. Obviously, the remodel never happened. But the owners used the sink base and the sink in another location. In addition, there likely were wall cabinets — but these were also used in another project, long gone.

What is the total tally of what was found? Ben has not made up a list — but he took photos of the boxes, and they are in the slide show, if you want to count.

Ben wants to sell these

What is going to happen to these cabinets? Ben wants to sell them. I really think they belong in a museum and am reaching out to my museum friends right away today to see if they can help get these things to a museum. Meanwhile, Ben is open to offers. He wants to sell everything as a set. 

How to contact Ben:

• UPDATE: The cabinet have a tentative buyer, all the details just need to get wrapped up. But if something changes, we’ll update this story. Readers, please do not send me emails about this. If you want to stay up to date on the situation subscribe to this comment thread and our newsletter http://conta.cc/1j7vdz5
• Meanwhile: Early birds get the worm. To never miss a story about big finds like this on RetroRenovation.com, click here to sign up for our newsletter.

More about Youngstowns and Cusheen:

• Must see: “The Mullinaires” sing the praises of Youngstown Steel Kitchen Cabinets in 1953. Classique!
• See our story about Cusheen countertops here. It was an alternative to linoleum, available in a variety of rich colors.
• See the original Cusheen countertops in Brian and Keri’s kitchen here.
• Click here to see this late-1950s catalog showing these countertops — and lots of pretty Youngstown kitchens.

Yowza. Eight years nine-and-a-half years (yowza, I just checked — it’ll be 10 years soon!) into doing this blog daily. Just when I think we will run out of stories, stuff like this comes at us. Yay!

Thank you so much, Ben, for sending all the photos. What a great thing you did by rescuing these! Be sure to tell whoever buys them about RetroRenovation.com and to give them our contact info — we want to see where they land!

CONTINUE to next page to see the SLIDE SHOW — 80 double-sized photos:

Tips to view slide show: Click on any image… it will enlarge to 1000 pixels wide on your screen … 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 Boxed up for 67 years and now set free: Brand new 1948 Youngstown Kitchen cabinets + 1948 GE Airliner stove — 80 photos appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Ever since last week’s mega story about the New Old Stock 1948 Youngstown steel kitchen cabinets, steel kitchen cabinets have been on everyone’s mind — with lots of new tips coming in. A great one, from reader Deb: This gorgeous set of 1953 St. Charles steel kitchen cabinets for sale in Maine — at what I consider a very reasonable price, considering the quality, condition and what ya get.

This looks to be a spectacular set — salvager Pete says the buttery yellow paint is in great condition, and just wait until you see all the rare and hard-to-find pieces. Pantry cabinets… two Thermador ovens… warming oven… linen cabinet… aerated vegetable drawers… and more! Oh, and St. Charles: The creme de la creme of vintage steel kitchen cabinets — these things were the heaviest that I know of.

Above: Pete and his wife (above) salvaged these from a nearby home that was slated to be torn down. They thought they would use them in their own kitchen remodel, but changed their plans. They put a lot of work into the project — they had to disassemble the cabinets from the other house. Pete took lots of photos, so we also get to see a bit of what these cabinets look like underneath and behind. For example, note: St. Charles’ do not have built-in kickplates. The base cabinets are boxes. You build a plinth to set them on. Or: You can set them on legs, as shown in these advertising photos. I presume that when you set them on to legs, there might be further structural requirements to ensure the base sits safely on the legs.

Above: What a nifty design idea for a big kitchen with sinks for two cooks — jut out the dishwasher to create separate areas and even more counter space. Won’t your contractor love you when you ask for this? Not.

Above: Three pantry cabinets — with drawers underneath!

Above: Linen drawer.

Above: Lazy Susan, St. Charles style. Who else is digging the floor. Hey: Greige that gets my seal of approval — mark this day on your calendars!

Above: Bread box, I think…

Rare to see pantry cabinets! 

Above: Drawers for vegetables.

Above: Note how the laminate is installed to ring the sink. No hudee — there’s a piece of steel (?) molding that wraps the laminate, it’s similar to an undermount sink installation. We see this vintage installation method on occasion. Also interesting to see: Stainless steel sinks in a 1953 kitchen.

Above: Yup, that’s the under side of the countertop, sans cabinetry underneath.

Pete said that the countertop also was made of steel — countertop material adhered onto one ginormous 17-foot run of steel. He and his wife could not move the countetop, it was so heavy. They pulled the cabinets out from under it and left it where it hung. Oh my.

Above: A good look at the plinths.

Above: More bread drawers. 

Above: The Thermador warming ovens heated right up, Pete said.

Where to buy these cabinets:

• Pete has them for sale for $5,000, pickup only about 1.5 hours north of Portland, Maine.

Like this story? Here are some more:

• 18 St. Charles colors
• One St. Charles kitchen — designed six different ways!
• A look at the St. Charles line — 1957
• Robert & Caroline’s home with dreamy aquamarine St. Charles steel kitchen cabinets
• All of our stories about vintage steel kitchen cabinets

Slide show:

Tips to view slide show: Click on first image… it will double in size on screen… 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 Vintage St. Charles kitchen cabinets — with Thermador ovens and lots more appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Here’s a rare sight to be seen, five hard-to-find vintage Beauty Queen Lavanette “Vanette” steel bathroom vanities, all found in one building in northern California, and spotted for sale by several readers who sent us tips. Yowza — they look to be in great shape! 

From our original story on Lavanettes: The 36″ model above is the “Lavanette” — the 48″ models for sale are “Vanettes”. There also was a longer “Powder Bar.” Oh. My.

I asked the seller Laurie, how did they happen to come across not one — but five — of these rare vintage Lavanette Vanettes. Her reply:

We are just starting renovations on what was a local family practice.  The doctor was there from the 1960s until a couple years ago… he never changed his decor.  The Lavanettes were used in individual exam rooms. I think that is why they are in such great shape!

Laurie was also excited to hear from us — she is a regular reader! She said:

I am the assistant to the owner of the sinks and the one working on getting these FABULOUS units to their next home!  I absolutely LOVE your website, follow you on Facebook too, and would be more than happy for these sinks to be featured on it…. I soooo hope these amazing cabinets go to a loving new home (wish one could come home with me J ), vintage is the BEST!!!  Let me know if you have any questions.  Thanks so much!!!

Thank you, Laurie! We don’t see too many of these vintage Lavanettes in the wild. We think they were quite rare to begin with, but then, when you combine their rarity with the metal-rusting moisture found in bathrooms, we think many of them just didn’t survive. The fact that these examples were not used in bathrooms, but in patient rooms in a doctor’s office is probably why they are in such good condition after all these years.

These are Vanettes from the Lavanette Line

From the Craigslist posting:

Love vintage?? Well then, one of these vintage bathroom “vanity with sink” cabinet units would be the PERFECT addition to your retro bathroom makeover.

This is one of five cabinets we have for sale. All five are part of the Beauty Queen “Lavanette” line made by Toledo Desk & Fixture Corp., Maumee, Ohio in the 1950s. They are powder coated steel with laminate tops and porcelain sinks with chrome trim and measure 4′ x 2′.

We have three light blue with light pink laminate tops and two light green units with grey laminate tops for sale. All five of these units are in fabulous condition with minimal dents, scrapes or chips. (for pictures of the other units please see our other postings)

The sinks do not appear to have any chips but, along with the faucets and nobs, will need some careful elbow grease to remove the hard water stains. There is only one light blue unit that has a visible dent on the front right, bottom drawer. Other than that any smudges you see in the pictures are just dust/dirt from sitting in a vacant building for many years.

Four of the units have the original “optional” towel bar. All five have the pull out bin in bottom left cabinet, garbage bin in bottom right cabinet and the plastic odds and ends trays in the top drawers.

Each individual unit is listed at $500 and are located in Northern California, just south of Redding, so you will either need to be able to pick up or pay for it to be shipped.

You can see more photos of these five amazing Lavanettes on Craigslist. Currently, Laurie has them posted for sale on the Las Vegas, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Reno and San Francisco Bay Craigslist.

Beauty Queen Kitchen Cabinets

Yes, Lavanettes and Vanettes were part of the Beauty Queen line of steel kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Laurie took the info about the maker — Toledo Toledo Desk and Fixture Co., Maumee, Ohio — from our original story here. Hmmm. How many steel cabinet makers were there in Ohio, Pam wondered. She knows of (1) Youngstown Steel Kitchens, out of Warren… (2) Republic Steel Kitchens, of Columbus… and Beauty Craft, from Toledo. Perhaps one day soon we will go through our histories and make a complete list by location.

Above: See this story about a Beauty Queen sink base, which was restored, including with the addition of a new Elkay Lustertone drainboard sink.

Above: Pink Beauty Queen kitchen cabinets — with a long pink drainboard sink, be still our hearts — posted to our buy/sell forum in 2008.

Link Love (Various photos are sprinkled through five different listings):

• Blue Lavanette on Los Angeles Craigslist
• Blue Lavanette on Sacramento Craigslist
• Aqua/green Lavanette on Las Vegas Craigslist
• Blue Lavanette on San Francisco Bay Craigslist
• Aqua/green Lavanette on Reno Craigslist

See our extensive archive of stories
about vintage steel cabinetry — it’s fascinating!

The post Five vintage Lavanette “Vanette” bathroom vanities — oh my, fantastic! 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.

Pick me up off the floor!!!! In the latest episode of our current favorite binge-watching saga, ebay seller nomoredrama4me — Stephanie — sent me this photo yesterday. She calls it Cabinet Mountain, I call it Youngstown Mountain. Yes: Within the warehouse full of New Old stock Hardware store stuff (affiliate link) awaited a mountain o’ steel.

How many cabinets? The original pile measured 40 feet wide… 35 feet deep… 8 feet high.

A few weeks ago, when I first got wind of these, I got on the phone with Stephanie to get more info on this stash. I suggested to her that to sell them, she would need to get them well organized, measured, and checked for any damage. Probably even: Take them out of their boxes so’s potential buyers could see. Like Ben did here, with all the 1948 NOS Youngstowns he found, and which ended up in a museum. But I also told her: Don’t throw out the boxes. The boxes are awesome.

All this week, Stephanie has been working on organizing everything, with the help of her family — that’s daughter Lilly scaling the mountain in the photo. At last count, there were 63 cabinets + countertops (uncounted, I have no photos, can’t wait to see!) plus sinks (ditto, eagerly awaiting.)

A number of the cabinet boxes are marked Monterey. But the doors aren’s wood. They are nubbly textured steel doors painted. Painted Sandalwood. There are blue cabinets, too. And, Stephanie said that yesterday, they uncovered some Whirlpool steel kitchens cabinets. We don’t even have Whirlpools on our list! New discovery!

Stay tuned. More photos to come. This is just a sneak peek. Youngstown Mountain!

See what’s come out of the NOS warehouse so far…

To see all the other items coming out of the warehouse daily, go to the following (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.

So, who else’s heart went pitter patter KABOOM!
when they saw that first photo of Youngstown Mountain?

The post Youngstown Mountain 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.

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

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

I am feeling a get-back-to-the-basics binge coming on. Me wanna chronicle even more stuff from bygone days. Scan a bunch of catalogs. Find some more rarities. And here’s a good start: 15 years of watching, and I’ve never seen RCA Whirlpool steel kitchen cabinets before. Our 79th brand of metal kitchen cabinets made in the 20th Century!

These also come from Stephanie’s stash of New Old Stock found in — and now coming out of — her father-in-law’s hardware store warehouse. Yes, not only is this my first-ever look-see at RCA-Whirlpools, but we get to see them in pristine condition to boot!

And tee hee, I see that after I told Stephanie that I had never seen these before, she wrote in her ebay listing:

“A Brand Previously Unknown To Experts in this Field.”

Indeed. While I will vehemently deny expertise in about a gazillion areas, I will claim expertise in identifying — or at least, in having archived — vintage steel kitchen cabinets. 52PostnBeam; she probably can name them faster on sight than I can! Pink bathrooms, though: I’m claiming #1 in understanding their history. *soproud*

When were RCA-Whirlpool metal cabinets these made? I’m having a hard time speculating just based on the design. But looking up Whirlpool history, I see that they cannot have come any earlier than 1955, which is when Whirlpool merged with Seeger, which already owned parts of RCA’s business. From the Whirlpool website:

“In 1955, we merged with the Seeger Refrigeration Company, which provided us with a quality refrigerator line. As part of the merger we also acquired RCA’s air conditioning and range businesses, allowing us to provide customers with exceptional products that met their needs.”

The company was based in St. Joseph, Michigan. Could be the cabinets were made there. And ya know what: I’ll guess these were made closer to 1955 than even 1960 — because they are so plain. White. And because of how the wall cabinet doors curve; that read “deco” to me.

The lines are quite lovely. I love how the cabinet door handles just tuck in there all nonchalant-like. The Whirlpool typography also is very dreamy.

Above: We dont’ see wall cabinets like this often — peninsula cabinets, I’d actually guess they were called — doors open on both sides.

Link love:

• As of press time, Stephanie still has these for sale — see all her NOS from an old hardware store on ebay here (affiliate link)
• Mac and Iphone and IPad users try this link instead (affiliate link) — when you get there, look for the Search box that says SEARCH WITHIN STORE, then type in New Old Stock to narrow search.
• Our spectacular category all about vintage steel kitchen cabinets. and remember to Be Safe/Renovate Safe when considering using/working with old materials and products.

The post RCA Whirlpool steel kitchen cabinets — very rare, methinks appeared first on Retro Renovation.

I scored this vintage Geneva Kitchens advertising banner on ebay a bit ago. It is PERFECT for this spot in my kitchen, don’t you think? It makes me pretty happy. And for those of you wondering, that’s a vintage “Bin-Et” below. We bought it 25 year ago and it’s always found a perfect spot in any house we were in. We use it to hold fruits and vegetables, and in the bottom compartment (not completely visible in this photo) we stash newspapers for recycling.

The post Geneva Kitchens of Steel advertising banner — perfect for my kitchen! appeared first on Retro Renovation.

We’ve identified 80 different brands of metal kitchen cabinets made back in the day. Today, a new entry in my quest to have at least one feature on each and every brand. Up next: Murray cabinets and cabinet sinks. 

Viewing note: On a desktop, click each photo and it should enlarge on your screen, up to 1000 pixels wide or tall.

I don’t have a catalog for this one — just a one-page ad. But it tells us that The Murray Corporation of America was based in Scranton, Pennsylvania. ANd, the company also made stoves and ranges.

The advertising was fun — typical of the ere including printing limitations, it featured idealistic imagery and text with the typical sales pitch.

I’m also going to try and hone my skills at distinguishing all the brands. The Murrays:

• Top drawer overhangs bottom drawers or doors
• Cabinet pulls — chrome pulls with molded recessed area below them. Similar to GE’s.
• Wall cabinets — no handles, rounded bottom.
• Whatnot walls units — have metal edge.
• Kickplate — white.

Who else is going study along so’s we can play my “name that cabinet” game?

The post Murray steel kitchen cabinets — of Scranton, Pa. appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Another of the joys of vintage steel kitchen cabinets is that they hold magnets. Reader Tommy emailed me just yesterday with what looks like a good (great?) source for some accessories that you can affix in a magnetic minute. Tommy wrote:

If you have a Harbor Freight Tools store near you, check out their magnetic paper towel holder that they sell for use on mechanics tool boxes. they are perfect for use in metal kitchens. They also have some other magnetic accessories that can come in handy. Bought some for my shop, and had to go back and get some for the house.

Above: This tray is kinda interesting, too. I can think of a place I could use it:  On the inside of the wall cabinet where I keep my vitamins and other medications that I take when I eat. The bottles always get smushed sitting in the cabinet. It could be nice to just swing out the door and there they would be. The candy apple red is even perfect for my kitchen. But I am sure you could shoot these with a high quality spray paint meant for metal to coordinate with your cabinets or accent color.

There is a Harbor Freight Tools in the town next to mine, so I’m gonna go take a look. Ooooooh: Going through every aisle of a hardware store! From my very earliest days as a kid, my favorite was going to the hardware store and looking at everything — how about you?!

Thank you, Tommy, for this great tip!

• There are a few more magnetic storage pieces from this same company (it seems) I found on the Harbor Freight Tools website. I put ‘metallic’ into the Harbor Freight Tools search box and came up with these items.
• And, there is a store locator on the site, too.

The post Magnetic paper towel holder for your steel kitchen cabinets from Harbor Freight Tools appeared first on Retro Renovation.

One of the most enjoyable parts of our trip to KBIS 2016 in January was meeting some of our readers there — like Roger. When we met, he mentioned he had recently remodeled his 1953 kitchen featuring St. Charles steel kitchen cabinets. We followed up — and oh my! — hold onto your hats, we’ve got one epic look at Roger and his wife Lynsey’s kitchen renovation. “After” photo above courtesy of Che Bella Interiors and Spacecrafting.

After Roger and Lynsey sent me photos of their home and kitchen renovation, I had lots of questions, which they were happy to answer:

Q. When you bought the house, were you looking for a home with midcentury features?

Yes. Lynsey had been interested in mid-century modern design for a while—and after we started looking at MCM homes in the Twin Cities, Roger started falling for the style as well (although he had always been interested in Frank Lloyd Wright’s work). Because we were open to living nearly anywhere in the Twin Cities (both of us worked from home at the time), we waited for the “right” MCM home to come along.

Q. What made you decide your house was the one?

Insanity?! There was really no good reason to buy the house upon inspection—absolutely everything needed upgrading, from the leaking roof and crumbling 500-foot long driveway, to the out-of-compliance septic system and electric. The house had been on the market for more than a year and a half, but hadn’t been occupied in more than five years. So it was in very rough shape when we first looked at it (cobwebs everywhere, a dead mouse in the water softener, water damage, and years of dust and grime).

The handsome dog is Mario — he has two brothers that are not photo bombers. They are miniature schnauzers named Newman and Kozmo.

At the same time, we thought it was cool. The home had everything we were looking for—MCM style, lots of land (10+ acres), privacy (yet still in the middle of a major suburb), and a lake! We were attracted to the home for its “prairie modern” feel—MCM meets Frank Lloyd Wright. (In fact, many of the homes in the surrounding neighborhood were designed by John Howe, who was Wright’s principal draftsman.) Additionally, the striking living room fireplace (plus one in the kitchen and another in the den), abundance of windows, unusual layout with interesting angles, St. Charles cabinets, and original light fixtures were all draws.

We actually found the home when it was shared by the listing agent on our local MCM Facebook group. Lynsey saw the listing and kept an eye on it—and when the price dropped significantly, we made our move. The buying process was long and drawn out, given negotiations around a new septic system (required before closing) and other required repairs. We closed in November 2014 and had a few months to begin work on improvements before selling our old house and moving in at the end of January 2015.

Q. Did you know right away that you wanted to keep the original St. Charles cabinets?

Yes! In our quest for an MCM home, we became familiar with St. Charles cabinets through Retro Renovation. So, during our first viewing when we saw that this home had St. Charles cabinets, we were sold. We knew that we would be able (someday) to restore them to their original glory. (We had no plans, however, to start a major kitchen remodel. Funny how that worked out!)

Q. Tell us about the cabinet repainting process, as well as buying the extra blue cabinets to fill in your set.

As part of our home’s purchase, we wrapped some of the major improvements into our loan—the new driveway, roof, electrical upgrades, and appliances. Given the structure of our loan, we were on a deadline to get new appliances, but couldn’t find a wall oven small enough to fit into the existing St. Charles cabinet 24” opening. (The original oven worked, but it was just. so. small.) So, we decided that we would fabricate an “oven box”—basically a framed and dry walled box to house a 27” wall oven. On a late Saturday afternoon we removed the tall St. Charles cabinet with the original wall oven and warming drawer so we could start figuring out how to frame this “box.”

However, after the tall cabinet was removed, we found ourselves liking the open feel of the kitchen—and started thinking about a more traditional range/oven combination rather than a wall oven and drop-in range top. We couldn’t figure out a way to rearrange the existing cabinets to make the appliances work, so early the next morning Roger hit Craigslist. By the time Lynsey got out of bed, Roger had found an entire kitchen of blue St. Charles cabinets in Omaha, Neb., that had just been listed! We secured the measurements, spent an entire day calculating and drawing, and determined (essentially on the back of a napkin) that we could blend our existing cabinets with the new “Omaha cabinets” to make a new configuration work. There was only one cabinet missing (above the microwave), but we thought, “Oh, we’ll just figure something out.”

The “Omaha set”

Just a week after moving in late January 2015, we rented a U-Haul trailer and drove to Omaha to get the cabinets. While the cabinets were shown installed in the original photos, by the time we arrived the kitchen was completely gutted. Our first task was to match the 20+ cabinets with their drawers and shelves to ensure we had a full set. As the sun set and the snow started to fall, we frantically packed up the cabinets in our U-Haul and headed back to Minneapolis in a full-fledged blizzard.

The cabinets resided in our garage for at least a month while we figured out what to do. In mid-February, we attended Modernism Week in Palm Springs, and upon returning, realized we probably needed to call in the professionals to make our kitchen plans a reality. So we engaged with Che Bella Interiors (a local design firm) to assist us in drawing up the new kitchen (including raising the soffits to accommodate the taller Omaha cabinets), selecting finishes, and serving as a general contractor for the remodel. Additionally, Roger was able to secure yet one more St. Charles cabinet to fit above the microwave from—believe it or not—Omaha! (His coworker, who resides in Omaha, was gracious enough to bring it to the Twin Cities for us.) When all was said and done, between our cabinets and the Omaha cabinets, we had enough cabinets for our new kitchen and a new mudroom!

To repair and paint both our existing cabinets and the Omaha cabinets, Roger worked directly with Advanced Coating Systems (ACS) in Roseville, Minn. Almost all of the cabinets (except for a very large broom closet cabinet)—from both the original and Omaha kitchen—were taken to ACS’s shop and painted using two-part epoxy. The kitchen cabinets were painted green (Benjamin Moore’s “Thicket”), and the mudroom cabinets were painted red (Benjamin Moore’s “Mayflower Red”), almost an exact match to the original Terra Cotta red finish on the original cabinets and underneath the blue paint on the Omaha cabinets.. (Ironically, the blue Omaha cabinets had originally been Terra Cotta before they had been painted blue.) He also worked with LSV Metals in Spring Lake Park, Minn., to fabricate new metal trim (at the top of the cabinets) and any required “filler strips” between the cabinets to make everything fit. Those were also sent to ACS for painting.

As noted, ACS repaired and painted all of the cabinets in their facility, which were then installed by our contractor. (That was another fun challenge—especially figuring out how to reconfigure the metal frames which the cabinets sit on!) Upon installation, however, some flaws remained on the uppers (no surprise!), so ACS ended up coming to our home to re-paint the installed cabinets. The in-home painting process was done electrostatically. (The masked-off kitchen looked a bit like a Dexter kill room!)

Roger also coordinated with ACS and our electricians to add cut-outs for outlets and LED lighting—utilizing the false bottoms that originally housed under-cabinet lights [shown above with- and without the LEDs lit]. (Between the under-cabinet lighting, the abundance of roll-outs, and the mixer stand, the St. Charles company thought of everything!)

St. Charles challenges (that turned into victories):

• Getting the right finish on the paint (embracing character flaws vs. expecting a ‘perfect’ finish repainting vintage cabinets considering their age and condition.)
• Measuring/cutting the holes underneath the wall cabinets for the outlets and lighting
• Measuring for the trim pieces above the cabinets, and determining how it would all fit together
• Figuring out the filler strips

The finished kitchen:

Photo courtesy of Che Bella Interiors & Spacecrafting.

Photo courtesy of Che Bella Interiors & Spacecrafting.

Photo courtesy of Che Bella Interiors & Spacecrafting.

Photo courtesy of Che Bella Interiors & Spacecrafting Architectural Photography.

We love the boomerang laminate pattern on this original built-in desk area, with hairpin legs and a neat-o china cabinet topper.

Q. How long did your kitchen remodel take, from start to finish?

We officially started demo in mid-June and wrapped up the majority of the remodel by early September (so, about 2.5 to 3 months). One major delay was caused by the Minnesota weather! Our home doesn’t have central air, and Minnesota summers are humid! We struggled to find a solution to get our humidity under control so that we could safely install the new hardwood floors. We also faced a few other delays typical to home remodel projects.

Q. Are the pendant lamps in the kitchen original to the house?

Yes—the pendants are original, as are the three(!) sputnik chandeliers. Additionally, we repurposed the flush-mounted lighting found in the upstairs hallway and bedrooms for new mudroom pendant lights.

Above: Notice how outlets are placed underneath the wall cabinets so that the backsplash is completely free of intrusions.

Kitchen resource list:

• Kitchen countertop laminate — yes, that’s laminate!: Formica Crème Quarstone, matte finish, 6218-58
• Kitchen cabinet paint color — Benjamin Moore’s “Thicket”
• Refrigerator—Samsung 33″ wide cabinet depth  model # RF18HFENBSR.  If you’re not familiar with cabinet depth fridges they are great as they don’t intrude as much past the cabinets.  Typically, they are only available in 36″ wide but Samsung now offers it as a 33″
• Dishwasher —Bosch model# SHP65T55UC
• Range —Electrolux Slide-In Induction Range model # EW30IS65JS
• Microwave —Electrolux Over the Range Microwave model # EI30BM60MS
• Sink — Karran undermount stainless steel model # E-320
• Faucet —Grohe Ladylux 3 Cafe model # 32298DC1
• Backsplash: Come back tomorrow for a look at Roger and Lynsey’s unique backsplash and how they created it.

Bonus — the mudroom:

Mudroom before.

Mudroom after

Roger and Lynsey had enough leftover steel cabinets — a mix of the two sets — to give their mudroom a serious upgrade. As mentioned above, these cabinets also were taken to Advanced Coating Systems (ACS) in Roseville, Minn. and painted using two-part epoxy. This color is Benjamin Moore’s “Mayflower Red”, almost an exact match to the original Terra Cotta red finish on the original cabinets and underneath the blue paint on the Omaha cabinets..

Photo courtesy of Che Bella Interiors & Spacecrafting.

Photo courtesy of Che Bella Interiors & Spacecrafting.

Mudroom countertop laminate:Formica^® Laminate Jonathan Adler Collection Crème Lacquered Linen, gloss finish, 9488-90 (Roger found it at the Kitchen and Bath Show shortly before moving into the house in January 2015.)

Such an improvement, and we love the original light fixtures!

Mega thanks, Roger and Lynsey, for sharing photos of your wonderful home and for taking the time to answer all of my many questions! I think we can all agree that your house is amazing and that you’ve both done a terrific job of keeping the original feel of the kitchen with your renovations. Here’s to another 60+ years of happy service from all those delicious St. Charles kitchen cabinets!

And readers, come back tomorrow, because we’re doing a standalone followup on their ingenious kitchen backsplash.

Link love photo credits:

• Che Bella Interiors
• Spacecrafting

The post One ingenious couple + two sets of vintage St. Charles kitchen cabinets = a gorgeous midcentury modern kitchen remodel appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Do you love vintage steel kitchen cabinets, but want to use them in a more contemporary way? Well, consider this brilliant idea from my brother and sister-in-law, who recently completed a major gut-remodel renovation and restoration of a gorgeous mid-century modern house. The home has an attached guest room with its own entrance. For the kitchenette area, they used vintage GE steel kitchen cabinets original to the main house — and wrapped them in a “waterfall” of solid surface of countertop to bring them in line with the retro-contemporary design of the entire project. They even were able to tuck in a little refrigerator-freezer. I love it!

Above: The countertop is Zodiaq Course Carrara.

My brother asked me for an aqua color to repaint the cabinets. I pointed him the Sherwin-Williams Suburban Modern collection Holiday Turquoise. But, I see they lightened it up a bit. I didn’t get the full story on how they repainted the cabinets — I was there one day when I saw some of the painting going on — I think they went a cheap and cheerful route and just had their contractors prime and paint the selected cabinets one day when there was downtime between throwing boatloads of money at all the other gazillion issues. They had to gut remodel, because of so many structural issues that needed to be dealt with. The house is absolutely gorgeous. Professional photos to come, and my brother says I can show them on the blog!

Meanwhile, this little happy-happy from other family members who’ve been bit by the mid mod mad bug.

The post Vintage GE kitchen cabinets installed with a modern twist — I love it! appeared first on Retro Renovation.