- Organizing Cabinets & Drawers
- Amazon Kitchen Must Haves
- Kitchen Mood Board
- Before & After
Welcome to our outdated kitchen tour! My kitchen might not be #goals or anything, but it has a lot of character from a day long past gone.
Some might think our kitchen is kitschy. If you didn’t know kitschy means is to be considered in poor taste because of sentimentality.
I am honestly so sentimental about this kitchen down to every last detail that it is almost ironic. There’s no better word I would use to describe my kitchen and my lack of urgency to change anything about it. It’s just that. Kitschy.
The Kitchen Before
The Retro 1950s Fitted Kitchen.
As you can see from the before pictures the overall feel of the retro 1950s fitted kitchen is dated. From the cracking linoleum to the peeling heart print wallpaper and border taped to the walls, everything has stayed the same since we purchased the home in January 2020.
Before that nothing must have been changed except for the stove in the past 25 years. I mean, we don’t even have a dishwasher in here! Trust me, that’s one thing I sure would like to use sometimes but, it makes me feel like a true 1950s housewife I guess.
Kitchen Cabinets
The kitchen cabinets are wonderfully made. The type of craftsmanship that went into woodworking the cabinets simply does not compare today.
I’ve wrestled with how I’ve felt about the Americana-style kitchen and the knotty pine features throughout our home a lot since we moved in.
Overall the cabinets are in fantastic condition. My only qualm are the drawers being a little clunky, but I’m sure it is nothing a professional couldn’t fix.
Wooden Cabinet Valance Over the Sink
The scalloped valance above the sink has worked my nerves worst of all. I really do not know what to do with the wooden cabinet valance.
In no way is it modern for today’s standards. In fact some of the first search results on google pose the question of if you should take it down because it dates the space.
Cabinet valances became popular in kitchen design history around the 1950s.
Traditionally, electric light is hidden behind the wood for light over the sink. Unfortunately, our house needs new electrical wiring and the previous owners did not account for this!
The wood of the valance connects the cabinets into one continuous design. We’ll see if it stays or goes in the future.
Should I Paint the Cabinets?
When I first moved into our house my immediate thoughts were to paint the wood. All of the wood. I wanted white trim and a modern kitchen at the time.
With time I’ve changed my mind. Now the only wood I may consider painting would be the cabinets though. I haven’t committed to a decision yet, but I did love the idea of green until I read someone say it would be the future basic kitchen of tomorrow.
Why would I want a basic farmhouse kitchen when I can just work with my quirky and retro features I already have?
Red Laminate Countertops with Metal Counter Edges
The kitchen countertops are obviously red. From what I have researched I believe they are a vintage 1950s laminate design. I cannot tell if they are the GE Textolite mosaic pattern or a highly sought-after crackled ice design.
To complete the retro diner look the countertops are trimmed with a metal counter edge. In the 1950s countertops were edged with aluminum or stainless steel. Easy-to-care-for linoleum and laminate countertops like this were preferred and often sought from the 1940s until the early 1970s.
Post-war housewives couldn’t get enough of practical yet attractive and durable laminate. Honestly, I almost feel the same and Ms. Robbie must have too!
You can tell by the mismatched tops that she did not want to change all of the vintage counters when she replaced her large old-fashioned stove. I’m still not sure how the whole story behind the mystery of the mismatched counters though.
The Electric Stove
Farmhouse Drain Board Sink
The farmhouse drainboard sink is one of the first things I noticed when I first toured our home. When I saw the sink I knew I had to preserve it somehow.
Within a month of living here I had to call a plumber. He told me I needed a new sink.
I have not gotten the new sink yet, but I have researched. The porcelain enamel top coating is baked onto the sink which is made of cast iron.
In the case of my sink, the cast iron is eating through near the drain. I do have the option to re-porcelain the sink, but I’m not sure if I really want to.
For a sink that is so big the two sinks are relatively shallow. I do not mind how much space the sink takes up, but if it is that big I want to be able to stack more than 3 dishes in the sink before it starts overflowing.
Vintage porcelain enamel sinks can also be toxic if you do not use the right cleaning materials. I cannot use the PinkStuff or any abrasive chemicals on the sink or else we might get lead poisoning.
With that being said, I haven’t decided the fate of the kitchen sink. It might be more than likely I find a reproduction as its replacement.
Kitchen Table
I do not think that our kitchen table really fits in the space right. The circular shape juts out a bit too much.
We cannot even have 4 of our vintage Ethan Allen Captain’s chairs and Formica Round Table at the table. The table has a leaf that makes it larger, but we not no space for that in this kitchen!
For now, I still decorate and keep a nice tablescape!
Make Shift Coffee Nook
In a corner of the kitchen sits a peculiar box shape. It’s our water heater!
I turned the flat top into a makeshift coffee nook for my Nespresso. We found this little cabinet with wheels that fits perfectly between the fridge and water heater.
I normally keep sugar and big containers in the cabinet that will not fit in the fitted kitchen cabinets. Honestly, this corner needs some work and some different art. https://www.saltyinksobx.com/product-page/outer-banks-beach-road-route-12-1
Overall, the kitchen needs some help. It is one of the last rooms in the house we need to spend time on and with many of the cosmetic changes being big projects, I don’t foresee us doing anything major for the next few years.
Even when we consider a kitchen remodel, we want it to remain authentic to its post-war and mid-century style. It just doesn’t feel right not to show the respect and gratitude that this house and its previous owners deserve.
