Mid Century Modern Kitchen????

[SecondhandSophisticate]

Hey all you Eames/Knoll/Sarrien (sp) etc. lovers out there!

Dh and I need to redo our aging kitchen. We have stainless steel appliances, but are looking for ideas for cabinets, flooring, wall color, and general design. We met with someone today who is going to submit some plans to us in the near future, so in the meantime, I thought I'd ask all my clever design friends here if they could recommend sites with pics of mid-century kitchens and/or  ideas.

What I am NOT looking for is kitchsy. Love kitsch, but as  an accent, not as the foundation. Remember, great design starts with "good bones"

I found one great site, but wanted to open it up to any and all ideas here. Hubby and I have a hand in the design, of course.  We are not slaves to the latest trendy caacaa.

What I love---walking into a home and NOT having it SHRIEK:  "I was done in 1976/86/96/06"  Like walking into an Eames house or Frank Llyod Wright's, for example.

Clean, simple, funcitional. No dead space. Organic.  FUNCTIONAL. Intimate space but spacious, or spacious intimacy.

Any ideas or websites will be appreciated. Help me expand my horizons!

Blessings,
SeSo
 

[Jay2TheRescue]

I still have the round table with the fiberglass shell chairs and the Eames chandelier pictured in the DC Big Flea thread if you're interested.  I like to look through vintage design books from the era for inspiration.  You can usually find them in thrifts cheap.  I usually don't pay more than $2/ea for them.

-Jay

Hey all you Eames/Knoll/Sarrien (sp) etc. lovers out there!

Dh and I need to redo our aging kitchen. We have stainless steel appliances, but are looking for ideas for cabinets, flooring, wall color, and general design. We met with someone today who is going to submit some plans to us in the near future, so in the meantime, I thought I'd ask all my clever design friends here if they could recommend sites with pics of mid-century kitchens and/or  ideas.

What I am NOT looking for is kitchsy. Love kitsch, but as  an accent, not as the foundation. Remember, great design starts with "good bones"

I found one great site, but wanted to open it up to any and all ideas here. Hubby and I have a hand in the design, of course.  We are not slaves to the latest trendy caacaa.

What I love---walking into a home and NOT having it SHRIEK:  "I was done in 1976/86/96/06"  Like walking into an Eames house or Frank Llyod Wright's, for example.

Clean, simple, funcitional. No dead space. Organic.  FUNCTIONAL. Intimate space but spacious, or spacious intimacy.

Any ideas or websites will be appreciated. Help me expand my horizons!

Blessings,
SeSo
 

[SecondhandSophisticate]

Ooooo, Jay, those pieces would be *perfect*, except I already have my furniture. Though I will keep them in mind in the future, if anything changes.  You've definetely got the feeling of what I am looking for! Thanks.

What I'm looking for now are ideas on materials used for cabinets/floors, paint colors for walls, use of space for storage and "flow", etc.

Here's a site that had some interesting ideas:

http://www.nwrenovation.com/23mid-centuryinteriors.html

Keep those ideas,coming, guys. I appreciate very much any and all input.

Blessings,
SeSo

[Jay2TheRescue]

Another place to look for ideas is old catalogs.  Sears, JC Penney, Montgomery Ward.  Sometimes you find them in boxes of old books.  I actually am in the process of helping a local museum do a kitchen exhibit of a pre WWII kitchen, and I just happened to have a 1941 Sears catalog to help them out.  It really helped to date items and know if they were available at the time.

-Jay

Ooooo, Jay, those pieces would be *perfect*, except I already have my furniture. Though I will keep them in mind in the future, if anything changes.  You've definetely got the feeling of what I am looking for! Thanks.

What I'm looking for now are ideas on materials used for cabinets/floors, paint colors for walls, use of space for storage and "flow", etc.

Here's a site that had some interesting ideas:

http://www.nwrenovation.com/23mid-centuryinteriors.html

Keep those ideas,coming, guys. I appreciate very much any and all input.

Blessings,
SeSo

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

I've got a few of those catalogs from around 1900-1910... It's really helpful to get an idea of styles. (And original cost! Which is always fun to know.)

[SecondhandSophisticate]

Jay, that is an wonderful idea!

I recently came across some well-preserved _Woman's Day_ and McCall's_ magazines from the 70s, the earliest being 1972, the lastest being 1976.  They are amazing in what they reveal, not only in the editorial content, but in the ads as well. I was able to date a Pyrex design  I have because there is actually an ad for the design!  And TSR, you are right--it is sooooo funny to look at the prices and see what was considered expensive.

I wonder if the library would have copies of magazines from the 50s-60s? 

PS:  For all you Bonnie Cashin fans out there (I am a big one) I have an ad with her advertising a Sears sewing machine from one of these magazines!

[Jay2TheRescue]

Jay, that is an wonderful idea!

I recently came across some well-preserved _Woman's Day_ and McCall's_ magazines from the 70s, the earliest being 1972, the lastest being 1976.  They are amazing in what they reveal, not only in the editorial content, but in the ads as well. I was able to date a Pyrex design  I have because there is actually an ad for the design!  And TSR, you are right--it is sooooo funny to look at the prices and see what was considered expensive.

I wonder if the library would have copies of magazines from the 50s-60s? 

PS:  For all you Bonnie Cashin fans out there (I am a big one) I have an ad with her advertising a Sears sewing machine from one of these magazines!

Most libraries only keep magazines for 5 or 10 years, but they keep a copy on microfilm before they dispose of the original.

-Jay

[Big Daddy Audio]

Back in NY, I was able to go and get columns from Car and Driver written by Jean Shepherd (the same genius who did A Christmas Story) and were able to find and print all sorts of stuff. 

I have a Village Voice from 1979, which has all kinds of neat stuff in it - ads for early monologues by Spalding Gray, ads for classic stereo gear, band concert announcements, truly a cultural well-spring.  My wife has a bunch of fashion mags from WW2 and from the 1970's.  Those are neat, but a real pain in the @$$ when you have to move them.

That is all 

[Mattie]

My house was built in 1950 and it has the original Tracy Custom Kitchens white metal cabinets and stainless steel countertop.  I've salvaged three additional cabinets from houses in my neighborhood that have suffered the dreaded "kitchen remodel."  I love metal cabinets.  They wipe down easily, they don't warp, they make that satisfying thunk when you close them, they're undeniably "vintage" without being fake or kitsch, and they're bright (especially important in a small kitchen).  Have you looked for a vintage Yorktown cabinet set?  There's an antique store here in Sacramento called Googie Time that specializes in them, and I'm sure other antique stores carry them as well. 

And I agree - vintage magazines are a great decorating resource.  You're not likely to find them at the library, but estate sales and used book sales (like library sales or church sales) often have stacks of 'em. 

[moonie]

I am in complete agreement in regard to metal cabinets.  I absolutely love mine.  They were one of the selling points of my house. 

I also love mid centruy modern, but not too kitchy.  We put in comercial lenoleum (not vinyl) because the color runs the depth of the product (no scratch worries).  And there is every color in the rainbow to choose from.  Our open floorplan necessitated painting a color that could run from the living room, through the dining room, and the kitchen withough offending.  We chose a stormy grey.  We chose Corian tops and we added color in the drapes and other stuff.  I took the liberty of starting another gallery room and called it "Rooms".  I posted a pic in there.

I hope that some of this was helpful

[SecondhandSophisticate]

Mattie and moonie, thanks so much for your tips on mid-century modern kitchen cabinets. I have been doing a lot of research,  and will see if that is a possibility.

And moonie, your kitchen is awesome!  I think my mom had curtains like yours Wait til Jay sees it...

SeSo   

[moonie]

Thanks!  I couldn't show all of it because I had stacked all of the junk from my kitchen table and around my coffee pot to the other side of the kitchen!  Someday when my WHOLE kitchen is clean I'll post more pictures.

[genuineimitation]

Thank you to everyone for posting here! I feel like I've just found a support group! I live in a rural area and when I bring people to my 1960's ranch house I feel like they are perplexed - we are still in "country pine" mode here, and I'm taking out and streamlining our entire house, a little at a time. One place is (of course) the kitchen! I've got a stainless steel restaurant table and lots of mid-century dishware. I've got a particular niche I collect - I can't quite give it a label, but it feels like "1970's mendecino artist colony hand thrown pottery". It looks really nice juxtaposed with clean lines, stainless, and pyrex. It's the earthy stuff vs. the machine age.

[alexandra]

Dearie, if only you lived nearby.  I have an old 50's fridge, which a former tenant painted blue/green (using an airbrush/compressor and automobile paint so it looks great).  It would be perfect for your scheme!!!

These older boxes don't have door shelves and aren't energy efficient -- but they never break down either!!! Currently, it's the beer fridge in the garage.  But I think it longs to be back in a kitchen, surrounded by formica, vinyl padded chairs and linoleum...

Thriftily,
Alexandra
www.livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com

[SecondhandSophisticate]

Welcome to the board, geniune imitation! (love that name!)

I also love how your describe your style. Would love to see pics of your house.

Totally understand about that "country pine" thing.  I'm in the middle of the "dreaded kitchen remodel" as we speak.  It took me a while to find clean lines in anything. Apparently the entire country wants to their cabinents to be carved in some way, any way, or to resemble cupolas. Gggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

And get this:  If I wanted to have the little openings carved on the tops and bottoms of the cabinets in order to open them without the necessity of metal hardware being placed on the door (just like in my parents' split level kitchen from 1959, where my mother still has the original wood cabinets) the company would do it, but A. It would cost me a lot more and B. it would nullify their guarantee. Geesh!

Ciao4Now,
SeSo