Kitchen Remodeling: Thoughts on "Retro"

[rvwnsd]

http://www.littlethings.com/original-1950s-kitchen/

 

Gman

Thank you! Like I said, I don't remember seeing colorful appliances. Obviously they were out there, I just never saw them.

[gallahadesquire]

Thank you! Like I said, I don't remember seeing colorful appliances. Obviously they were out there, I just never saw them.

Most of the stuff that is online is really over-the-top, "I have money so I'll spend it." The over-the-range, up-going (think garage door) ovens and the burners that were on a pull out drawer were one thing: Expensive.

The over-the-counter refrigerator is ... well, actually, I like that one.

 

I lived in a moderately affluent community from the early '50's to the late '60's, and nobody had this stuff. Nobody did kitchen remodels. If your range broke, you replaced it with the same one (or, at least, the same dimensions). It must be said that i lived in a very stable, mature community. (I love this house, about three blocks away: ). Population of 10,823 in 1950 to a height of 13, 402 in 1970 to 11,172 in 2010. Not a whole lot of new construction.

 

I love where I went to high school. This:http://www.postofficefreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Oak-Park-IL-Post-Office-60301.jpg

http://www.postofficefreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Oak-Park-IL-Post-Office-60301-P31.jpg ( how deco!)

 

 

was across the street from this:

http://williamchyr.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/flw_unity_temple.jpg

http://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5038/01f6/28ba/0d59/9b00/08b3/medium_jpg/stringio.jpg?1414224221

[+ azdr0710]

The over-the-counter refrigerator is ... well, actually, I like that one.

 

yes!...I saw the pictures upthread of the retro fridge in the upper cabinets area and thought pretty practical....tried to imagine if it'd be a hassle in some way and couldn't think of anything....it might be better for a single or couple only, not a family, but all that space where a conventional fridge would go is saved or available for other storage....

 

there's also an undercounter fridge, too......probably un-necessarily pricey, this one being Sub-Zero, but very practical, I think

 

http://www.subzero-wolf.com/sub-zero/counter-refrigerator

[gallahadesquire]

yes!...I saw the pictures upthread of the retro fridge in the upper cabinets area and thought pretty practical....tried to imagine if it'd be a hassle in some way and couldn't think of anything....it might be better for a single or couple only, not a family, but all that space where a conventional fridge would go is saved or available for other storage....

 

there's also an undercounter fridge, too......probably un-necessarily pricey, this one being Sub-Zero, but very practical, I think

 

http://www.subzero-wolf.com/sub-zero/counter-refrigerator

 

You can get drawer refrigerators, drawer freezers, drawer diswashers ... I think it would be fun to have a kitchen that was all drawers! (some would have to be double height for things like pots and pans.).

 

I forgot drawer microwaves (Which scare the hell out of me. I steam my hands pulling things horizontally ... pulling a hot dish straight out of a drawer, where there's no room for my hands? I DON'T THINK SO!)

 

I'm sure you could mount a sink in a drawer, though why you would want to is beyond me.

[rvwnsd]

Most of the stuff that is online is really over-the-top, "I have money so I'll spend it." The over-the-range, up-going (think garage door) ovens and the burners that were on a pull out drawer were one thing: Expensive.

The over-the-counter refrigerator is ... well, actually, I like that one.

 

I lived in a moderately affluent community from the early '50's to the late '60's, and nobody had this stuff. Nobody did kitchen remodels. If your range broke, you replaced it with the same one (or, at least, the same dimensions). It must be said that i lived in a very stable, mature community. (I love this house, about three blocks away: ). Population of 10,823 in 1950 to a height of 13, 402 in 1970 to 11,172 in 2010. Not a whole lot of new construction.

 

I love where I went to high school. This:http://www.postofficefreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Oak-Park-IL-Post-Office-60301.jpg

http://www.postofficefreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Oak-Park-IL-Post-Office-60301-P31.jpg ( how deco!)

 

 

was across the street from this:

http://williamchyr.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/flw_unity_temple.jpg

http://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5038/01f6/28ba/0d59/9b00/08b3/medium_jpg/stringio.jpg?1414224221

 

I love that area of metro Chicago. The house in the first pictures is one of my favorites north of Lake and west of Thatcher. What a sweet little enclave. The over- and under-the counter refrigerator is quite nice. I'd like that. The other stuff - meh.

 

You are so right about kitchens back in the day. People didn't renovate kitchens. They didn't buy the "high-end" stuff in which, at the end of the day, 350 degrees is as much 350 degrees as in my GE gas oven.

 

A Forum member mentioned when he was house hunting he wanted a high-end modern kitchen. In subsequent posts he revealed he is not much of a cook. that begs the question - why the high end kitchen?

[gallahadesquire]

Fake drawers:

http://hbu.h-cdn.co/assets/16/29/480x552/gallery-1469199556-cabinet-drawers.jpg

 

 

I love that area of metro Chicago. The house in the first pictures is one of my favorites north of Lake and west of Thatcher. What a sweet little enclave. The over- and under-the counter refrigerator is quite nice. I'd like that. The other stuff - meh.

 

You are so right about kitchens back in the day. People didn't renovate kitchens. They didn't buy the "high-end" stuff in which, at the end of the day, 350 degrees is as much 350 degrees as in my GE gas oven.

 

A Forum member mentioned when he was house hunting he wanted a high-end modern kitchen. In subsequent posts he revealed he is not much of a cook. that begs the question - why the high end kitchen?

 

In deference to the un-named house hunter, it would be good resale. My feeling is that, the more high-tech something is, the more likely it is to break. This has, fortunately, not been the instance with my now 10-year-old hybrid vehicle.

 

• I don't want a fridge that will tell me expiry dates (actually, that WOULD be handy, but the input would be a bitch)
  
• I don't want water through the door. It takes away inside space, and breaks.
  
• I don't want ice through the door. See above.
  
• I think the "door in a door" is not such a bad idea. Put the milk and kiddie's juice boxes there, and not everything gets warm at the same time. However, having the ability to tap on the door, to take it from opaque to clear (a la the 787 windows) is merely an expensive folly; and inside-mounted cameras will show me that yes, the cheese DOES eat other foods, and that what the carrots do to everything is carnal to the extreme.
   
  
• I'll settle for an ice maker, because I'm lazy. Put it in the freezer, where it belongs. It's a perk I always look forward to at the Old Key West resort in Walt Disney World.
  
• Convection ovens are a necessity
  
• Gas is for high heat, quickly. Induction is way too noisy. Electricity is for ovens. Except for an AGA, which I'd own in a minute if I could justify it.
  
• Get rid of the following:
  
  • Stainless steel appliances, unless you live in a hospital ward where everything is wiped down with bleach at least once per shift. White is a perfectly acceptable color.
     
    
  • Any "stone" (granite, marble; I'll except quartz) countertops
    
  • Little strips of tile, anywhere
    

 

My apologies for inadvertent politicalism. I'll keep them short.

I grew up on Thatcher, about four or five houses south of the C&NW station. There are days that I miss River Forest, but good lord, in retrospect I hate being who I was when I grew up. Of course, we didn't know any other lifestyle. It's hard to understand white privilege of the '50's, now that I'm 65, and didn't know anything else until I went to Boston for college before school desegregation. I can understand why my ilk is hated by so many, but I cannot understand current Republicans.

 

As per wikipedia, of Rachel Maddow:

 

Asked about her political views by the

Valley Advocate

, Maddow replied, "I'm undoubtedly a liberal, which means that I'm in almost total agreement with the Eisenhower-era Republican party platform."

God only knows what Democrats were like. I like Ike. But I wonder how Adlai Stevenson would have been as a President?