US Steel for example promoted their kitchen cabinets and sinks as vermin proof which was a big deal in those days as diseases and pests like rats and mice were still very much rampant. These rodents could not chew their way through a steel cabinet like was the case with wooden cabinets.

Vintage 1950′s Steel Cabinets

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The original steel cabinets for the kitchen were mostly white and basic looking. After World War 2 it took about a decade before people in America started to really leave the war and the depression behind them. This manifested itself in bigger, more modern homes being built along with the introduction of vibrant colors, like the famous pink Cadillac.

The same colors that many cars came in were also used to spray-paint the steel kitchen cabinets. This love for steel lasted until about the early sixties when wooden kitchen cabinets started to gain the overhand again.

Although steel cabinets were advertised as being highly antiseptic, they stained easily because of fingerprints and could rust or get dented. Wooden kitchen cabinets on the other hand allowed you to create a much warmer feel and look in your kitchen and after several years of use it was very easy to repaint as opposed to steel kitchen cabinets.

Repainting steel kitchen cabinets requires hiring a professional as painting metal is not really a DIY job. This makes it a lot more costly of course and you might even have to disassemble the kitchen to get the job done. It didn’t take long for some manufacturers to combine the best of both worlds by building a steel kitchen cabinet where the doors and drawers were covered or plated with wood or in a Coppertone finish.

This gradually evolved to the production of steel cabinets with doors in wood before steel kitchen cabinets started to seriously fall from grace in the mid sixties. By that time wood had taken over as the preferred material and it wasn’t until the late twentieth century that retro kitchen steel cabinets came in vogue again.

Retro kitchen steel cabinets and retro kitchen appliances have a growing number of people trying to collect these items in order to give their kitchen a unique retro look and feel. This community is very dedicated as it can take quite some time and effort to find enough pieces to build a whole retro kitchen including steel cabinets.

There are many retro kitchen gadgets that can help you achieve this nostalgic decor. Often a kitchen plaid tablecloth is used for everyday, and then when the preacher comes for Sunday dinner the fine damask tablecloth with hand stitched embroidery is used at Grandma’s house.

Retro kitchen linens include retro kitchen towels such as country plaid dishtowels and other decorative towels with crochet trim.

Retro cookware is essential to any vintage kitchen design. A cast iron skillet from the 1940s is great for frying as well as baking. Many great cooks and chefs will use nothing other than a cast iron skillet to bake cornbread which is bound to be delicious.

The Griswold Manufacturing Company made top of the line cast iron skillets as well as Dutch ovens that may also be called “cast iron stew pots.” The company was started in the mid 1800s and went out of business in 1957. Griswold items are in demand by collectors and also include griddles, covered baking pans and tea kettles.

Vintage Pyrex is one of those retro kitchen gadgets that remind baby boomers of time gone by. Glass is the safest way to cook or store food; in fact, Pyrex is considered a green storage option. Pyrex was made by Corning Glass Works in the early 1900s.

The wife of one of the Corning scientists was tired of her casserole dishes breaking, so Pyrex Ovenware was introduced in 1915.

Retro kitchen canisters include 1940s tins that are labeled tea, coffee and flour. In fact, tins were a way of packaging items for sale such as Maxwell House coffee and Prince Albert tobacco. Indeed, every baby boomer worth his salt has called the drug store and asked, “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?”

After the unsuspecting clerk said yes, the baby boomer would gleefully shout, “Let him out!” In the 1950s every homemaker had a set of canisters to keep staples fresh and pest free. A nice set of spun aluminum containers with copper lids were typically proudly displayed on the kitchen counter.

Other materials for vintage canisters include burnt orange glass containers, stainless steel and ceramic. Any of these retro kitchen gadgets will make a stunning addition to your kitchen.

Redecorating your kitchen retro style can be fun as well as nostalgic. Once you have decided on the floors, walls, cabinets and other basics, you will want to get the right retro kitchen accessories for the era you are styling for.

Vintage or retro kitchen linens like dishtowels, tablecloths, potholders and aprons can have an enormous impact on the overall theme of your nostalgic kitchen.

Dishtowels and other linens were often hand embroidered and monogrammed. Women traditionally put their initials on items when things were not as plentiful as they are today.

Monogramming the household linens signified ownership as well as items to leave to their children. There is some really fine artwork from embroidery and crocheting that are quite collectible today. During the somewhat mundane depression and war years, women would dress up their possessions using their superior needle arts.

Additional retro kitchen accessories might include a sunburst style kitchen wall clock, an old-timey wall phone, retro kitchen towels and of course retro kitchen canisters. Stoneware from the 1930s includes many items such as a Yellow Ware spice jar or pitcher creamer created by Hull Pottery in Crooksville, Ohio.

A set of these canisters would also include custard cups, a covered baking dish and a hanging salt crock. In the 1940s and 1950s metal canisters made by Decoware was familiar to housewives of the era. The name Decoware was stamped on the bottom of a wide variety of canisters, coasters, trays, shakers and breadboxes.

Fruit designs were popular in the 40s ostensibly due to the huge influence of Carmen Miranda. By the 1950s Columbus Plastics was selling Lustro Ware, a line of plastic housewares including many colorful canisters. Today, Lustro Ware is a favorite in the collectibles market.

There are many more retro kitchen accessories that can help recreate the look of an age gone by. By the 1920s and 1930s most homes had electricity so electric retro kitchen appliances started hitting the marketplace.In the 1940s Hot Point offered an electric range with unique push button controls.

These buttons controlled the temperature of the burners and they also acted as an on-off switch for the burners. A 1950s Frigidaire range with double ovens was promoted as a big time saver for busy cooks who needed to cook a turkey and several pies at the same time with different temperatures.

Frigidaire also sold a refrigerator with an inside freezer compartment complete with metal ice cube trays with handles to get the cubes out. Vintage coffee percolators, waffle irons and electric mixers will help round out the retro design.

Retro kitchens are a huge trend in home decor these days, and your friends and family will definitely appreciate the charm and warmth that the kitchen will exude. One popular flooring design that is making a comeback is the black and white checkerboard flooring. But don’t be afraid to use other color combinations to fit your personality.

The cabinets and the walls of retro kitchens are usually a light color. In fact, retro kitchen colors often include two-toned cabinets. In a 1930s kitchen muted yellows, blues and reds were used with dabs of black and white highlights. Depression glass pieces were a big trend in the 30s and may be used in the decorating scheme. A 1940s kitchen is typically bright and colorful. Cherry red, air force blue and Kelly green are common color schemes from that era.

In the 1950s, kitchens were modern and stylish as well as functional. Red and white colors with accents of black were common, and these colors will bring back memories of 1950s style diners. Catch an episode of “Happy Days” to see Arnold’s Diner all decked out with red tables and booths as well as an authentic 50s style jukebox.

After World War II, most folks wanted a happy colorful home. Retro kitchen countertops made from wipe clean Formica was popular and the colors included Amulet Green, Steel Blue and Scarlet Red as part of the Softglow collection.

Countertops made from grouted hex tiles and other tiles lost favor since food crumbs and bacteria could build up in cracks and cause unsanitary conditions. Many retro kitchens had linoleum counters that were glued down with a chrome strip added around the edges.

Retro kitchen sinks are a must for any redesigned kitchen. Porcelain enamel covered cast iron drainboard sinks were everywhere after the war and original sinks of this type can be found at estate sales and on-line auction sites. Also stainless steel sinks appeared in the 1950s and are easier to clean and more sanitary.

When designing retro kitchens, be sure to check and double check your measurements so you can be sure the sink and other items will fit into your space.

Most people will go for a vintage look, because of the bright, bold colours and the more rounded shapes common to retro refrigerators, which are absent when using modern day refrigerators, designed to blend with the monotone style of today’s kitchens. If you have a lot of retro kitchen appliances then a retro refrigerator is a must have.

View more Retro Refrigerators from Smeg

This brings us to the second dilemma, do you get an original antique refrigerator or its modern counterpart with a vintage look, but incorporating all the benefits of the modern refrigerator. If you are going for the “real” thing keep in mind the energy costs, not to mention no automatic defrosting and the lack of most other features modern fridges come with nowadays.

You could opt for a contemporary refrigerator with an old-style look but this of course comes with a price, as some of the companies producing retro refrigerators with modern components tend to include their retro design efforts in the price tag. So if you want the best of both worlds, be warned.

One of these companies is Smeg and the general consensus seems to be – apart from the sound of the name – that Smeg refrigerators are too pricey, not very energy efficient and have little room inside compared to the size of the fridge. Most people seem to agree that they are beautifully designed on the outside though. Maintenance seems to be another complaint. A lot of users are complaining that the cost of replacing broken parts – like the plastic rails inside the door or the rubber lining – is out of proportion.

Northstar seems to be very well liked when you check the online forums. It gets good quality points on outfitting like the drawers, containers and door seal. One poster put it like this “using a car comparison, the Big Chill is a Hyundai, the Northstar is a Volvo.”

Which obviously brings us to Big Chill retro refrigerators where the major complaint seems to be the icemaker taking up too much space. As a pro many people mention that Big Chill uses Whirlpool, which makes it easier to order replacement parts or get it serviced.

Still, what it very much boils down to is your own personal taste and there is no one in the world who is going to convince you not to buy once you have your mind set on the one and only of those retro refrigerators that looks cool to you.

People are ripping out their laminated particleboard cupboards in favor of vintage kitchen cabinets. Some companies are manufacturing old time looking cabinets, and there are several resources for finding authentic old cabinets.

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Check out estate sales and auctions as well as online and offline classifieds. Online auction services such as eBay often have vintage items, or you can place a free ad on Craigslist under the “Wanted” section.

You can add a timeless style and elegance by using retro kitchen cabinets which will create a homey and inviting atmosphere in the kitchen. Remember those old TV shows from the 1950s? The “I Love Lucy” kitchen is well known and often copied for retro kitchen design. Even Lucy’s everyday china in a cream color with a simulated green ivy pattern on the pieces can be found for sale on the Internet – at least replicas of the items. Quality prevailed and things you bought lasted much longer than some of the shoddy merchandise we see in today’s marketplace. These vintage pieces can instill warm and pleasant memories of Grandma’s house and the wonderful smells that came from her kitchen.

Stainless steel metal kitchen cabinets were popular in the 1930s to 1960s. They were usually white but were often spray painted to any color desired. These metal retro kitchen cabinets were often advertised as &ldquo;vermin proof” as early as the 1920s.

In the first half of the 1900s, there was still no vaccine for polio and the 1918 flu pandemic killed almost half a million people in the US. Disease spreading vermin could not eat through metal, so they could not contaminate your food. At this time homemakers were very concerned about cleanliness, and the idea of having a sanitary kitchen was extremely important.

Along with your retro kitchen cabinets, you want to be sure you have authentic retro kitchen cabinet hardware. Vintage hardware pieces include two-tone knobs, cabinet turn latches made from glass and brass and white milk glass knobs. Also do not forget the retro kitchen light fixtures which include track lighting, Victorian style lamps, ball lamps and hanging light fixtures or pendant lighting.

Vintage kitchen sinks from the early 20th century were typically made of “whiteware” which was an early term for cast iron sinks enameled in white porcelain.

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These free standing sinks had either two or four spindle legs for support, single or double drainboards and a high splash board. Rubber mats were often placed in the bottom of the sink to avoid scratches on the surface and to reduce breakage.

A 1930s kitchen used Retro Kitchen Sinks made of porcelain enameled cast iron or steel covered with porcelain enamel. When shopping for these sinks, be sure to check for chips and rust spots. If the sink is almost worn through from rust you probably do not want it.

You can also purchase a modern replica of a vintage kitchen sink, but there is just something special about restoring the real deal. Built in cabinets and countertops took the place of freestanding tables and shelves.

Homeowners often read ten cent magazines like “The American Home” and “House Beautiful” with advertising for Corwith model sinks and Armstrong linoleum flooring which was big in the 30s.

Retro kitchen sinks from the 1940s continued to be made primarily of cast iron covered with porcelain. After World War II stainless steel became quite popular for sinks as well as counter tops. However stainless steel sinks may look too modern when trying to capture the traditional look of vintage kitchen sinks and retro kitchen faucets.

During the war, many homeowners divided their large houses into apartments to provide a place for factory workers to stay. Dwyer Products Corporation made a combination kitchen unit called a “Murphy-Cabranette” for these small apartments. It combined a very small sink, an electric refrigerator and two electric burners in one cabinet.

As the men returned home after World War II, kitchen colors became more patriotic. Red, white and blue color combinations became hugely popular.

Few people know that the kitchen in the 1950s TV show “Father Knows Best” had blue cabinets, red wallpaper and white cabinets, because it was filmed in black and white. In fact, this was a functional kitchen with a real refrigerator where lunches were kept and water to make morning coffee to go with the sweet rolls they served. This 1950s kitchen is often copied from the retro kitchen sinks down to the linens and small appliances used during that time.

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It’s bright, colorful and fun. One way to make your retro kitchen feel even more authentic is to use retro kitchen utensils.

When you decide to renovate your kitchen to go with a 50′s theme, you want to go all the way with it. The first thing you need to do is decide what your color scheme is. The diner style is bright and colorful, shades of green, blues, yellows and reds all feature prominently.

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Make sure that they are bold and bright. If you choose to go with a red retro kitchen you might want to carry the color scheme through out and use red retro kitchen gadgets like old egg beaters and toasters with retro lines.

You also need to think about your kitchen appliances. You want to go shiny stainless steel, or look at the same bright, bold colors. Making sure that all of your retro kitchen supplies match and complement each other from retro kitchen utensils to supplies and furniture goes a long way to making your retro kitchen work.

Going retro can be expensive, but you don’t have to do it all at once. You can start researching retro kitchen prices so that you can start little by buying the retro kitchenware a piece at a time.

For example, you can start with retro kitchen utensils, and then go on to accessories like clocks and linens. If you can’t afford to do the whole thing at once but you really want to start, then go a piece at a time.

Getting a retro kitchen set to start setting up your retro kitchen is a good idea. It can serve as an inspiration. Find the right retro kitchen utensils and you can get ideas as to where to go next.

Retro designs are a great way to make your house your home and a kitchen is a great place to start since you spend a lot of time there.

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