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Thread: 1950's kitchen cabinet designs

  1. #16

    50's kitchen

    Just as with most design "styles" or themes (think Art Deco or Craftsman)
    It is all in the planning and execution whether you get a gem or a dog
    Take a visit to your local library and look up some of the better shelter magazines that were published then. Better Homes and Gardens, or Sunset (westcoast) were a couple

    BTW
    Formica has recently re-introduced many of the patterns that were new in the 1950 and 1960's Remember the boomerang shapes?

    This might rub some the wrong way here in such a do it yourself crowd. but I am sure you could find a talented local kitchen designer or architect who has some period designs in their portfolio


    k

  2. #17
    My house is a mid-century modern built in 1964 (butterfly roof, clerestory windows, gigantic carport, stacked marble exterior, sunk-in living room, Nutone radio piped to all rooms - you get the picture) and it featured many high-end fixtures and conveniences (like I still have the original, still-working 60's dishwasher). The kitchen cabinets were face-frame construction built in-place with white formica tops. The doors are all face-mounted with 45 degree edges, back-beveled with push latches (no knobs or pulls, you push to open, push to close - the hinges are bent 45 degrees to accomidate the back-bevel and one can grab the edge to open if needed). The cabinet door and drawer surfaces are all formica in a rich mahogany grain-pattern in gloss with painted frames - insides are unfinished and when open you can see the plywood used for construction - it's stained dark. If I were to do something like this these days I would use something without voids like BB as these doors/drawers show little if any voids in the materials (difference in manufacturing I guess).

    Some of the other houses in my neighborhood have top cabinets that have the fronts canted-out with sliders - makes for an interesting look. You can find some good references on the Lotta Living forums or from Atomic Ranch magazine:

    http://www.lottaliving.com/
    http://www.atomic-ranch.com/

    Photo prior to our purchasing:


    -- John
    "No matter where you go, there you are" -- Buckaroo Banzai



  3. #18
    My house is a mid-century modern built in 1964 (butterfly roof, clerestory windows, gigantic carport, stacked marble exterior, sunk-in living room, Nutone radio piped to all rooms - you get the picture) and it featured many high-end fixtures and conveniences (like I still have the original, still-working 60's dishwasher). The kitchen cabinets were face-frame construction built in-place with white formica tops. The doors are all face-mounted with 45 degree edges, back-beveled with push latches (no knobs or pulls, you push to open, push to close - the hinges are bent 45 degrees to accomidate the back-bevel and one can grab the edge to open if needed). The cabinet door and drawer surfaces are all formica in a rich mahogany grain-pattern in gloss with painted frames - insides are unfinished and when open you can see the plywood used for construction - it's stained dark. If I were to do something like this these days I would use something without voids like BB as these doors/drawers show little if any voids in the materials (difference in manufacturing I guess).

    Some of the other houses in my neighborhood have top cabinets that have the fronts canted-out with sliders - makes for an interesting look. You can find some good references on the Lotta Living forums or from Atomic Ranch magazine:

    http://www.lottaliving.com/
    http://www.atomic-ranch.com/

    Photo prior to our purchasing:


    -- John
    You live in a Googie house? I LOVE Googie! During the period between WWII and the assassination of JFK/Viet Nam America had unbridled enthusiasm about the future and a desire to get back to nature. IMHO nowhere is the better seen than in Googie Architecture. Of course Googie probably had a great deal of influence from the Bauhaus school of design.

    You can see the reaching out to the future with the:

    Open floor plans, where rooms are defined by levels, as opposed to walls.
    Huge overhangs, reaching out to the future.
    Butterfly roofs, imitating wings, ready for takeoff.
    Often windows followed a corner, like a jet cockpit.
    Modern appliances and convenience features.
    Soaring ceilings.

    While getting back to nature:

    Huge windows, stonework inside and out, often the stonework follows a wall both inside and out, only divided by the window.
    Inside planting areas
    Trees extending through a hole in one of those oversided overhangs.

    THE GOOGIE LOOK
    Although Googie buildings were often quite different from one another, Douglas Haskell noted that the style had certain rules:

    1. It can look organic, but it must be abstract. "If it looks like a bird, it must be a geometric bird. It's better yet if the house had more than one theme: like an abstract mushroom surmounted by an abstract bird."
    2. Ignore gravity altogether. "Whenever possible, the building must hang from the sky."
    3. Multiple structural elements. Inclusion is the rule, rather than minimalism.

    New materials, including sheet glass, glass blocks, asbestos, plywood and plastic gave the architect a whole new palette to work with. Other innovations allowed steel and cement to be used in new ways. Suddenly, architects had more elbowroom for their dreams. A room made of plastic could look like a log cabin, a space ship, or almost anything.
    http://www.spaceagecity.com/googie/

    Two places most people have seen a Googie house is The Incredibles, and the house at the end of North by Northwest.

    If my wife and every get to build our dream house I want it to be Googie!

    (Googie, Googie, Googie!)

  4. #19
    Sorry, I couldn't resist:





    BTW, neither of these are real.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Geneva, Swisscheeseland
    Posts
    1,501
    Quote Originally Posted by John Eaton View Post
    My house is a mid-century modern built in 1964 (butterfly roof, clerestory windows, gigantic carport, stacked marble exterior, sunk-in living room, Nutone radio piped to all rooms - you get the picture) and it featured many high-end fixtures and conveniences (like I still have the original, still-working 60's dishwasher). The kitchen cabinets were face-frame construction built in-place with white formica tops. The doors are all face-mounted with 45 degree edges, back-beveled with push latches (no knobs or pulls, you push to open, push to close - the hinges are bent 45 degrees to accomidate the back-bevel and one can grab the edge to open if needed). The cabinet door and drawer surfaces are all formica in a rich mahogany grain-pattern in gloss with painted frames - insides are unfinished and when open you can see the plywood used for construction - it's stained dark. If I were to do something like this these days I would use something without voids like BB as these doors/drawers show little if any voids in the materials (difference in manufacturing I guess).

    Some of the other houses in my neighborhood have top cabinets that have the fronts canted-out with sliders - makes for an interesting look. You can find some good references on the Lotta Living forums or from Atomic Ranch magazine:

    http://www.lottaliving.com/
    http://www.atomic-ranch.com/

    Photo prior to our purchasing:


    -- John
    We nearly bought an MCM ranch last fall, but the sellers owed more on the mortgage than we were giving them and could not get permission for the short sale. I guess it is important not to purchase a house with no money down and pay interest only.

    Dan
    A flute without holes, is not a flute. A donut without a hole, is a Danish.

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