PIPs of my pink linoleum kitchen.

[new2this2]

I mentioned it a few days ago and someone wanted a picture. It's so beautiful...   As far as I can tell they used a sheet of linoleum. There are seams everywhere which collect dirt. The sliding "doors" are plastic. The missing ones were broken by the previous owner (and the tracks are broken too). It's hard to tell but the cabinets / counters are very pink like the tiles. When we bought the house the walls were a light pink - even the ceiling was pink. The floor is tan and pink with flowers. The entire house had that fake baseboard made from rubber... like you'd see in a commercial setting. They even put it on the kitchen cabinets. Oh, and while you're checking out my awesome cabinets notice that they don't go straight down. The top is deeper than the bottom.

[kaylie]

You know, it's kinda of cool in a retro kind of way. I don't hate it. It doesn't sound super functional but at least it's interesting.

[seriously]

Mar 9, 2013 18:47:41 GMT -5 kaylie said:

You know, it's kinda of cool in a retro kind of way. I don't hate it. It doesn't sound super functional but at least it's interesting.

I agree, it's got some character.  

[mrs.jacinthe]

I like the speckled old-school lamjnates like that. But I am weird.

[sunny]

it's kind of cool!

[steph96]

I sort of love it! But I'm also one of those extreme pink lovers.

[finally]

It totally reminds me of the play kitchen I had when I was a kid!!!

[munkii]

I love it but can see how it would be a nightmare to work in.

[new2this2]

I'm not a big fan of pink and with all the cabinets, counters, back splash, and a lot of the floor being pink it is just too much pink for me. It's very nonfunctional. The cabinets are difficult to use because the doors slide but most are somewhat broken.

The speckles in the laminate have disappeared from areas on the counter that are used a lot and you can't leave anything colored on them because they stain (think tomato soup = red stain, grape juice = purple stain) that are somehow impossible to get rid of.

[bunnies]

Lurker chiming in - I dig the angled slant of the cabinets. Very '60s! ;-)

[TBM]

Too bad it is so, um....pink. And in such bad shape. It could have been such a cool kitchen.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Mar 9, 2013 20:41:41 GMT -5 new2this2 said:

I'm not a big fan of pink and with all the cabinets, counters, back splash, and a lot of the floor being pink it is just too much pink for me. It's very nonfunctional. The cabinets are difficult to use because the doors slide but most are somewhat broken.

The speckles in the laminate have disappeared from areas on the counter that are used a lot and you can't leave anything colored on them because they stain (think tomato soup = red stain, grape juice = purple stain) that are somehow impossible to get rid of.

I can totally see that happening.  While I dig it, I'm not going to deny that I'm glad its your problem and not mine.

[auntie]

Attachment DeletedJust wow! Thanks for sharing your trip down memory lane.

That's mid-century modern for sure. Pink was all the rage in the late 1950's. My parents had a house with a fabulous pink kitchen built in 1957. It had pink painted stainless cabinets. It didn't have the sort of ribbed plastic cabinet sliders, but the house they had before built in 1953 did. That "ribbed" feature was theme in the first house, the bedroom, bath and kitchen door windows featured this in glass. LOL, my first visions of the world were sorta wavy. Ironically, it didn't provide privacy looking in.

The countertop and backsplash are Formica. My father's old salon featured shampoo stations with that exact pattern; the stylist stations were the iconic boomerang. JFC, it was hideous.

Until you donate this to the Smithsonian, the function of the sliding doors can be improved- probably- by vacuuming out the tracks, cleaing with a stiff brush/Q-Tip and then putting a bit of graphite in the tracks.

The dishwasher is interesting, I can't imagine running around the corner to load and unload it.

[tarheels]

I can totally appreciate the history of it. Too bad it doesn't work well.

[pitterwoo]

wow, crazy. my kitchen is still worse, so I'm not going to cede my self proclaimed title. it's kind of charming at least in pictures.

[mrsgoody]

Aw, it's like one of those Pottery Barn Kids play kitchens, but for grown-ups, lol

[new2this2]

Mar 10, 2013 8:30:24 GMT -5 tarheels said:

I can totally appreciate the history of it. Too bad it doesn't work well.

Dude! We totally have one of those built in blenders like your pic. Lol. It's on the other side of the kitchen (not pictured). The old owners saved the blender top for us... DH actually loves the slant on the cabinets. You never hit your foot on them. Unfortunately the doors can't be fixed so easily. The part they slide on is plastic and they're all broken so they pop out. It's not as bad as it sounds though.

[new2this2]

Mar 10, 2013 14:01:52 GMT -5 pitterwoo said:

wow, crazy. my kitchen is still worse, so I'm not going to cede my self proclaimed title. it's kind of charming at least in pictures.

My kitchen is very NMS but overall it isn't horrible - just not very functional. It's just very pink 50s.

[lys]

Looks like vintage formica - not linoleum. Typical for it's time.

[TBM]

Mar 9, 2013 20:41:41 GMT -5 new2this2 said:

The speckles in the laminate have disappeared from areas on the counter that are used a lot and you can't leave anything colored on them because they stain (think tomato soup = red stain, grape juice = purple stain) that are somehow impossible to get rid of.

My mom still has the original 50s speckled laminate on her breakfast bar, and the stains actually come off.  The last time I was there, someone (not me) left their wine glass/bottle there and left rings...they came off right away with a little baking soda and dish soap.

I remember actually using comet on it when I was a kid. Or cleaners like 409. Her laminate has held up much better than any of the newer stuff we have lived with over the years.

[whitemerlot]

I love it! Too bad it's in bad shape.

[dfl]

what's the rest of the house like?

[new2this2]

The rest of the house wasn't bad. They had remodeled one bathroom at some point and it's very neutral. Every room was a pastel pink or purple and even had pink carpet in the entire upstairs. We replaced the carpet and painted - now it looks pretty good. We're in the process of updating things like windows but that was the only really dated room

Oh! Except for the red and black super long shag carpet in the basement! I almost forgot about that. It was also replaced... obviously.

I've tried everything for the stains and they don't seem to come out... baking soda, dish soap, magic erasers, regular cleaners. Nada. They aren't bad at all so I just ignore them for now.

[Deleted]

purrty

[cosmowife]

I think it could be fun if you played it up with lots of black and white accents.