photo sources/ideas for using 1930's tile kitchen

[tdk]

We have the old 1930s tile in the kitchen of our new house. light yellow and black, goes about shoulder height.

I've been browsing pinterest, houzz, garden web and others, and finding a photo here or there, but has anyone used it themselves in a kitchen or seen where a bunch of photos are where someone's used it?

I'm not even sure what the tile would be called to search for it better. I would like to leave the tile as the backsplash (it continues behind the white formica, except for behind the sink, which I figure I'll tile with something different and somehow try to make it look intentional and like a feature wall)

Cupboards are getting ditched. Not sure what's going in their place. Appliances will probably be black.


This is not our forever house. It's probably our house for a year and after, we'll either rent or sell. It is not in an expensive area of town and doesn't have to have stainless, so we will save substantially if we use black appliances.

Floor - pulling the layers up to see if it's hardwood under. We suspect it is. Breakfast room looks like it was added later and probably has something different under, but we'll see when we get to that.

I'm open to all color/cabinet/tile/counter suggestions you may have plus any photos or sources of photos that might have that style tile we have so I can see how others figured out how to use it in an updated kitchen.

Fridge location:


Stove location:


From Kitchen to Breakfast room (keep in the built in wood cabinets in the breakfast room):


Ahhh, the highlight:




The rest of the house is lovely. They kept the hardwood trim, doors, windows, floors, very clean and beautiful. THis is the only spot that suffered a 70s or 80s renovation that didn't stand the test of time at all. (And the sink and oven areas are totally different cupboards)

[tdk]

Might go white. Just not stainless.
I wish we were going stainless, but it would be a drastic price difference.I don't really like white appliances, but that may be the way to go vs black. I don't know yet. We have a fairly inexpensive source through an employee who owns a ton of houses in the area. (he buys foreclosed and renovates)

I wanted to tear out the bulkhead for more space, but after closer inspection, that's going to become too major of a project. (We already have a TON of work to do before we move in at the end of Dec.

It's funny, I wouldn't normally gravitate towards white cabinets, but I keep coming back to that could make it brighter. I do want to tear up the layers of old flooring to see what's underneath before I totally make decisions as that could really sway, depending on what we find. dh would love to stay with wood as the house has a ton of classic wood, all through it.

I'd love some photos of kitchens that use that old tile in a non-retro way. I haven't found many photos yet and want to get some ideas spinning. I have bathrooms with that tile too and while I won't do much there (they're not hideous), I'd like to spruce them up and make them look fresher.

I do think it needs to look more spacious at the end, but we might not be doing much since where the plumbing, electrical, and gas are located kind of limit locations w/o more major projects. It was a foreclosed HUD home, and even copper piping was stolen, so we have some work cut out for us. (we're currently in a 2 day project of shoveling sand/clay to create a grade away from the house since the land sinks in towards it).

Re space/storage: There is a HUGE closet behind where the oven goes that'll serve as pantry, and there is storage in the breakfast room and I have hutches for the dining room, so we'll deal w/ small cupboard space ok.

I really would love to tear out that bulkhead, but I think I'll just have to be creative and use them in a nicer manner with better lighting fixtures than what they have. Why would they make a shorter ceiling in an already small space?

[kaylie]

If you want to avoid ripping out the tile, I think you have to embrace the retro-ness of it. Using black as an accent tile is pretty darn retro.

Here's what I would do, knowing it would be a rental in the near future:
- Replace cabinets with white Ikea cabinets in one of the shaker-like styles
- Recycled paper counters in black or basic grade black granite. Granite is pricey but it's probably the most durable which is important because renters are rough on things. I think there are some Wilsonart faux granites that some people here might be able to rec.
- Change over counter lights to recessed cans
- Wall color: Either a brighter white that stands out from the yellow or a light gray or light blue.
- I think black appliances would look great.

Personally, I would probably just rip out the tile and replace the drywall so I could start with a clean slate. It's not a terribly difficult DIY and if you did the demo yourselves hiring it out wouldn't be that pricey. I'm having trouble working around that shade of yellow in my head. I want it to either be darker or whiter.

[SusanBAnthony]

I may be a lone crazy lady about this, but the soffits absolutely have to go. It won't matter what you do with the rest of the kitchen, it will look horrible with those soffits. Whatever else you have to do to make it happen, do it.

That said, i think white, light wood, or cream would look good. I would put laminate counters in a light color, I think. One of the nicer laminates, but still laminate. For walls, I would have to try different things, I think. A light yellow could look nice, or light blue. Have to visualize with the tile though.

[munkii]

If you want to keep the tile as-is, go with white or cream colored cabinets as others have suggested. Kaylie's suggestion of Ikea's shaker styles is good, but I would also suggest looking at Ikea Ståt white cabinets or something similar. For paint, I would go with white to brighten up the tile or something in cream to keep it muted--both will keep it simple and clean. If you aren't sold on keeping the tile as is but don't want to rip it out, reglaze it.

Here are some examples of the Ståt white cabinets:
www.notjustclutter.com/our-ikea-kitchen-renovation-experience/
tekbuild.blogspot.com/2010/10/country-feel-in-city-condo.html
www.ikeahackers.net/2012/03/dining-and-homework-center.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Ikeahacker+%28ikeahacker%29

Here are some good inspiration kitchens for 30s butter yellow tile:
www.cococozy.com/2009_09_01_archive.html
1902victorian.com/2005/07/countertop-debate-part-7426.html (This one shows to me why I would not choose wood.)

Lastly, you may also want to look up bathrooms with the same tile combination to get ideas for colors as well.

[TBM]

The soffits probably house duct work or electrical upgrades. If it was just electrical it wouldn't be so bad, because you wouldn't need that much space up there, but if it is ductwork you are kind of stuck with it.

I would guess that a good cleaning and maybe some grout paint would freshen up the tile. If you think of the black as a chair rail, it makes it easier to think pale yellow below and ____ color above. I think what color depends entirely on your taste though. Matching the yellow would downplay the tile aspect to some extent, but for me it would never work because pale yellow in my own home makes me anxious....but it could be pretty.

[tdk]

I really do suspect there are ducts up there. I don't really want to rip in to find out. The furnace and duct work would not have been original, would have been a boiler house. The ducts around the house are kind of worked into odd places including where they are in the bathrooms means little under sink storage (though there are alternative storage places.

I know it's not a bad DIY, we've done it in other homes, we're just trying to keep this low cost. Or I am, especially.

Basically, we need to install sink and appliances before the permit to move in can be issued. We COULD just do it as is. But I"m scared that means a looooooong ass time before we get around to really renovating and not just living with it as is.

The vote I really have is to do it decently enough to not wish for a re-do but bear in mind it's not my forever home and it doesn't have to be stunning, just not revolting (which I'd say the current one made me grimace even when looking at the listing).


Also, bear in mind, we got this for an obsencely low price. Most kitchen remodels are about 1/2 the price of what we got the house for. Like INSANELY cheap, but b/c we bought in a city w/ a bad reputation, but we've lived here for 9 years and love the area. This spot has an incredible, huge neighborhood and very safe. We're not in the burbs, which would have made the price 5-6 times more, even if we were a 1/2 mile down the road.

[tdk]

And thank you! Please keep these ideas and links coming!

It isn't as dismal either as it looks in the photos, re light. but it's not stellar

[tdk]

The rest of the house is very pretty and looks like this, even before our paint jobs and cleaning up the wood.

PRISTINE hardwood under the carpet in the upstairs bedrooms. Picture rails in all the upper rooms, stepped down ceilings in the lower floor. Not absolutely stunning home, but very very lovely.

[TBM]

Nov 11, 2012 10:01:30 GMT -5 tdk said:

The rest of the house is very pretty and looks like this, even before our paint jobs and cleaning up the wood.

PRISTINE hardwood under the carpet in the upstairs bedrooms. Picture rails in all the upper rooms, stepped down ceilings in the lower floor. Not absolutely stunning home, but very very lovely.

That room would have sold me on the place. I love it.

[Deleted]

How about:



or


or



All kind of retro I guess, but with yellow/black tile, I don't know that I've seen anything that looks really modern. I'd probably embrace the retro (well I would always embrace the retro because I love it).

ETA: Looks like I have nothing helpful to add after all. Same as munkii's kitchens.

ETA2: if you do plan to sell in the near future, things like ripping out the tile, recessed lights and granite counters will be a turnoff to anyone who appreciates on older home. Reno'd kitchens are a dime a dozen; untouched retro stuff is hard to find in my area and popular among a particular set. Buyers who want updated kitchens will probably still look and plan on updating (and you can afford to price it appropriately if you don't spend much on updating), and buyers who want retro will love it. It looks like the rest of your house has vintage style, so it would probably really appeal to the retro crowd (at least in CA it would).

[TBM]

Nov 11, 2012 11:09:11 GMT -5 @juno said:

if you do plan to sell in the near future, things like ripping out the tile, recessed lights and granite counters will be a turnoff to anyone who appreciates on older home. Reno'd kitchens are a dime a dozen; untouched retro stuff is hard to find in my area and popular among a particular set. Buyers who want updated kitchens will probably still look and plan on updating (and you can afford to price it appropriately if you don't spend much on updating), and buyers who want retro will love it. It looks like the rest of your house has vintage style, so it would probably really appeal to the retro crowd (at least in CA it would).

My thoughts exactly. Well....maybe not about recessed lights, but definitely about taking all of the retro out. We are currently house hunting and I would rather have original stuff, even if it means a full kitchen reno in my future, than have one that obliterated the original flavor of the home. I have seen a lot of really, really bad kitchen upgrades in my house hunting.