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Here is a link that might be useful: Julia Child's kitchen

I certainly like your inspiration. Please post pics when you're ready!

There are quite a few of us on this board who are into MCM era design. I am one of them. Are you familiar with the Retro Renovations blog? I'll link it below...I think it's RIGHT up your alley.

Plus...if you've got room for a REALLY big DR table...I think the person who had the (almost certainly) Knoll conference table that came from the George Marshall Flight center (it still has the NASA tag on it!) on ebay is planning on re-listing. I SO wanted that table. Alas...no room for an eight foot long dining/conference table. She hasn't relisted it yet...I think she's contacting shippers so she can offer shipping this time.

Here is a link that might be useful: Retro Renovation

I grew up in a 1960's kitchen. The Julia Child kitchen featured in the Smithsonian reads (to me) more of a french feel. Not an expert in MCM decor, but the "Julia" kitchen doesn't look like any kitchen I saw as a child. Growing up, the kitchens of my friends' mothers, reflected more of the "Bewitched" look with a nod toward the then new food products offering the everyday cook shortcuts with an eye toward putting a meal together quickly. Shake-n-Bake (circa. 1965), that kind of meal. The "Julia" kitchen to me, reflects a love of cooking with loads of prep. and complex recipes, etc.

I love the look of the museum kitchen tho. Will you post a pic once you've completed your kitchen?

I was going to post the same as work_in_progress. I don't remember any kitchens with painted cabinets like that growing up. My father built our house himself in 1957, so it was a little before the 60s, but all the homes on our street were built at the same time or early 60s.

Our refrigerator was yellow. My father had it painted in a car shop because my mother wanted yellow. I don't remember the other appliances but they weren't turquoise, maybe coppertone?

We had similar chairs as Julia's -with a white formica table with metal legs, wood cabinets, not painted, with a built in flour sifter, and the star counters, with the shelves at the end (a very 60s thing), and a pull-down copper lamp over the table. The lamp is my favorite memory.

Good luck with your room. I also look forward to seeing it...in your house.
Dee

Doesn't someone on here have the aqua fridge?

In the 70's my mom had a "Europeanish" kitchen in yellow, red and black. I knew people who had the avacado/coppertone/harvest gold kitchen, but my relatives are a flamboyant lot :). When I asked her about her 60s kitchen she said it was white appliances,blue,white and a touch of purple.

I think my mom would've floated off the floor if someone painted her a yellow fridge. She had a cherry red sink in the 80's and now has a lemon yellow one.

This genealogy blog shows cabinets like Julia's kitchen. They look old world like my relatives. (What was Czechoslovakia at the time.)

I love the retro Revolution and "Save the Pink Bathrooms" blog but she's more 60's ultra modern. I do want the Euro 60's look if that's actually a look.

A turquoise fridge! Wow! I sure would like to see a picture of that!

An 8ft table probably wouldn't fit in my kitchen. That is really big.

I know an older couple with a mid-century ranch complete with copper pull down lamp, a Mamie pink bathroom, a yellow bathroom of the same style, and a vast collection of amazing 50s,60s and 70s stuff. I sigh over the lamp every time I see it. Their kitchen tile is a pink/salmon swirly tile on the diagonal. It's just gorgeous.

Funny! I have this stupid food thing (celiac) so I have to do a lot of from scratch cooking to afford my gluten free diet. That's how I found Julia's kitchen :). I took one look and thought how I didn't remember it being that neat looking.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful input. I will show the whole step-by-step process. I'm so excited about this!

Here is a link that might be useful: Euro 1960s?

Ohhhhh.... all this talk about kitchens and refrigerator colors makes me want to crack the code for posting pictures here (I can never do it).... My mom had an orchid refrigerator! Yellow kitchen. Maple cabs. It was always a very clean and tidy kitchen; very cheery. It was no big deal to me to have an orchid refrigerator - to me it was like "what color are refrigerators supposed to be, anyways"?

Miss Mary

Our bathroom was also pink, with wallcovering with small pink fish. I still have the matching water glass, pink, with a small fish. It was plastic and it said on the bottom, "patent pending."
Dee

My parents' first home was a tract house built in 1961. The appliances were coppertone and the cabinets were dark maple. The countertops were covered with beige tile with dark grout.

That would be me with the blue Big Chill fridge!

Our house is a 60's ranch, so, yes, I am definitely retro inspired, though I do have blue pearl granite vs. formica. No vintage stove either. It's a Samsung induction.

Don't feel bad about not being able to post pictures. If it weren't for my DH I wouldn't be able to either. An orchid fridge sounds really neat.

I would really be tempted to do a pink bathroom just to display the fish cup :) That's probably silly but I've done crazier stuff than that.

I'm going with off-white 4" that I may set on the diagonal. Money is tight so a lot of this is DIY. I'd like dark maple cabinets but it's too dark in a corner of this kitchen.

I love your mid-century kitchen! The mid-century with the copper lamp etc.. has the washer/dryer in the kitchen too.

Thank you for the picture of that amazing fridge. My DH is discouraging more mid-century appliances. He doesn't like that they are not energy efficient. I want to find a modern fridge similar the one you have to modify into a fake retro. I don't think I can afford to have an old appliance retro-fitted with modern guts. If I had your fridge I think I'd find a way somehow tho. Again, that is wonderful.

I'm also doing a mosaic. It will be mounted wonder board with my own mosaic designs. Your mosaic tile looks really great.

Your kitchen is an ideal kitchen. It has the retro look while still looking warm. It's not what I call, "matchy- matchy" It has different designs that work together well to create your own unique look. That is exactly what I'm going for with my own look. Retro without being a carbon copy of someone eles design idea.

Our Big Chill fridge IS modern and energy efficient. It is converted from a Whirlpool that is Energy Star rated. We were actually able to use our state appliance rebate on it, 15% rebate was a lot. It is not a large fridge, about 22 cu ft, but our old fridge was only 18 cu. ft. To recondition a retro fridge actually costs a lot because they can contain hazardous chemicals like sulfur dioxide. Plus, they're really small and you have to manually defrost a lot of them.

Thank you. Our kitchen is definitely not like a lot on the Kitchens forum and is more quirky, but we have no plans to move, and it does fit the character of our home. We thought about getting the DW panel in blue, but we want to keep the focal point the fridge!

Here is a link that might be useful: Big Chill Appliances