Haha, what about Christmas trees?

I couldn't trust either of the examples. My first thought was the old show from England (similar to Trading Spaces) when a full hanging book shelf unit came crashing down and was holding a precious china collection. I'm also leery of the children swings installed in bedrooms. Major loads on the right beams if they even went there.

The fireplace looks like they ran out of duct, it would do just fine on the floor.

Obviously I prefer not going there. But my heavy pot rack is just fine after 10 years. Or maybe it should be checked after seeing your pics.

I've seen many hanging fireplaces (only in magazines though), so I would *think* that it would be safe enough. I can't imagine cooking on a swinging hob though!

Those kitchen cabinets are so funny, so dated looking in not a good way.
Some of the things I am drawn to currently which will most likely be as funny, are the wooden hanging beams/racks? seen in the PB stores, usually over a dining table and covered in faux greenery, ropes, candles/lanterns. I would never do it but I do like the thought.

At least you didn't post images of hanging bathtubs or hanging toilets.

The AD kitchen is innovative in a number of ways in that it has two (or four) of everything and a counter height, opening window (through which this photo is shot).

It could be Kosher, it could be that they entertained a lot and people weren't putting commercial units in most residences in 1961.

I would imagine the cooking island is completely rigid and the gas line has to come down from the ceiling.

This wasn't dangerous, they just didn't work very well:

That wall fridge might be ready for another go if it would work well, seems like a good option with so many people trying to make the fridge disappear in their design.

I want to see Mrs. Mommy Babe get that ham off the top shelf of the fridge...

Anybody remember hanging beds from the 60's and 70's? I seem to remember seeing them first in Terence Conran's early design books.

I knew two families that had the GE Wall-hung refrigerators, and they were really a good "fit" in the design of the kitchen--and both women were tall.

But the one family kept anything that needed to stay frozen in a separate freezer because it really didn't hold a low enough temperature, and the other family had abandoned it altogether and used it like cabinets and had a conventional fridge stuck somewhere.

This was also designed back at a time when there was a lot of parental control about what kids ate and when, none of the free access at all times like now.

The hanging bed is coming back it seems like.. Like this one from Anthropologie

Here is a link that might be useful: Anthopologie hanging bed

Hah!
And yet, I see that "this product is no longer available."
Somebody's fell on the dog?

LOL. I'd love that on a more sheltered porch than we have (wind-driven rain). Or just back in Southern California (what rain?). With a fan right overhead.

That wall-fridge picture is a hoot! Were the guys who designed it smart enough to realize the open doors would grab disturbed attention sort of in the same way one balanced on the edge of a counter would? Or just clueless? My bet's on the latter.

I think Palimpsest's thought about keeping the children out of the fridge is interesting - but no child of mine would have been stopped by mere height. Little monkeys, all.

I have a very tall fridge, which I love. My kids are indeed monkeys, chairs are routinely moved and they get what they need. We keep a step stool in a closet next to the fridge too, when needed. Lucky for the kids the fridge is shallow.

I love the wall fridges. Too bad they didn't work well.

I used to use a long knife inserted between the wire of the upper shelves to slide items to the front and knock them into my hands.

I would also open the drawers next to the fridge and climb up them like steps to get into the older freezer on top model. Once, I was checking on home -made popsicles in those Tupperware molds and a bunch of frozen meat fell on my dad's head. The popsicles were thrown out.

There is no question we got Into the fridge, but the entire kitchen wasn't designed Around the absolute all the time access to the fridge by kids first, like it is now.

About that hanging fireplace:
Our community center, built in the late 1960's, had a hanging fireplace. It didn't move, but the community took it out some years ago because it wasn't used and it got in the way of traffic.

Wow, using a knife to nudge the food forward it very clever. I won't let my kids read this...

I use tongs to get things from shelves I can't reach when I don't want to get the ladder. Works for a lot of things.

And that picture makes me laugh of the woman on the phone with all the fridge doors wide open....who is she talking to? Oh, maybe she is having a hot flash and this is her way to try and cool off.

At least she has her pearl necklace and skirt on--she is ready to cook that ham!

and/or serve the turkey! She's got her BHG cookbook handy.

I think she is calling the butcher with her weekly order.

Recently my mom reminded me of how she would call in an order once a week. Then the next day walk about 5 blocks or more to pick it up with her shopping cart (not the supermarket kind).

Thank god "sex swings" have not made their appearance in this thread yet.

Another fun one was the pull-out range, by O'Keefe & Merritt I believe?

[By the by, I would KILL for a new wall fridge right now, and have been diligently researching the possibilities of placing a wine fridge or similar along the wall as a substitute. Absolutely no room in my current ancient kitchen design, no matter how it's reconfigured, for a full-size fridge/freezer.]

The problem is the relative loss of counterspace. If you have counterspace you may be able to do it.

I did a universal access design where I raised undercounter fridge and freezer about 6-8" and put drawers in the platform underneath and then there were cabinets on top touching the counter (which would be for abled-people) --it was only a scheme, not built so I don't know how it would have worked. but essentially you lose 5-6 feet of undercounter storage or 5-6 feet of counter if you put them above counter height.

In my old apartment my fridge ended up in the living room (integrated Sub Zero) because it would not fit in the kitchen proper. So maybe you should look at adjacent spaces, too.

Oh circuspeanut just hang your fridg from some macrame lol.
With only a few exceptions IâÂÂm not so keen on the hanging macramé. While one item of macrome can be pleasing I have yet to meet a âÂÂI love my macromeâ person who knows when to stop.

Can we change this thread to "Things that are macramed that shouldn't be"?

Although perhaps not the Game of Thrones edition:

[PS: you are all lovely to help me suss out my fridge dilemma. I'll be posting it over on Kitchens in the near future, stay tuned.]

Bosch from the 1960s
{{!gwi}}

I essentially had a version of the hanging fridge:

My kitchen in my first condo was in a lofted area of a room with 14 foot ceilings. The refrigerator was essentially in the top rear corner of the room opposite where the windows were. So my freezer was 14 feet off the floor. It was always very hot in the kitchen and the compressor for the fridge ran a lot and the autodefrost worked so much that it basically evaporated the ice cubes right out of the trays.

With good, even climate control --something like a zoned high velocity HVAC system, at the ceiling refrigeration might be ok, but in the 1950s particularly--having the refrigerator in the hottest layer of a relatively hot room, did not do any favors for the compressor.

The house I grew up in had the slide out range. I believe it was the Frigidaire Flair

Here is a link that might be useful: Frigidaire Flair

The house my bff grew up in had a slide out range. I'd never seen one like it before or since. Not until I took the tour at Graceland, that is. We stepped into the kitchen and there it was -- the Tappan Fabulous 400 in all its glory!

New kitchen. What do they use for holding this amount of weight?

Here is a link that might be useful: Hanging Kitchen shelves

In the recent spate of house-hunting DD did, she found a house that was fabulous, but out of her price range. Sister and I looked at it with her. We wondered if the shelves around the cooktop could actually be used for storage, or if you could only put a few decorative items on them. What do you think?

My sister-in-law had the Fridgeaire slide out range until about 2 years ago. She is fairly tall and loved the ovens at eye-level. Unfortunately, the range bit the dust and could not be resurrected. She has a more conventional layout now of cooktop and wall ovens, but she sure misses her old range.

At my house, where cleaning is, let us say, never utmost on our minds, the hanging range would be a good idea, cuz if the onion skins, ends of various veggies and other detritus of real cooking (we do actually cook) was so blatant, perhaps then we would clean more often. Perhaps.

Love the pics of the vintage macrame, I have a great, vintage macrame plant hanger in my LR and it is really beautiful, but I grew up in NNE near ski areas, and groovy ski chalets, complete with spaceship-like woodstoves and lots of macrame hangers for the spider plants abounded, so I have good memories of that particular art form. And I am biased, but I think my plant hanger is less 1970's awkward than the ones posted, at least it is made of natural fibers, and I am positive it's less awkward than that macrame vest. yikes.

Also love hanging beds and swings, we have one on our porch down front, it doesn't swing freely, too windy here, but it is a great place to watch the sunset.

sandyponder