I dont have any ideas, just love the irony. For the past 20 years everyone was going the other way!

What's the style of the cabinets? What is the current countertop?

I'd get more advice about cork floors in kitchen. From what I've read, large leaks or spills can ruin them.

Do you have any photos you can post? I know I need to "see" the space in order to come up with ideas and I'm sure others are the same way. If you end up keeping the cabinets, you probably will be able to get the feel you are looking for from light fixtures, the table and chairs. What kind of counters do you have?

Have you seen the show Sarah's house? One of the seasons she bought a 60's back split. It was great to see how she decorated and renovated it.

Regarding the cork floor, you can do a search on here and find lots of great information. I have cork planks, they have been triple coated with sealant by the manufacturer (including the tongue & grooves). As riverspots said, lots of people will sound the "flood alarm", but really--who has wood floors that have survived a flood? Or really, even vinyl? Wouldn't the subfloor get ruined? We love ours, they are very comfortable and warm, I would not have gone a different route.

I put a cork floor in two kitchens ago and loved it! Used it for 5 years with no real signs of wear and I'm not the neatest cook - had very small children too. So, in itself, I have no concerns with cork. It's just getting a whole look that works here. I like granite for countertops but I think that will look even more "Tuscan" with the dark wood, which is not the direction I want to go. Maybe concrete?

Here is a link that might be useful: Photo 2

Here you go:
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It's a challenge, for sure! You probably already know retrorenovation.com by heart, but I might start there for ideas? Folks here will have some good insights -- what is your planned color scheme? (aqua, pink, yellow, white ...?)

I think I'd start by taking down all of the uppers and putting up some open shelving. That way the raised panel tradtional look isn't dominating your sight. You could just remove the doors on glass panel run, but I'd get rid of the cabinets entirely on the range run and find a decorative hood to put there. On the sink run, open it up to the other room with a passthru and get rid of the upper cabinets. Get some great retro looking tile to use as your backsplash and cover the whole range wall with it. Find some very simple knobs or pulls to use for the remaining base cabinets and a new floor, and it looks as mod as it can be with those cabinets. Maybe at a later point you can have slab cherry doors made for the base cabinets and that would put it strongly into the mod category.

Good ideas, thanks. Bright colors (fern green, orange, yellow, turquoise). Would like to maybe put built-in seating in the bay window with a little table - any thoughts on what to surface the seating with? Countertops?

The glass panel run has an opening to the dining room/living room on the left and sliding glass doors to a screen porch on the right. I'm normally competent at posting photos but this site has thrown me - I'd post another picture of this run but even after reading gardenweb instructions, I see no way to just drop it in to my post. Help please???

Something like this tile behind the range wall. (Link below)

Look at their whole series of repeating patterns too. There are some GREAT choices!

Here is a link that might be useful:

Even if you selectively changed out the divided lite glass doors for doors with a single pane (perhaps textured) it would go a long way.

A quartz countertop in one of the monolithic non-patterns in a color that referenced formica.

Chrome or stainless hardware.

By the seventies raised panel doors were showing up even in relatively contemporary houses (Spanish Mediterranean, the impending Bicentennial...). Most houses were a mix--I don't know that a slab door is required although it would be a more pure interpretation of the look you are going for.

I am certainly no mid-century modern expert, but some the things that read mid-century modern to me are the following.

slab cabinet doors
funky modern light fixtures
clean (especially horizontal) lines
bold colors mixed with wood (usually natural)
funky modern furniture
bold art

It seems that cabinets in general are going to be the biggest impact in a kitchen. I would suggest looking into the cost of putting in slab doors on the existing frames. Also, if possible, staining the cabinets a lighter color. I also liked the suggestion of removing some or all of the upper cabinets because I think that would add to the clean horizontal feeling of the space.

Change out the ceiling fan for a funky mid-century modern light fixture.
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Change out the floor and countertop material to something appropriate for the time. Or at least reminiscent of the time. Perhaps here you could incorporate some of the bold colors you're interested in.

Add in some funky modern furniture to the eating area. Maybe a tulip table and some funky Eames (or Eames replica) chairs.
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Add in some mid-century modern art. Maybe some Andy Warhol prints or other prints from the era.
Searching for mid-century modern art, I found this site selling hanging mobiles in custom colors.

Overall, I would recommend taking the mid-century modern elements and seeing how they can fit into your space. If this is the look you love, then there is no reason you can't do some of it now (maybe just art, light fixtures, and furniture) and then the rest when you are ready to change out cabinets.

Have you watched the show "Mad Men"? It takes place in the early '60's. The set design is amazingly authentic--you could watch that show and take some cues from there. The main characters' (the Draper's) kitchen is I think more what actual midcentury kitchens looked like, than our glamorized ideas of midcentury modern. Sorta like our idea of what Tuscan kitchen looks like vs. an actual kitchen in Tuscany. But the Mad Men kitchen is pretty much what I remember growing up in the '60's - knotty pine cabinets with very simple knobs, there are upper cabinets but just not as many as in today's kitchen, formica counters, white enameled cast iron sink, rotary dial wall phone with very long cord that dangled to the floor, white appliances (we never had avocado), wood floors that meet linoleum floors in the kitchen. Though I never saw plaid wallpaper like the Mad Men kitchen in my childhood.

Mad Men and the Kitchen Set

Recreate the Draper's Kitchen

Draper's kitchen compared to photo from late 1950's Better Homes & Gardens - there are links at the end of this article that have pics and ideas too

If you need the storage space, my vote would be to reface the cabinets with flat full overlay doors and very clean hardware. That way you are not getting rid of all of that cabinet space if you need it. That is the look I remember from my aunt and uncle's very cool midcentury modern kitchen. (We always lived in very traditional homes.)

Respect those cupboards and work with them, not against them. I know that I keep harping on Scandinavian stuff, but you might find it helpful to look at that odd merger of "Gustavian" (Napoleonic, Federal) and Ikea that the Scandinavians carry off so successfully. There are a number of books and articles on the Swedish style which show this merger done skillfully.

Here in the Twin Cities, we still have shops (besides Ikea) that sell Scandinavian new pieces and one unusual one which rehabilitates and resells "classic" pieces. See link. Click about on the various furniture items to get an idea of this kind of aesthetic. The furniture is very expensive, very restful, very special if you appreciate that sort of thing. Americans also made things on that same aesthetic, but kind of abandoned it by the late 60s as they went to plastic and op art.

"Midcentury Modern" is not necessarily about plastic lighting devices with geometric shades and boomerang formica. Look also at the wool fabrics, abstract designs, "bouquets" made of a single dried tumbleweed in a hand-thrown vase, etc. In some ways, in the postwar period in upscale digs there was a logic similar to that of the Arts & Crafts period in which craftsmanship became more important than cheap trimmings. Original old rooms done with skill merged with carefully chosen new pieces that mixed gracefully with the old. By the late 70s, real Shaker style was very much in the target mode of designers. Plain peg wall hangers, straight legs, untrimmed fronts of cabinets, etc. It was the influence that brought you all those bald wood or wood and white laminate kitchens with wooden inset handles that people now decry on this GW forum.

I also suggest you look at the more spare lighting by Alpha, E2, and Elk which have a number of pieces that call me back to look again. And again, especially the pendant lights. Elk, for example, has some drum pendants with natural materials on the shade. Reminds me of the late 60s!

Also look into Marimekko fabrics, which can be had fairly affordably in the tablecloth section of Crate and Barrel. Currently there is a very bright multicolored tablecloth in bright greens, corals, and more. Plunk one of those supergraphic patterns into the room on the windows and on your chairs or staple a square of it around a large picture frame as "art" and you won't be in Tuscany any more. The Swedes would say that you can still keep a crystal chandelier and candle sconces, but you need to find a way to keep the twinkle and downplay the cherubs and grape motifs.

Oh, and get an Ansel Adams b&w art photography poster. Frame it in silvery metal.

OR...go green. Choose shades of green and use lots of 50's ivy motif stuff. It will contrast fabulously with the dark cupboards. And the turquoise, if you want that.

P.S.
I have that satellite pendant light fixture (a few posts above) in my jumble in the basement. It was already out of fashion when I put it up in my bedroom in 1985 and have loved loved loved it for years. Took it down when I needed a ceiling fan one hot summer and never put it back up again. Sigh. I wonder if it's now a collector's item?

Here is a link that might be useful: Danish Teak Classics, Minneapolis

I have no clue if this would work but are the backs of the cabinet doors slab? Could you reverse them? If you can do without some of the storage; how about removing some of the upper cabs? I'm definitely feeling some marigoldy yellow type color in there. Other then that; I defer to others who are more mid century versed then I am

I don't think there's any way to make those cabinets look MCM - especially those glass uppers. Yikes. I suggest pricing out an IKEA kitchen remodel (they're a lot cheaper than you might think!) and then listing the existing cabinets on craigslist to see if you can get good price for them. They look like they're in good shape and they would make someone very happy. If you can get enough for them, sell them and then do a remodel! And if they don't sell for whatever amount you'd need to make the project work, then you can move on to plan B...whatever that may be!

Instead of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, sell the square peg and buy a round one with the money you make! If you chose one of the less expensive door styles at Ikea, you might be able to almost break even on it.

Wow. I definitely wouldn't exchange solid cherry cabs for Ikea just for looks.

While I don't think you are going to end up with Sochi's kitchen, you can definitely make it more mod.

I agree that quartz is probably your best counter choice.

Minke Aire has some really great brushed metal mod fans. If you want something less expensive, there is the Avian fan at Lowes (much less expensive). Mod design, metal base and maple blades.

I don't think you have to, per se, go funky. Mid-century modern is very clean. You could use a very simple, functional white flushmount..

Interesting that the cabinets have (what appears to be) no hardware on them now. You could try bar pulls--definitely a modern look. That may distract from the raised panel.

I have no idea what your budget is so....

Cork would look good, as would Marmoleum.

I agree with removing the upper cabinets, especially the raised panel ones, and replacing them with open shelving. As far as the mullion doors, I don't think it is as urgent, although they are not really modern.

Are you switching out appliances? Hiding the microwave in a cabinet and getting new appliances (range/hood) would make a big impact.

As for backsplash, Modwalls has a lot of stuff on sale right now. You might want to check it out.

Here is a link that might be useful: simple flushmount

Cool, the MCM gang are out again! I agree it is going to be a tough challenge with those doors, but they are way too nice (and likely expensive) to get rid of, and there so many of them too. The glass doors are the biggest hurdle though, so I second removing them if you can. You can always store what you remove in the basement and put it back if you decide to sell in a few years. Do you need that much storage?

It would be nice to replace the microwave range hood and cabinet with a stainless range hood. You can buy those online for a couple hundred. If it were me, I might remove all three uppers above the stove, and run a backsplash to the ceiling with a SS range hood over top. The backsplash could have a bit of punch using touches of that cherry tone.

Maybe hold a 8 inch euro style stainless bar pull up against the lowers and see if it looks okay or ridiculous. I think it might work to diminish the traditional lower door style, but its hard to tell from the photo. Is the rest of the house in the same style as the kitchen is now? That's a factor too, I think. Stainless steel countertops would bring in a restaurant feel but quartz would be another option. It looks like there is a wood moulding detail around the counter now, which is really traditional.

I don't think it will ever scream 1950's MCM, but I think you could take it a long way from the very trad look the kitchen has now. Maybe more in the modern industrial vein than the 50's - 60's look. Of course, some people are looking at the pictures wondering why you would want to make any changes! It's a nice kitchen as is, but not exactly "inspired" and obviously not to your tastes. I think it could be pretty hip with a few adjustments.

Is this a split entry colonial revival ranch? I am looking at the fanlight over the front door. I think you could pull off a fairly 70s MCM, but the Draper's MCM was coming into its own a good 15-20 years before your house was built. Trying to go too retro to a period before the house was built would be a little off.

The right knob in chrome (or by late 60s-70s...brass), different lighting, different flooring and the right color scheme, and you could integrate those cabinets,except for the glass doors. Most American MCM was a mix anyway, not a super flat slab with edge pulls like a Siematic or Bulthaup.

Florantha hit it right on the mark. When MCM is not accompanied by exceptional workmanship, it just looks like plastic junk. Most ranch houses from 1960s to 1970s were builder grade cheap stuff, they are not really representative works of MCM. You need to see if the architectural bones are really in the house you are looking at warrants that kind of transformation which will cost alot of money. MCM will come and go like all fads. It is a fad currently, just as faux Tuscan kitchens were in the 80s.

Often, the cool low profile aluminum windows have already been replaced with cheap thick profile vinyl windows which ruins the look about as fast as anything else in that architecuture. When the windows get replaced, nobody thinks about how they impact the architectural lines. These low profile aluminum windows currently cost about 3x the vinyl stuff so many people don't (cannot) even consider it! How are the window placements? Low to the ground with horizontal emphasis? What is the roofline like? What about the eaves? Before tackling the interior of the house, you have to really understand the sentiment of the exterior of the house so that you can optimize and maximize the architectural intent of the house to the exterior intent of the house. If you remodel the house so that exterior and interior harmonize, you will have enduring long lasting decor. If you follow fad and trend, it will go as quickly as the fad.

This is rather ironic because for the past 10 years, I would try to talk my acquaintances out of making really cool MCM homes into more traditional looking homes, ie the remodeled kitchen the OP is seeing! Now that the MCM is in vogue, everyone wants them whether their house warrants them or not. I have seen some American four squares get the modern treament!

I think the colors of the cabinets are oppressive because it is so uniform and uninteresting. Staining wood has the effect of covering the grains of the wood, which is the natural beauty of the wood, thus completely covering it up and hiding it. The core of the modern architecture is being honest with the materials you use. I would think about stripping the stain and painting them a lighter color or just put a natural finish that does not have that horrid sheen.

You also need a uniform treatment for the floor because all the squares and raised panels of the cabinets are too busy and makes one uneasy to look at them. Getting rid of the cabinets with glass will open up the rooom even more, as others have suggested. I think these changes will help alot without creating MCM transformation. I personally think really cool but busy looking modern furniture with these cabinets will look extremely tacky. The reason slab cabinets work so well with more elaborate modern fixtures and furniture is because they provide a receding background. If you pick modern pieces you have to go for simple clean ones so that the fixgtures recede more and the grains of the wood dominate, if you chose to keep the cabinets.

I wish you the best. I hope your house purchase and remodel goes well.

This really opens a discussion of MCM (which encompasses a lot) and the differences between early modernism and what the modernists were trying to do versus, what became American MCM as it was annexed by the public and vernacular builders.

MCM building in the purest form (like anything in the purest form) is not cheap. The original expressions of MCM included things like full height doors with a minimal stop at the ceiling line. When the development-type builder found that full height doors mean that the ceiling had to be *perfectly* level or the door would scrape, the full height door went by the wayside.

Pure MCM often had no millork or millwork that was flush to the finished walls. Since millwork is meant to cover joints and seams, the perfection of no millwork was dropped for relatively minimal millwork that we call "ranch" or "clamshell" (Which everyone seems to hate, right now).

Same with baseboards. Some early MCM had flush baseboards or a reverse profile at the floorline so the floors seem to "float" of the floor surface. An awesome effect...but really pricey to execute.

Beyond that--Americans have never really embraced modernism. We like the floorplan, but not the details.

So I am looking at a rowhouse from 1968 with a modernist-Empire exterior, a Talavera-tiled entry, Slab cabinets in formica woodgrain with the French Provincial clipped corner routing. (They don't really look any better painted white).
Colonial revival doors, colonial revival trim, slab doors and ranch trim depending upon where and what. Its a real mixed bag, and since it has been a rental since 1980, I would imagine it is pretty much "as built".

It has been mentioned that MCM is expensive to execute and of exceptional workmanship. I'm not sure that the two go hand in hand. Frank Lloyd Wright building were very expensive and required lots of custom workmanship, but they are notoriously leaky things that had poor longevity (didn't some of them have had to be completely re-enforced structurally to keep them from falling down?). Just pointing out that the connection between quality (durability, longevity) and price is not always linear. Expensive is often over-rated, regardless of design style. Sometime's great design stems from economy, and the 50's - though innovative - were not extravagant by a most standards (although developing technology made it seem that way). Surely, there are ways to achieve the MCM "look" without hiring fine woodworkers to custom craft every detail. I think keeping it simple will go a long way towards that end.

This is veering off topic but

One of the issues between early modernism and their sometimes problematic livability and longevity is that the concept outpaced the technology to make it work well.

Frank Lloyd Wright built some notoriously unlivable houses: Fallingwater was not loved by the original builders,and it has sagged because they underestimated the amount of original deflection of the cantilever: they should have built the decks originally canted UP and let them settle into the horizontal... but if rubber membrane roofs had been available in 1930...his buildings probably would not have leaked.

I knew an elderly woman who lived in a 1930s-40s modernist house with early radiant in-floor heat. The pipes ran hot water or cold water, with no antifreeze-- so the pipes corroded and failed, and the design of the house was such that it was Very difficult to install a conventional system...no room for ducts, for example. The idea just outpaced the current technology--and it became a very uncomfortable house.

Be that as it may, most MCM as built is not a pure expression of the form, but a vernacular mixed bag of contemporary and traditional and other elements. I doubt the 1972 ranch had anything as iconic as a SieMatic 6006 kitchen...it probably had the seventies version of the kitchen it has right now.

Go get some retro-looking dishes and put them into the glass cupboards. Spend up to $300 on a light fixture or two that smacks of what you are thinking about. Haul in the colors you like in as many ways as possible and cover the floor with colored rugs. Use colored tablecloths on your kitchen table.

I don't see "Tuscan" here, I see American Traditional. Live in that kitchen. Get used to it. Don't worry about what goes with what--nobody expects a new home owner to have matchy matchy right off the bat. Then, think hard. Meanwhile, take a look at the most "mod" of the new cherry wood kitchens with small pane windows and other more traditional features. Notice how others have attacked the problem of having a more traditional kitchen than their taste seems to crave. You can find a compromise. A renovation is a heck of a big, expensive kitchen to undo if you're already taking out a mortgage.

Or is this really the house for you?

I'm loving this discussion, really fascinating. I don't have much to add as I think you've received great advice here - I would echo florantha and many of the other posters. If you can afford to (space wise) get rid of the uppers that would help quite a bit. Otherwise with appropriate colours, lighting, hardware and flooring I think you could have a really lovely mid-century inspired space. Marmoleum flooring, simple modern hardware, cool mid-century lighting and some mid-century inspired blues, greens and oranges would work wonderfully.

Good luck!

How about a retro laminate countertop, maybe with metal edging?

I think you will have to do something about the glass cabs. You have quite a bit of cabs. Could you do without them?

Oh, I forgot to mention Geo. Kovaks (sp? ) lighting! You can STILL buy new fixtures online by this seminal "modern" company!

In the link below, try P437-077 for a sputnik!

Here is a link that might be useful: Here's one source for Kovaks lighting...

The answer is to not go overboard trying to make it something it isn't. There's Mid-Century Modern, and then there's Mid-Century. The former was a very small subset of the latter. The '50s - '70s were not a monolith of slab-front cabinets and 1" mosaic tile. There was a lot of Colonial, Mediterranean, French Provincial, and Rancho/Country going on. There was no "one" look for the era, so there is no "one" solution to your situation.

First, determine what you might want to spend on the changes. We redid an MCM kitchen recently -- virtually all DIY -- and still spent 13-14K, including appliances. And that was with IKEA cabinets (and spendy quartz countertops). So unless you want to put a good bit of $$ into it, don't count on making big changes.

The next question is -- are the big changes even really appropriate for your house? I don't know that you'd want to do a hard, stark modern in the kitchen if your home is more traditional. The kitchen seems nice and usable in its current form. While I normally wouldn't advocate such a thing, painting the cabinets may serve to let them recede a bit and then your true MCM accessories can take the forefront.

As I see your house, it's much more Scandinavian Modern than Mid-Century modern. You might do better with the patterns and colors of that period (late 60's) than the latter (mid-50's). Think teak Japanese swoop and textures more than angular chrome sputnik. The industrial feel of MCM seems like it would be too harsh for your space.

Grasscloth on the walls to tie in kitchen with hallway might go a long way in giving you the look.

Here's someone who worked with more traditional cherry cabs to get the feel:

Here is a link that might be useful: Postwar Architectural Styles

Thank you, thank you for so many thoughtful posts. This is an international move for us, so I have been travelling to coordinate everything involved - I only had 2 weeks to find something and this house ticks a lot of boxes for us, so I will work with it.

I completely agree with many of you on working with what is there and with the Scandi modern look - as I said in my first post "will try to go with a mix of nature (lots of wood), clean lines, bright colors (fern green, orange, yellow, turquoise), and some funky accents". My mom is Danish and I have inherited Danish modern dining table & chairs, buffet, turquoise pottery, floor lamp, etc. so that is our style in general. Our stuff is pretty modern, but not industrial, more nature-oriented mixed with lots of ethnic art and crafts bought on our travels.

I'm definitely not trying to recreate a period-perfect kitchen or house - as palimpsest accurately guessed, this is a split entry colonial revival ranch so I'm really not sure there is any period-perfect style anyway. But we do like to respect the period features of our homes (most recently an 1882 Victorian and a 1910 Tudor revival, both 4 stories so we are really looking forward to one main level!) (And I really enjoyed reading all the commentary here on period issues.) Nonetheless, Tuscan-looking or even American traditional just isn't us, or the rest of the house, ergo my desire to create a feel in kitchen more in keeping generally with our eclectic stuff and the period of the house.

Even though they are not my taste, there is no way I could take down almost new solid maple (cherry-stained) cabinets, as much as I might love IKEA. Anyone have any experience stripping stain off cabinets like these? I "might" think about that as I would like them better in a lighter wood tone, of course even better with a slab front but too many cabinets to contemplate that. I like the suggestion to take down and store the uppers next to the range and do a big tiled backsplash with a big stainless range hood. I like that idea aesthetically and practically since microwave vents are never powerful enough and uppers near a stovetop always wind up sticky and greasy. Will definitely look for a sleek stainless pull, maybe with a curve. I wonder if it possible to somehow cut off the mullions from the glass-fronted ones??

For the floors, I have loved the look and feel of cork previously so I'm inclined to go with that - it needs something less busy to minimize the busy-ness of the cabinet fronts.

I don't know what to do for the counters? Formica or metal-trimmed aren't what I was contemplating. I think stone or tile will look too "Tuscan"/90s - whatever you want to call it - with the cherry cabinets. Already too much wood cabinet for butcher block. That leaves concrete, stainless or that manufactured quartz that looks quite uniform. Any thoughts?

Thank you for all the links - I loved some of the tile patterns, but am concerned about busy-ness. I haven't had a chance to look at all the lighting links - thinking something clean lined, Scandi looking, not space-age.

I'm also a bit stuck on backsplash and paint color. I love green and will be using it elsewhere in the house, but I have too many memories of dark green with cherry in 90s kitchens. Maybe another shade? I do love yellow and orange, which again will show up elsewhere in the house alot. I guess I am just really hung up on that cherry and what goes with it...

Also, check out the "Leave it to Beaver" kitchen...not the one in the first house...the one in the second house.

It had a built in bottom freezer fridge, slab and glass upper cabinets, field tile backsplash,and a metal rimmed sink.
Below is a link to a pic with the refrigerator...best bet is to watch some episodes for more ideas as full kitchen photos are not easily found on the web.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1834667}}

Don't discount Corian as a possible countertop. The solids, especially, which come in so many colors (including a MC-themed color line, I think) can look very "modern" depending on the edge you pick. It would be my first choice if I were to remodel a kitchen to MCM. I used to have Corian and loved it for it's super-easy clean-up. Light scratches were no big deal--every 2 years or so I had them buffed (pretty inexpensive).

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Zodiaq Wintergreen:{{gwi:1834681}}