Awesome! Are they in good condition?

There are several articles on painting steel cabinets on RetroRenovation.

If they have rust, you may need to have them sand/media blasted or otherwise repaired.

Unless you are a very good DIY'er, you might want to talk to some painting pros, though the only lady on Retrorenovation had a hard time finding someone to work on them.

That is so cool!

How about an auto body shop? I have heard people have had their appliances and metal cabinet doors painted that way. I have no idea of the costs involved, but I imagine that paint would be very durable.

My friend took hers to an auto body shop and after they were done, her cabinets looked like they were built yesterday! They looked amazing! Needs to be sprayed for sure.

Hello, Thank you for your help - the Lady on RetroRenovation, is very interesting, with her beautiful Aquamarine Cabinets!
And you are probably right about taking the Steel Cabinets to an Auto Body Shop to be painted! Hope we can afford this?
Just wondered, what Color did your friend paint their steel cabinets?
We are thinking about a blue color, we may want to have the Mid-Century Aqua colors but we also like the country french blue colors, have you seen pictures of the blue LaComue range - are we brave enough for that blue color!
We will be using the gas range that is already there, it is black and stainless, rather new model, not in the budget to replace it! We will need a new Dishwasher, stainless steel, I guess - probably cannot afford to paint it to match cabinets, any suggestions for best one that is pretty affordable?
The kitchen already has an original, 13" long Stainless Steel counter top with very nice Stainless double sinks, built in! This is in excellent condition and we hope to keep this counter and sinks, of course.
Wonder, if there are any advantages to restoring the Steel cabinets and do you think that it may be better to use the money to replace them with wood cabinets? If we did replace them, do you have any thoughts on the style for an 80 year old, burgundy brick, Georgian two story house! Thank You for all of your ideas, Rose

I would love to see pix! I did my best to fink a metal sink cab for our reno but never found one close to home. I love the look!

I vote for keeping, at least until I see pix.

I agree that spraying them would probably work the best, but just in case you decide to tackle them yourself I've included a link to a blog where a gal did a beautiful DIY finish on a piece of furniture.
I plan on trying this with my old bedroom dressers/drawers.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Nice paint finish!

I had mine painted on site. They used a sprayer. That was 10 years ago, and the finish has held up well.

Roseofblue, you must post some pics!

Here is also another story from Retrorenovation. The results are spectacular.

Here is a link that might be useful: refurbishing metal cabinets and adding vintage backsplash

Hello, We have added the Vintage Steel Cabinets, Picture that has been requested! Please look in the Kitchen photo gallery - do not know how to link it to this forum, any help is appreciated! Thank you all for your continued ideas, Rose

Hello, We have added the Vintage Steel Cabinets, Picture that has been requested! Please look in the Kitchen photo gallery - do not know how to link it to this forum, any help is appreciated! Thank you all for your continued ideas, Rose

I'm impressed with you wanting to keep this kitchen. Few realize the value you have. I volunteer at Restore (Habitat) and just this month we have had two vintage metal kitchens come in. It is amazing how great the condition was. I questioned if they were ever used.

One was from the Maytag Mansion near me, yes the true Maytag guy. I bought one base cabinet with 5 stainless storage units inside. Just to have a piece of this unique set and a bit of history retained. The rest of the kitchens were bought separated by 3 different people. So I didn't feel bad grabbing the one piece.

There are many sites with historical information about these and restoration. Enjoy a long life with them.

Hello, Thank you for your encouragement - HERE is a Link that I hope will take you to SEE our "OLD" Steel Cabinets and the metal tiles above the Stainless Steel/Double Sink, countertop: Roseofblue's kitchen
We have another request on Kitchen Forum for advice on what to do with the Old metal tiles on the sink wall AND the Old plastic tiles on the other two walls! Someone suggested that we cut them out of the drywall. But our walls are Plaster, the house is 80 years old! We are concerned about damaging the plaster, so we need help to remove them. Has anyone ever tackled this project? Of course, we need to find a way to paint the Vintage Cabinets in the house or try to take them off of the plaster walls! Any Ideas on a Color to Paint the Steel Cabinets and another Color for the Walls? The ceramic tile floors are a neutral beige made to look like Limestone, like you often see, these days.
I mention these Old wall tiles, here because, do you think that Painting over the Old Plastic Tiles, takes away from the value & the look of the Vintage Steel Cabinets? Thank you all for your ideas, please let me know if the Picture Link does not work. Rose

Gsciencechick - Just had to comment on your kitchen. I love love love it. I am doing slab front white cabs to approximate the look, but you have the real deal!
I think I will do a new search to at least get the sink cab like those!

--Hello, We have added the Vintage Steel Cabinets, Picture that has been requested! Please look in the Kitchen photo gallery - do not know how to link it to this forum, any help is appreciated! Thank you all for your continued ideas, Rose--

Could you go to that page, copy the URL and post the URL here? I want to see. I grew up with the steel single sink base with double drain boards. Hated that thing! Now......wish I had it.

And I know where in Iowa there is a steel sink/base needing some work. Contact me through my page here for details. I also know where there is a blue refrigerator. I guess it's more turquoise. And there's something else there, too, that I can't remember just now. Plenty of nice Formica tables, too. Things are small town priced. If you are really into retro renovation, you could afford to shop and ship.

Saw two claw foot tubs at the Habitat store a month ago. I did not buy one for "someday". I wanted to. REALLY wanted to.

Here is the link to Roseofblue's cabinets. Really awesome!

Here is a link that might be useful: roseofblue's metal kitchen cabinets

roseofblue, your cabinets look to be in pretty good shape. Congrats on getting a great kitchen! I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.

Wow! Those do look to be in perfect condition. Lucky you!

OH MY, Thank you all for your encouragement, we are still trying to decide if our Steel Cabinets will look best if they stay a white color OR do you Vote to change these to a new color!! If you vote to change them, ANY ideas for another color? And then what color for the Walls of the Kitchen? The ceramic tile floors are a neutral beige made to look like Limestone, like you often see, these days.
Does Anyone know someone that has vintage Steel Cabinets in their Kitchen - ANY Pictures? Thanks again, Rose

How much time do you want to spend looking ;-)
After you spend a few hours at retro renovations, go to google images and look around.

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-us&biw=1472&bih=670&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=white+steel+kitchen+cabinets&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

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

I like the look of the white for the cabinets. Your sink and counters look amazing!

Hmm, maybe a nice light or sagey green on the walls? That would match well with the beige tiles.

I would stay away from blue with the beige tiles. We have blue ceramic tiles on the floor and any type of countertop with brown/beige with it did not look good. Wound up with blue pearl granite with white cabinets and paneling painted white (had been previously painted, so no natural knotty pine).

Wow! I love the vintage steel cabinets! My first apartment had turquoise steel cabinets with stainless steel countertops and I loved it. I love your white cabinets and while you probably can't go wrong with any color, I think they look fantastic as they are now.

Also look into having them "powder coated" - they remove all the old stuff with an abrasive blast, then use electrical charges to get an even coat of paint, and then kiln-bake the paint.

But Auto body shops should do a great job, and I can't wait to see your candy-apple red cabinets :)

CANDY RED Steel Cabinets, Oh My !! I really needed a good laugh - still grinning! Our realtor just suggested the Red color on the day that our contract was accepted - this buying and selling of our house has been a real experience, in these times - roller coaster of negotiating on both ends! Our nerves are shredded but we remain steadfast - maybe this is the reason that we just cannot decide what to do with our new, OLD Cabinets!! We need a VACATION on an Italian Beach, maybe we would see something there that might inspire us? We love the tropical, warm breezes and all of the colors that feel so relaxing! Candy Red cabinets might be nice for a visit but we need a more tranquil space, I think!
Turquoise is my favorite color of blue but then I like most all of the cheerful blue shades! What if the Old cabinets were painted a light shade of Turquoise and then the walls, one or two shades darker. Perhaps the hues of the Sea will look good with the sandy tones in the ceramic tile floor! Our current house has most every wall painted a medium hue of Sea Blue with softer shades of complimentary blue in some smaller rooms and two rooms being a warmer sunny shade! May sound like a bit much but we have never grown tired of these seaside colors in all of these years!
So if we use some - Turquoise hues in the new kitchen - what accent colors do you see? Maybe a bit of the Red or perhaps some Coral or even some warmer Peach? Is this why some of you have a decorator? Most of my friends ask me to help them with design but these Metal Cabinets have just been an unexpected challenge and we know that we will only want to paint these ONCE! Very tempting to sell them and order our favorite Cherry Wood Cabinets!!
And we still have to figure out how to remove the old plastic wall tiles in the Kitchen or else we will be painting over them just like they did before! The new house is 80 years old, with plaster walls and lots of wall paper to be taken down, also!!
We did order the new Bosch Dishwasher, today - have an Asko but DH wanted to try the Bosch, hope this works well for
us. Like to have a new Frig. with the freezer on the bottom, we have that now with our Sub Zero and it is wonderful, will miss it! ANY suggestions for a more affordable, SS Frig, counter depth and not too tall - because in the new Old Kitchen there are vintage, wooden pantry cabinets built into one corner of Kitchen and around the Frig. Just wonder, should these wood pantry cabinets be the same paint as the metal cabinets, or the darker Turquoise like the walls or re-paint them white!
ALL of your Ideas are so very Welcome! Rose

I realize you wanted ideas for a bottom freezer refrigerator, but what about something vintage styled to go with your steel cabinets? They even have a cheerful "beach blue".

Big Chill Fridges