And built-in backsplash! No, the kitchen isn't that big. Here's photos showing the more of the kitchen with the other windows. Again, please ignore the rest of the kitchen and the mess.

South-facing: (view obscured due to moisture in thermo-pane which will be replaced)

East-facing:

Oh yay! Those are super neat!

I can't wait to see your finished kitchen..I bet you can't either:) I think it will have a lot of soul.

Makes a unique detail in the kitchen - cool.

very cool!!

Wow!!! I love them

How exciting!

Cool!!!

Excellent!

I love glass block, and that's an especially NICE place for it!

Can't believe anyone would cover that up! As a kid who grew up in the '50s I have a soft spot for glass block, so I used glass block in two bathrooms in our house.

That's great funkycamper! I think these are the first pics I've seen of your renovation in progress. I'm really looking forward to the reveal.

Funky - you're now responsible for a new GW acronym to counter all the ABBs: NBB! :)

(Cannot believe those glass blocks were ever covered.)

Oh that's awesome! Isn't it a good feeling to see progress. :-))))

Oh, fun! Love restoring original details.

Thanks, Everybody.

When my parents bought this house in 1971, I was 13 and begged my mom to not cover up the glass blocks. She obviously didn't listen. I've been waiting for years to Free the Glass!

She was intent on making a mid-century house very traditional. Thank goodness most of what havoc she wrought is salvageable.

What's interesting is how much light is still coming through them even though the sun has set. All the prisms in the glass block really magnify the light. There's more light coming in them right now than there is from the picture windows. Odd but cool. I'm thinking of asking DH to install an outdoor light turned toward the blocks for at night.

I think they are such a cool feature, and I'm so glad you uncovered them. They'll be a great element in your kitchen, and more light is a nice bonus!

Great idea to have the outside lighting. It will sort of be like under cab lighting or cool mood lighting at night. Omg, that is just so cool!

Ok, I better not show my husband or he will want it. He loves glass block and I'm still ABB remember?

Btw, javiwa, what is NBB?

Such a unique detail. Can't wait to see the process unfold!

Those look awesome. Too bad you couldn't convince your mom that glass blocks were traditional ;)
It looks like you have some very nice views out your windows as well.

What a cool story and cool feature. :) I too like the idea of night lighting. And I echo fishcow, loving the views from your windows. How exciting!

very cool

rebunky: Nothing But Backsplash. Or maybe SWB: Starting With Backsplash!

So you are taking back your house. Well done. The kitchen be all the more interesting for having the original house feature.

Love the blocks and that looks like a heck of a view, moisture or not!

Thanks goodness they were only covered and not damaged or destroyed. Those are such a uniquely cool feature!

How fun! As someone who put in a backsplash window recently, it's always fun to see someone else who is doing something similar. The fact that yours are original and glass block - and that you grew up with them - makes them even better!

I saw a house for sale sign when I was leaving my hair cut yesterday and took a quick detour to peek. Turns out, it's a small 1954 house build with a curved wall of glass block. It seems so strange to see a house like this in Alaska, but here it is. It looks like it just left California, to me. I tried to include a pic, just for fun, but I can't.

So glad to see there are other glass block lovers here. I wish they were used more often.

It IS fun taking back the house and bringing back the original features. We've also peeled off ugly vinyl to reveal the near pristine original linoleum in kitchen, laundry and bathroom, as well as removed carpeting to reveal more linoleum in other rooms. And chipped the plaster off of the wood (quality plywood) walls. I almost feel like the house is thanking us.

Here's what the blocks look like from outside.

One of the best things about getting these revealed as it has lit a bit of a fire under DH because he liked them a lot more than he thought he would. While his time to work on this project is still limited and I know it will take awhile to completion, he is working on some electrical issues that need to be done today without me nudging him. :) Yay!

We have glass blocks in our basement and garage along the top of the walls to bring in extra light and this wall of glass blocks in the bathroom as well. Glad Mom didn't cover up or destroy these:

Another "bring back original features" we've pulled off. When the folks put in the new kitchen (ugly 70's Mediterranean, yuck!). My dad moved the original kitchen cabinets into a basement workshop. Most are way too scarred up to re-use except this one which we have made into a beverage/snack center in our laundry/pantry room:

I love the original pull-out shelves that still work great:

And the huge pull-out breadboard if we need extra counter space for some reason:

It doesn't show up very well in these photos but the counter top is the same linoleum as on the floor.

Thanks for sharing my excitement! Most who aren't TKO's don't get it. :)

I can just feel your excitement through your posts! So pleased to see you making progress!

Are you leaving the old linoleum on the kitchen floor? From this angle, it looks almost like what was in my sister's bedroom when I was growing up.

What a great recovery! As you said, built-in backsplash and more light!

Yes, Nancyjwb. And the matching linoleum in laundry/pantry. And the different linoleum in main bath, hall, and front bedroom that we're now using as a den. And, yeah, it's very exciting!

those are soooo cool! Glad you are letting them see the light again!

So cool! Nicely done. Are there more treasures lurking?

Hey, those are truly cool, and they are such a nice large size! Good for you for appreciating and saving them. I would love that natural light on my countertops, too. How fun!

Oh, I'm sure there is. (Just realized I wrote another novel below. Oops, probably more than you wanted to know, nosoccermom.)

I wish I remembered better what the house looked like before my mom got a hold of it. All the remodeling was done prior to us moving in and I was 13 and really didn't pay that close of attention. I was peeved about moving away from my neighborhood buddies so I spent as little time up there as possible before we moved in. Dad is gone, mom has Alzheimer's, and my sister is 9 years older and already out on her own so she never lived there or was around too much during that time (at college). So we just need to dig and see what we find.

Most rooms were plastered. Just a few areas escaped it due to my dad's refusal to plaster everything. I'm so glad he saved what he could. The hall (blonde birch) and front bedroom/den (I don't know what it is but it has an interesting grain), and the entry and one wall of living room which were blonde birch but stained walnut. Would rather have the blonde but it looks nice darker and will provide some contrast to the dining room/kitchen when it's done. We have taken it off the plaster in the kitchen/dining area but, unfortunately, the beautiful blonde birch is too destroyed to refinish. So we are going to put up new blonde birch walls there.

I'm really curious to get to the main bath where the walls are covered in laminate!! Ugly trying to mimic marble laminate. Again, what was she thinking??? Hoping there are tiles hidden underneath. But that will come after we have finished and recovered from the kitchen/dining/laundry/pantry areas. And I want an attached pergola added to the patio area so we have a portion under cover first, too.

It's never-ending, isn't it? :)

@mudhouse - Yes, they're 12" square. I think the 6"and 8" square are a lot more common. I didn't realize they were that big until revealed. I never measured them when they were just on the outside. I love how big and bold they are!

LOL, funky -- I've already spent time asking myself "what were you THINKING?!", regarding choices we made for our new home 24 years ago. I'm giving your mom a pass on this one. ;)

True dat javiwa! As I'm remembering falling for the geese in the kitchen decor in the 80's, lol.

The thing that is sad is the home is in a great location (quiet, dead-end, nice views) and the nearby homes are all similar era and have been nicely maintained. And my mom loved the views but that was it because the house was never grand enough for her. I remember her bugging my dad about adding big moldings and such but he refused. She never got the house or that these homes are meant to be sleek and humble. By humble I don't mean inferior quality materials but, rather, just not being ostentatious. My mom was always a bit too into that, IYKWIM. (And I do love fancy moldings, just not in an MCM house!)

I should take some photos of some of the ostentatious and outlandish light fixtures in this house! They make me shudder. :)

Now, now, funky -- if we're gonna be talking down 80s era, let's get it straight: mauve backsplash (check!); mauvish foyer and fireplace surround to match (check!); mauve and cornflower blue wallpaper (check!) -- geese? C'mon...gotta draw the line somewhere! :)

Awww...makes me sad to know your mom didn't get to have her envisioned grand home. I remember growing up, my mom really wanted to have flowers planted all around. But given they were perennials, my dad thought bedding flowers a waste of money...so, we grew up with hardy shrubs everywhere. :) It wasn't til I was a teenager that I discovered (and introduced my mom) to seed packets!!!!!!!!! Surely, for $0.50 (or whatever they cost back then), Dad would not complain...and he didn't. That first year, we had marigolds everywhere...and I remember how happy that made Mom. Her yards have been busting with flowers ever since.

LOL...I escaped the mauve trend and all the geese found new homes via Goodwill a long time ago except for one. DH is super-attached to the dang goose cookie jar! One of the joys of creating a snack center in the pantry/laundry room is that cookies are a snack and the goose no longer lives in my kitchen! :)

How wonderful you were able to help you mom get her flowers. So cool. I bet her yards are gorgeous.

Oh, no need to feel sorry for my mom. To make a long tale as short as possible, she was never satisfied with anything. I really think the fancy moldings are the only thing my dad ever denied her. She never worked outside the home after my sister was born. She was showered with minks, diamonds, fine crystal, and traveled to over 50 countries across all continents save Antarctica. Yet she complained about everything my dad did for her and bought her. The fur wasn't the right kind. The diamonds weren't the right cut. The crystal wasn't big enough. The food on the trips often wasn't "up to par". She hurt his feelings over all this so much that when I got my license, my dad told me that I was now the shopper for her gifts. He had given up.. All of us knew to always save the receipts for any gift we ever got her so she could exchange or return. So, yeah, sad tale but for reasons different than I'm guessing you imagined. I never understood her.

Observing all that taught me to be quite the opposite. Even if I don't like something anyone has given me, especially DH, no one will never know it. I wear or display it proudly. I know it's given with love and that's what matters to me.

Funky - they look great! Glad you remembered their existence!

OK, no pity, but still a shame your mom never found that true happy...not for lack of trying on your family's part.

Know when I discovered those seed packets? Yup -- when I got my license and ventured forth in the family station wagon....woo-hooo!!!!!!!! With my mom being ever as frugal as my dad, though, she took a single rosebush that I gave her decades ago and has been propagating new plants out of cuttings all this time. She maxed out at about 20-25, and all the extras have gone to appreciative friends.

@a2gemini, well, I had a little help. One of the above-photos is of the outside of the house. They were only covered up inside. So that was a big hint, lol.

@javiwa, I know! Oh, she did appreciate some things. I may have painted her a bit worse than she was. There was always a but. It was nice but....

Too funny. Driving let you help your mom and me help my dad. Sounds like she has a real green thumb, too. You gave her joy and she spread it around. Lovely.

The glass blocks look great!

so cool funkycamper! love it!

What a wonderful discovery! I'll never be redoing my kitchen again, but if I were, I'd see if I could work in the glass block. I have no view to lose and the insulation would be great.

Ack! I'm late to the glass block party, but wanted to say good for you for working to restore your house to its former glory! You've been such a HUUUUUUUGE help to so many people around here (including me!) and it's really awesome to see glimpses of your own project =D

Finally, HOLY COW... those suckas let in a TON of light!

I'm late to this thread too but love, love, love glass blocks. I once saw a picture were homeowner had glassblocks for backsplash and I saved it in my decorating ideas file. I would do that in a NY minute were it not for the fact that my outer wall is brick and we don't want to mess with that. But I would add glassblock backsplash and/or make a bigger window by sink, even it I had to sacrifice upper cabinet space on either side.

As to remodels of yesteryear, I always wonder if whoever owns my house after me will ever say: "what was this woman thinking???" What is hot today, will be tomorrow's C#a%. And I think I have decent taste, but you never know....

Only 45 years? What's the rush?

michey1st, that's so kind of you to say. I try to help but I'm definitely not one of the gurus here. Just a seriously TKO'd amateur. The blocks do let in a lot of light and the prisms magnify it.

vossner, I love glass blocks, too. I have a much bigger wall of them in my main bath that is also very-cool. And, yeah, I decided that I don't care if anyone thinks "what was this woman thinking?"....not in 20 years or today. I'm an old crone and I simply please myself. :)