PS yes match the dishwasher to the stove..the stove is a selling point, I agree

The kitchen functions (except dishwasher) so I am okay keeping it as is for me. So any updates would mostly be for future buyers.

Then I'll do these updates close to to the date when I'm ready to sell

(except for the dishwasher you need now)

Now everybody is about painting kitchens white; but who knows what will be cool in 5 years. Maybe stained cabinets will be cool. I won't be surprised. Same about countertop, tiles, etc.

Also depends where you live. And what is the style of your place. Where I live-many people(ok some people like me)) like old houses, preferably before 1930 lol. And these are very hard to come by, and are extremely expensive.

(Also 2 by 4's were 4 by 6's then or something))

I would agree with others to keep the stove! It's lovely for those of us that love old homes. And, I put all white appliances into my Craftsman style home because I don't like the look of stainless in an old house. I also don't like granite in an old house unless it's the leathered kind. I want my house to look like the period it came from and too new and shiny doesn't work for me.

As for that tile, is it plastic tile or ceramic? My former old house was re-done in the 70's and the 4x4 tile was plastic. I put a degreaser on the ones next to the stove to clean them and they fell off the wall! I had to redo the entire kitchen, but this time I did ceramic. Really cleaned up the place and made the kitchen look much brighter and cleaner. If you remove the tile, you'll have many different options to make the kitchen look brighter and more appealing. And you can match it to the wallpaper if you really want to keep that.

A nice can of white paint on the cabinets and trim, new knobs and even a new dishwasher, will go a long way to making that kitchen look good. Most of the work you can do yourself. I purchased a barely used Bosch dishwasher off Craigslist for $100. It was white, and because everyone else was upgrading to stainless, I got a $1000 appliance for super cheap. It's been installed now over 5 years and still works like a dream. You might also be able to find a vent hood to match your white appliances this way.

The corner with the fridge looks really cluttered. I'm not sure if you could move the fridge closer to the wall (plugs, perhaps?), and then put in a nice kitchen island/cart or RTA tall cabinet that would both hold your microwave and provide more storage and not look as disjointed as the two tables that are there. For me, that corner where the fridge was is always the toughest part to design in the old house kitchen! Of course when you get ready to sell, taking all the kids drawings and things off the fridge so it doesn't look so cluttered would help open that space up as well.

Overall it looks like a nice sized kitchen and pretty functional. It wouldn't take much to make it look great!

If you remove the tile, I'm worried you'll open a can of worms. Because: see the cabinets next to the sink? The uppers? They are tiled. Now, why would they do that, unless the cabinets are so damaged by the heat and moisture from the sink, and they couldn't/wouldn't replace them?

Anything you do will show up the ceiling, which is really pretty odd. So yes, just wait until you are ready to sell, then take down the wallpaper and paint. (though, in 5 years we may be in full 70s country decor again and the mushrooms will be a big hit).

It needs a thorough cleaning and decluttering, and yes, the cabinets should be sanded and refinished.

Keep: counters, range, floor tiles

Replace: ceiling tiles with drywall - must be done; dishwasher with a white one that matches the range; the tiled ends on either side of the upper cabinets where they meet the sink, replace them with wood and relocate the light switch; the refrigerator with a retro one like the Big Chill below (again, white); wall paper with paint.

What Eam said. If the pulls can be cleaned they don't need to be replaced. If the kitchen is clean, you can probably get away with the same fridge. I don't think you'd make your money back on the expense. Unless it's a pricey vintage look model, a new white fridge is probably not a lot better in a buyers mind than an older one.

Also, if you do refinish the cabinets, replace the vinyl base molding with wood finished to match the cabinets.

Oh I love that Big Chill refrigerator!

(I wonder though..do ceiling tiles like these usually contain asbestos? I honestly have no idea. I'm just a-person-traumatized-by-asbestos-abatement..))

A Big Chill fridge would look great with the stove, but Big Chill's are not for the budget minded. Its probably not worth the expense in this kitchen. The main thing you need to do is freshen up the kitchen, definitely the clutter should go. Everything should be fresh and clean, and painting will do that. I do think painting the cabinets white is a good idea, if anything in cabinetry can be called timeless, it is white cabinets. Vintage or modern, white cabinets are classic, bright and clean and most people seem to like them. Most potential buyers will not like the wallpaper, even wallpaper lovers have their own particular taste and odds are, it will be something different that what you have. It is not fun stripping paper, patching and/or replacing wallboard but it would make a huge difference IMO.

The range and fridge are bisque colored. Would you still paint the cabinets white with bisque appliances?

The corner by the fridge is a bit odd because the old furnace fireplace runs right through there so there is a ~2X2 protrusion into the kitchen. We have a kitchen cart there now with the microwave on it because that is the only thing I could find that fit that space.

The cabinets themselves are actually metal. The doors are wood.

There is a lot of updating you can do to remain true to the vintage character of your home; I would not keep disliked vintage features just because they are vintage. To me, your stove is "cool"; I would try to refresh or replace other elements of the kitchen based on what I could afford and the benefit I gained from living in the home and using that kitchen for 2-5 years. Only you can decide the cost vs benefit/pleasure issue. Much could be DIY if you have skills or are willing to work and learn.

Are the ceiling tiles tight to the ceiling above them? People with high ceilings used to drop ceilings for "energy efficiency" so, hopefully, you will discover space above the ceiling tiles.

I would remove drop ceiling, wall tiles, and wallpaper; then repair walls or replace drywall as needed and paint. This can all be DIY with research and practice.

The cabs look like veneered plywood. My dad has cabs like this which cabinet makers used to size to the height of the homemaker. Since my mom was five feet tall, the height of the cabs are awful for me to work at. Are your cabs a standard 35" or 36" high? My dad's cabs looked horrible from grease build-up and burning wood. I cleaned them, and they look better, but the finish is still worn and lifted in spots. Be careful what you clean with. Shellac was a common finish back-in-the-day, many degreasers and cleaning products damage shellaced finishes ( guess how I learned this). I found the safest way to clean a shellaced finish was a solution of Dawn dish soap and water, then drying the surface when finished.

Like my dad's kitchen, it does not look like you have a lot of cabs. Have you looked at the cost of IKEA maple cabs? I am trying to convince my dad to replace his worn and damaged cabs with IKEA cabs since he will not consider repainting them. If you buy when they are on sale, the price may be "right" considering the time that you would save by not cleaning, prepping, painting cabs and the value added to your resale price. Are the upper portions of cabs sliding doors? If yes, I am not sure how paint would hold up on those so painting might not be a good solution. If IKEA cabs are not in the budget, clean cabs, remove tile from the cab sides, replace exposed cab sides with new pieces if needed, and then decide what to do about the finish. A really light sanding ( light, light, light if veneered) might remove enough finish for restaining and poly-coating; gel-staining or painting might be possible options if there are no sliding doors. Replacing Formica, cleaning or replacing hardware, tiling backsplash if you want to, and replacing the floor with sheet vynil or LVT are all possible to do without spending a lot of money.

Where do you stand to load the dishwasher in this kitchen? I would seriously consider replacing cabs or reconfiguring them to eliminate the current sink dishwasher issue.

Do you have a rehab store or Craigslist that you can haunt for used appliances, cabinets, materials?

It will be important to get a plan so you do not throw money away. For example, replacing the flooring and then deciding that you want to replace the cabs would be counter-productive. Good luck!

Yes to figuring out if you can remove the ceiling.

Yes, to a good but careful cleaning of the cabinets. I had similar cabinets (veneered plywood) that had a gazillion little black cracks in the veneer in the lower cabinets, so sanding and refinishing was a bust. I actually took a door to a wood working shop and got their advice. Other than reveneering, the only option was painting.

So in the end, I just gel stained the lowers.

First, I wouldn't paint the cabinets until I figure out-in my mind I mean-all the other surfaces. Second, I wouldn't paint them white with bisque appliances and existing color scheme, that's for sure. It doesn't matter how classic the color is-it needs to relate to all other colors in the space. "Classic" also changes depending on location etc. Whatever here is "Tuscan" trend that passed-looks classic in real Tuscany) )and i also imagine it looks a bit different there..))

Having said that- there are hundreds of shades of white-and something in the muddier, warmer, creamy realm, or almost taupe, or maybe off-white, or...(insert your own) might work, and might work very nicely. But it needs to be given a thought, the same thought you'd give new cabinets.

Again, before painting(or refinishing with different stain, in short, changing the color)-I'd decide what I do, what I remove, what stays, what goes.

Can you gel stain the upper cabs so they match each other? I would not paint them.

I'd change the tile to something simple & classic, remove the wallpaper and paint the walls.

The boomerang CT's compliment the vintage stove, so I would keep them.

Maybe use the blue-green color in the boomerang as a basis for the wall paint color.

Good luck, love vintage kitchens!

Unfortunately we don't have a habitat restore in the area and craiglist is pretty depressing.

As for the dishwasher, to load it I stand at the top of the open dishwasher door at an angle and load from the sink. Without completely redoing the lower cabinets I don't think there is a way to move the dishwasher.

Thanks for all the advice and great ideas. I really do appreciate it. I've been working in my mind on the kitchen for years.

The upper-upper cabinets are sliders but they freak me out a bit so there is nothing in there. I suppose if we painted them they wouldn't scratch for me because we wouldn't use them. ;)

And don't worry, before we list the house in 2-5 years there will be an extra good deep clean and de-cluttering!

A few of you have mentioned gel stains. What is the difference between that and regular stain?

lol! Those do look like my mushrooms!

We just used gel stain to refresh worn finish on some cabinets (I must say that while our handyman did an impressive job, two-left-handed me wasn't as great at the task))-the regular stain penetrates the wood..gel stain penetrates but not as deep..not that it stays strictly on the surface, but is more cosmetic treatment than the regular stain. In right hands, it does quite an impressive job though. Big improvement. You can change color with it too by the way.

The range and fridge are bisque colored. Would you still paint the cabinets white with bisque appliances?

If you're keeping the fridge and stove, then match the stove color. Otherwise, if all you're keeping is the stove, then yes, paint white.

Range is bisque. Fridge is bisque. Dishwasher is bisque. Sink is white. Floor is bisque-ish.

Ok, as I think about it. I think the tile is the most challenging and dating aspect of the kitchen (besides the wallpaper). If we were able to remove the tile, or at least the tile from the walls opposite the cabinets then we might be able to make the other parts work.

I dont know where you are but around here all of the things you're talking about replacing are selling points. Originality and/ or rooms that are all of one era and not mix and match in older houses is highly sought after and stainless appliances and granite counters are frowned upon due to the expense of having to have them torn out and having counters retiled again. I recommend you look for a realtor that deals in older/ historic homes and speak with them about marketing it as a "time capsule home."

Rust belt home in the Northeast so features like this aren't that unique. From my experience, people around here tend to like cookie cutter. I would like to retain some of the charm but also be able to sell the house in a few years.

Ah, the rust belt, where I was born and raised and where I now live, once again. In my experience people want something that looks pretty.

Yellow and brown aren't my favorite combo. You actually can paint your brown tiles another color, white, perhaps, but don't even think about replacing all that tile. Your kitchen is yellow and brown. Work with it. Just fix the ceiling.

Ok, so the plan might be:

• Remove ceiling.
• Remove wallpaper. Paint complementary neutral color to whatever color scheme ends up being.
• Keep yellow tile, paint brown tile white/off-white color (complementary to color scheme.
• Clean/de-crud pulls/knobs.
• Decide about painting/gel staining cabinets.
• New flooring and replace vinyl trim/kickplates.
• Decide about countertops.

Sassy,

I like your plan. I add a declutter and be creative about filling spaces that aren't already filled (e.g. ikea piece?). I'm not sold on white paint for your kitchen. I would look at a lot of pics of similar kitchens and see color combos your like that have a fresher feel. I think keeping true to the style while updating is key.I personally like the yellow tile and yellow countertops / appliances and would go with those as a starting point for paint color. We were not on a tight budget (hence the Lacanche) but here's our refresh of our old kitchen. Yours will be more dramatic because the fresh coat of paint on ours (same color) doesn't really show on the pictures but in person it's make a world of difference. Good luck!

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2868992/vintage-kitchen-reveal-1950ish-galley-with-french-accents?n=26

huruta, your kitchen is wonderful, thank you for linking it

agree with everything you say about the paint color

The whole pebbled glass bathroomey window bothers me a whole lot more than most of the brown and yellow kitchen. I'd look at replacing or disguising that in a major way. Try for eliminating most of the brown, keeping a lot of the yellow, and upping the white factor. A white and yellow kitchen with a few accent textiles and accessories in cobalt blue is cheerful and classic.

@huruta your kitchen is beautiful. I like the navy accents. Thanks for the inspiration.

@Sophie Wheeler I think you are seeing the reflection of trees in the window. It is actually just a window with normal glass and the screen. I like the idea of a white and yellow kitchen with blue accents. Thanks!

I would only paint the brown tile as a last ditch effort.

Some kitchens with "weird" vintage tile color combos, incl yellow/brown.

http://hanburyhouse.com/colorful-inspiration-for-the-laundry-room-counter-top/

As far as gel stain, it sits more on the surface, like a paint, but it requires minimal sanding, if at all.

Check out General Finish, incl their gallery (they also have a milk paint that's supposed to work really well).

Be aware that if you remove the tile from all the walls, you are likely to end up drywalling. That era of tiling was usually done with thick-set mortar, and while the tiles themselves will come off, the mortar won't. One of our house's previous owners found this out the hard way, and paneled over the bumpy mortar.

Also, it looks like the finish was sanded off the uppers. Is the wood bare?

You might enjoy this blog about vintage home décor:

http://retrorenovation.com/2013/01/07/1958-sears-kitchen-cabinets-and-more-32-page-catalog/

I would add (eventually) removing the tile from the sides of the cabinet to your to do list.

Don't don't feel bad about not having a ReStore. Ours prices at 50% of new. Or so they claim. I find things in there prices at more than HD.

Love that range and love what I can see of the rest of your home. The kitchen's cabs don't go with what I see in the rest of your house - slab fronts are modern not Foursquare - but if replacing them with isn't in the budget, then painting them or refacing them is the way to go, especially if they are still in good shape and work well.

Given the age of the home, there may be wood floors below the vinyl that could be uncovered and refinished to match the floors in the rest of the house. In my area, no matter the age of the home, wood floors in kitchens are a selling point. Plus, I think the brown tile looks good with the wood floor just outside the kitchen.

I found a few more inspiration pics for you.

Creamy white cabs, bisque appliances, wood floors.

Daniel · More Info

Daniel · More Info

Bisque appliances and cabs, wood floors, yellow walls:

Garden Home - Susan McGee Deisgner · More Info

These are white appliances, not bisque but the cabs are cream not white so it's the same color scheme so hopefully helpful. Plus it's a vintage kitchen with a vintage range. Drawers are slab front, doors are inset panel.

1920's Historic Kitchen · More Info

Here's another vintage kitchen with white appliances & cream cabs and yellow walls.

Retro Kitchen · More Info

Vintage white range with cream, slab door cabs.

1940's Shabby Chic Beach Bungalow Kitchen · More Info

Hit photo limit, more to come in next post.

Not sure if the appliances and cabs are bisque/cream or if everything is
white and the lighting makes it looks creamy but here's another vintage
kitchen with vintage range, slab front drawers and inset cab doors.

Traditional Kitchen · More Info

More to come soon as I can find a cute cream & white vintage kitchen that I had saved to my ideabooks at one time but foolishly deleted. =)

That one is actually just incandescent lighting messing with the white balance. Corrected:

Thanks, writersblock!

@lisa_a Thanks for the inspiration photos. I do like how fresh and clean those bisque/white kitchens look. I would love it if there were wood floors under the vinyl. I think it looks much nicer when the wood flows throughout the house. But I must admit, the vinyl has been nice for art projects with a 3 yo!

Went to the Big Box today to check out appliances. They didn't have any bisque in stock so I couldn't see the color/finish so that made me panic. Now I'm thinking that a bisque dw and fridge are the best idea.

Do you think I could make the "slate" colored appliances work in my kitchen?

Because our fridge is stand-alone it is a focal point in the kitchen. I'm concerned that a hulking bisque appliance might turn off some buyers.

Only if you change everything to slate-and frankly, I wouldn't do that. a) I don't see them working so great in your place-very new put between the vintage..no coherence, imo...b) I think slate colored appliances look nice, but their potential to work in most of kitchens is fairly limited, and in that sense-I don't think they're better than any other color out there, including white, bisque, black, you name it. I'm not a fan of stainless steel-but I think their popularity steams from them being the most neutral of all..easier to work with, in terms of color and all.

Having said that-the life expectancy of most appliances nowadays is so limited, I wouldn't be majorly swayed by any, unless they are either very up my alley (like your stove that can charm many buyers..something different, yes?) or very high end, and I'm a great cook or something(and I'm not))

I think the cabinets should work for a long, long time, since installed. Appliances will almost inevitably need to be changed much earlier. It wasn't always like that, but I think that's what we observe lately.

I do happen to have rather great Dacor and Bosch in my current (soon to be left behind) kitchen, but they are old, and good brands, and I must say-we still had to change the microwave. It was the best microwave I saw-but it broke nevertheless:)

By the way they are all black (except for the fridge-the previous owners took theirs, so we bought a Frigidaire in stainless steel-only black, slate, or stainless steel seem to work with black)-and I dislike black for appliances. It really didn't influence me in my decision to purchase this home. Actually I wasn't a fan of anything in the kitchen lol-but the layout was great and functional, and it didn't seem out of place stylistically or otherwise. All that to say-it's really hard for me personally to put myself in the shoes of the buyer who'll make his decision based on a fridge. Especially when a fridge is not considered "attached", as here in CA-many sellers take them anyway unless they don't need them, or want new, or it has this built in look.

I have seen some bisque or cream fridges, but I forget where exactly. A big store also. Maybe couple different big stores. You can look them up on the internet-and see who carries them and have these in stock etc.

Here..these are bisque or cream..the prices vary

https://www.google.com/search?q=bisque+colored+appliances&oq=bisque+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j69i59j0l4.5374j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#q=bisque+colored+appliances&tbm=shop

Just to add-I like how my new kitchen looks..but in terms of layout-it will be significantly worse than the old one. We put it in ourselves since we had to gut the place anyway...but we had to work within a very limited space, and I think we did the best under the circumstances. Maybe if we majorly changed all the plumbing there-but we had the whole house-taken-down-to the studs to take care of..and even then, the improvement would be pretty marginal. So I'd say-the layout is the most important of all the factors..and the hardest to change as well. Probably easier financially if you remodel the kitchen, and kitchen only...yet still.

Ah..(sorry I'm too talkative..)..check your local Craigslist maybe too? People get rid of stuff..and sometimes of new stuff as well-when remodeling for example. The prices are generally pretty good, so you never know. Tons of fridges on our Craigslist..true, I never payed attention to their finish that much..

I know though we bought a new bisque fridge, a smaller one, and pretty modest, for my MIL rental. My DH bought it-have no idea where. Can ask him. But it doesn't look impressive or charming like your stove. It's very basic. Well the whole kitchen is super basic. It's a tiny one bedroom. The location is great though, very central, walking distance to everything, nice parks around-so 1600 per month lol. And you have to do the laundry in the laundromat.

What about getting a cute vintage-look fridge in any colour you can find that would work, along with an integrated dishwasher from IKEA with the slab door painted to match the rest of your cupboards? The bisque appliances sold at big box stores are all sort of a bummer, and I think your stove is adorable and would be brought down a notch when paired with them.

Nice suggestion softpunk. Not all of the bisque appliances sold in big box stores are a bummer-but the ones that are not are going to cost, that's very true.

Bisque went out about 2000. Only very limited lower ends models are even available in bisque. Some makers do not even offer it. Or, it's available at the upper end market from companies like Viking. Which you don't want.

Stainless blends everything to match because it's reflective of it's surroundings.

I like bisque, its a warm alternative to white or SS. But it is becoming scarce, maybe with all the white cabinets today, bisque doesn't work with that so nobody is buying that color. Check with big box stores, and Sears, some models can be ordered in bisque, and it shouldn't cost much more than a comparable white or black model. The problem is not cost, its the limited selection of styles in bisque.

FWIW, Smeg offers a cream fridge for around $2K, but it's not very big.

Depending on what you chose with the rest of the kitchen, I wonder if the GE Artistry fridge in black wouldn't blend the the bisque stove since it has so much black and stainless in it as well.

It is apparently no longer being manufactured, but some online vendors still have it listed for sale. It is much cheaper than Smeg or Big Chill. I thought this series was really cute, and I'm sad that it was so short lived.

At first I chuckled (2000 fridge?) but took me, like, couple min to reconsider)) Buy a SMEG, leave it there, and don't change anything else lol. Like it goes in "Thumbelina": “Here is a barleycorn of a different kind to those which grow in the farmer’s fields, and which the chickens eat;
put it into a flower­pot, and see what will happen"