Adorable house. Are the cabinets in bad shape or you just want to replace to get more functionality? I'd replace with a similar style, slab front painted white or a pastel. A house of that era may not have had a backsplash, so you could go painted (we did in our 1965 house) or if you do tile, I'd avoid anything too busy.

Looks like no cabinets on the stove/fridge wall? Post a scale drawing here and you'll get some layout ideas. Can't tell what's on the other side of the room.

Love that pink bathroom tile! Same with the cabinet in there, simple, white. That tub is cast iron and probably weighs a ton. If the finish is not good, you could have it re-porcelained.

Would love to see more pics! What does the outside look like?

Thanks crcollins! I actually started a thread specifically on kitchen layout (but not design finishes) a couple weeks ago - here is a link - the thread also contains a full layout of the first floor. [https://www.houzz.com/discussions/preliminary-layout-for-tiny-galley-feedback-welcome-dsvw-vd~5116529[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/preliminary-layout-for-tiny-galley-feedback-welcome-dsvw-vd~5116529)

There are uppers on the stove wall, but no lowers (stove plopped next to fridge, with a little cart in between). On the other side of the kitchen is the dining 'room' - see photo below.

The exterior is very pale peach/pink stucco, with some of the same brick that is on the fireplace surround.

AMS, you've got several different decades going on in the kitchen and bathroom. :)

Banana Suit's kitchen comes to mind after seeing your space.

ETA: It seems like the interior color scheme matches the exterior. But you might not want to continue with that color scheme in your remodel. However, I think the bathroom tile look wonderful and wouldn't change it if this were my house. Condition not withstanding, tho.

I have seen several older homes in my area successfully add a shaker white kitchen which blends well with the rest of the home. If this were my space I would probably do either white shaker or stained wood (because I like stained wood) but add some vintage elements that give a feel of the past, even if not specifically 1948 - but then I love a vintage look. I would probably do an apron front sink - not 1948 but vintage looking in many ways. I would probably do subway tiles even though square tiles were more the thing in 1948 - just sort of doing a new take on some older styles.

Shaker was as out in 1948 as balloon valances are today. Ditto subway tile in 90% of the country. Cabinets from the 30s on were slab, just like the ones that are in the house now, which I'm sure are original. Slab partial overlay was pretty much the thing for many, many years, although full-overlay was around. And yes, the ruffly wooden valance is very typical of the era, too.

Some 40s kitchens:

http://midcenturyhomestyle.com/inside/kitchen/1940s/gallery/index.htm

Do you plan to keep the original cabinets and add to them, or what do you want to do, AMS?

The question to ask yourself is do I want a 1948 kitchen (most do not) or do I want a kitchen that fits a vibe of "older home". Very few people who own old homes want to exactly replicate the kitchen of the era of the home - there is so much more to a kitchen then before.

If you want to do a more exact replica, look at this site:

https://retrorenovation.com/

First what an absolutely charming house.

Secondly, I'm so glad you want to keep the character of the house while still updating. We don't have to decorate or live in a museum, but it's so much better when we can keep the character of the house true to what it is.

My sister has a similar aged house (1943?) and she did a wonderful job on hers. She kept the feel of the age of the house, but updated it. She used shaker cabinets (Shaker cabinets have been available forever), a vintage stove painted red, and soapstone counters. She did a small mosaic pattern in black/white on the floor.

Both her cottage and house reflect the era without being a slave to it.

Another person who's looks I love and I think would work with your house is Alison Kandler.

The best way to start is with idea books of what you like. Then find something that will spark your direction. For my sister it was that red Chambers stove. For me, it was my quartzite. My quartzite was busy and colorful and I based all my house colors off of it.

For someone else it could be a favorite tile, or a rug, or a piece of art or a poster or ??? Use that as a jumping off point to coordinate your house.

How about finding an old fabric or wallpaper pattern and working off of that? Bradbury and Bradbury make wallpaper and fabrics with a nod to the era.

For your kitchen, slab front or shaker would work very well. You could do granite, soapstone, tile or linoleum for the counters. Marmoleum or wood floors or even tile?

Wonderful advice from cpartist!

Thank you everyone! It seems more manageable with this feedback. :)

zmith - forgive my naivete, but is the bathroom that doesn't scream 1948 (I assume it might be later?). Is it bad that I still like it? :) I'm just worried it doesn't 'go' with the rest of the house.

jhmarie - thanks for the links and suggestions. I agree with others that I don't want to live in a replica, I'd rather have a nod to the history of the house. I like the idea of white shaker cabs (while I like wood, it would probably be too dark in the small space).

writersblock - you don't like my inherited window treatments?! ;) You should see the master bedroom (patriotic ruffle valances!). I like flat front cabs but in white I find them kind of boring, so I'll probably do shaker (and probably Ikea - gasp!), but I've got time to noodle.

cpartist - thank you for chiming in, I really appreciate your feedback and have learned a lot from your posts over the last few months (as a lurker!). Thank you for the compliment, and for sharing those photos - your sister's house is lovely! I think that's a perfect blend of modern function and vintage charm. I also, after hearing your recommendations in the past, LOVE Alison Kandler's style and hope to achieve the cheery playful look. I'm considering putting up plain board/batten plate rail in the dining room (white) and then putting an over-the-top colorful wall paper above it...

I did much like cpartist's sister. My house is also a 1948 house and I know what the original cabinets looked like - they are on the wall in my garage, thank to the previous owner who put them there when he did an "upgrade" (I'd have preferred the old!).

I have no desire to live in a retro house that is time-stamped 1948, but anything I do must be compatible. I own lots of 18th century English antiques and my taste is for chintz and linen English prints. So, I have light gray painted Shaker cabinets, with full-inset doors. It is compatible without screaming "1948". I do enough screaming "1943" with my own appearance!

LOL Anglo.

I just thought of another kitchen that to me says it could be 1940's updated[. Avatar Walt's kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/reveal-a-not-white-kitchen-dsvw-vd~4210569) is one I saved because I loved it so much.

The question to ask yourself is do I want a 1948 kitchen (most do not) or do I want a kitchen that fits a vibe of "older home". Very few people who own old homes want to exactly replicate the kitchen of the era of the home

Just so, but you don't want to put a 1915-style kitchen in a 1960s house, for instance. It helps to understand something about what was there originally in order to have a starting point for a compatible new kitchen.

Point well taken writersblock - I do want to avoid putting in something out of place. I would love to have painted cabinets - I like taupe, a gentle green or blue, but those are $$$. It was a modest house when it was built, and I'm going to keep the tradition in that regard. I love the look of white cabs and soapstone, but I thought soapstone reads a couple decades earlier.

For example, I *love* this Alison Kandler kitchen, but wonder if it's too 'fun' for my staid little house; I worry two-tone kitchens are a fad; I worry about resale (though I shouldn't)... so much worrying! ;)

That house is a charmer. I've got a little crush on that arched doorway and that pink tile -- one of my mother's guest bathrooms is painted pinky-peach and 10 years drop off my face every time I go in there. It's magic!

I hope you don't feel like I'm stalking you around the board. It's just that a lot of the questions you're wrestling with, I'm wrestling with as well. I think shaker could fit in the style of your house but, honestly -- like you -- I really like slab cabinets and I think slab is probably what our houses (mine was built in 1949) originally had in place. It's funny because slab, at least in its glossy form, is seen as such a modern choice now. But our houses likely had that look 70-odd years ago.

Hi cs929, I think it's great we're in similar boats and thinking about the same things - it's good to have a partner in crime! I agree slab is neat and clean (on frameless), I just haven't seen too many painted (non natural wood) slab door kitchens that are attractive and would fit in a 1940s house (I've ruled out the high gloss as I think it's too modern). Have you had any luck?

For the record, I *adore* that bathroom vanity. Please keep it!

Hillside house - thanks for the compliment on the vanity! I must say I really don't like it, but I'm intrigued to hear why you like it so much! I wonder if it would look better if I got rid of the oak/hollywood lights mirror....

AMS -- I actually haven't completely ruled out high gloss slab for my kitchen. That said, my house doesn't have any of the architectural features that yours still has; they've been lost along the way. I might not ultimately go in that direction, but I don't think it would look incredibly discordant in my kitchen -- I can understand why you might not want it in yours, however.

I also haven't seen too many painted slab door kitchens that really appeal to me. Like you, I also find myself drawn to wood. I wish that IKEA made the "Ekestad oak" finish available in the U.S., maybe they will some day.

I have pinned a kitchen that uses Semihandmade's wood-look melamine:

https://almostmakesperfect.com/2017/02/28/our-kitchen-the-reveal/

I really like that kitchen.

Also, this is Shaker, but I love the mix of wood, pale gray and chartreuse in this Kokeena kitchen:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51d87f37e4b03b00fe4833d0/51dc9697e4b051ed001bd930/5712addb356fb09118db37be/1460842395942/0101_2_3_5_8.jpg?format=1500w

When I have a completely finalized plan, I probably will investigate the cost of rift sawn white oak as well. Yes, it's pricey I'm sure, but I'll only have 4 base cabinets, one or two upper cabinets, and a tall pantry. Maybe it won't break the bank. We'll have to see.

But enough about me. No, I don't think shaker would be sacrilege at all in your space. There's a lot of attractive directions you can go with your house. I look forward to seeing how it all turns out.

(I think the bathroom vanity is too large, however!)

We had the same cabinets, pulls, faucet, and valence in a 1950s kitchen. The cabinets were in great shape structurally and did not have lead paint, and I personally find them beautiful. We repainted them, added a dishwasher next to the sink, and had a matching 6" spice cabinet made at a local Amish shop to fill the lower cabinet space. In the future we might retrofit soft-close glides on the drawers. Our sink is unfortunately not in front of a window like yours. A pendant light between the valence and window might be nice. Sorry about the lighting in the photo, which was taken at night.

What if your place is a completely blank slate in terms of style - it's just four walls, a floor (concrete slab construction) and ceiling in a high rise multi-unit building built in 1965.

It's not MCM and although many people renovate with what is on trend now, that is no more an homage to the actual architecture - or more accurately lack thereof - than any other style choices.

Wouldn't theoretically anything goes so long as it is the occupant's aesthetic?

Taupe was very sophisticated in 1948, so that would be completely appropriate for both then and now.

Anglophilia. If you are responding to me, I was referring to homes without a particular architectural point of reference aside from which ersatz Tuscan bathrooms are hideous wherever placed putting aside not respecting the genre of turn of the century architecture.

@AMS: good on you to want to keep some of the original feel! I LOVE vintage, and it makes me so sad that for my 1955 home, the previous homeowners knocked all of the original finishes out of my kitchen and bathrooms. :(

I really love the floor tile in your bathroom, and also the tub. I'd keep those, but probably change other things in there. here's an example of a sink, cabinet and light that would belong in there (ignore the green tile, it's insane). picture how cute that photo below would look if the wall tile was white! sometimes you can get sinks like that really cheap at re-stores, and those medicine cabinets can be found anywhere.

or if you must have a countertop in there, I'd go for something with a white marble top and porcelain sink. go a little timeless and plain for those things, and funky with the hardware and lighting, since those are things that can be easily swapped out down the line.

Helen- it might be easier if you start a new "dilemma" for your question:)

My own house was much as you describe - no special architecture unless you think there is something special about harvest gold. I tended to go vintage in my style because I like it and it helped prevent becoming "dated" - it already has gone past dated and into vintage.

no words of wisdom, but there are plenty here already..love your house and your thinking..commenting for now just in order to follow the thread more easily..))

Didn't mean to hijack - just pointing out that not all homes have architectural styles that dictate the interior decor or even suggest a certain style or are worth preserving. Post WW II homes might have been built in 1948 or thereabouts but generally don't even have mediocre architectural interest of the exterior or interior.

I grew up in one of the Brooklyn street car suburbs (not a brownstone or even the Queen Anne homes in Kensington LOL) that was built in 1920 and there was nothing of the exterior or interior that would have been worth preserving - or that suggested a certain interior other than gutting completely for functionality given the huge difference in even modest (non McMansion) lifestyles.

Thanks everyone!

mononhemeter - your kitchen looks great, thank you for sharing! And you're right, it is remarkably similar to mine. I am considering repainting, but the cupboards aren't in great shape, and I think I could get a lot more storage space with frameless cabinets. If I repaint, I think I'd go for a light taupe.

Anglophilia - thanks for the before and after photos. I have alway loved your kitchen, it's elegant and sophisticated - two words I wouldn't use to describe my house (yet), even though our houses were built in the same year. I struggle with how to make something as refined as a light taupe shaker kitchen work with a pink tile bathroom... (which I do want to keep).

B F - thanks for the bathroom suggestion! I do love the look of a sink like that, but I don't find them practical (I like storage!). Your idea of a white marble top is a good one - actually the floor threshold to the bathroom from the hallway is a strip of white marble with grey veining.

Helen - you didn't hijack, that's what these forums are for, to get and provide info! I agree it would be easier to put a consistent style stamp on a room if there were no limitations, I almost wish I was in the position. But I'm also up for the challenge of blending old and new and eager to see how this project turns out!

My parents built a house in 1951. It was a "sorta-Cape" but had a huge 1950's picture window in the LR, with side windows, and zero architectural interest. It was what they could afford, not at all what my mother wanted.

But what she did want was the colored tile and colored bathroom fixtures - she wanted to look "up-to-date" and wanted something different than the rental houses and apt they had lived in for the first 10 years of their marriage.

Thank God she could NOT afford the colored fixtures, but when I see pictures of all the colored tiles from that era, the make me nauseous as at age 8, I knew my mother was making a mistake and using something that would date the house (yes, I was an "only" and a precocious designer at age 8!). Just not a fan, and I can promise you I would NEVER allow it to dictate other things in my house.

My 1948 house at least had some decent moldings - crown in LR and DR, decent baseboards and window trim, though not as nice as the ones in my far less expensive 1938 house in St Louis. But other than that, a cereal box. It's taken me decades to make my peace with this, but over the years, I have. It's not an English cottage. I don't have a country, farmhouse kitchen. I live in a close-in old subdivision in a KY city.

My advice to anyone with such a house, is decorate it to you taste and don't try to desperately find an architectural feature that gives it a "history".

The 1960’s remodel I’m doing doesn’t have the charm of yours, but it has bright tile that I couldn’t afford to gut. I worked with what I had and am happy with the result. I spent many days cleaning the tile and removing and replacing grout and caulk.

Before:

This is a toddler boy’s bathroom. When there are guests, a simple white fabric shower curtain is used. I think a similar white vanity would work in yours. This one is Ikea. Do you know if your tile continues under the vanity?

I love that bbtrix! Especially the floors and the vanity - I think that vanity could suit in my bathroom! I don't know about the tile - I will have to check the next time I am there to pull staples out of the hardwood floors (for the rest of eternity). This post really makes me rethink things... in a good way!

Although I've been all over the place, bbtrix's photos and others' feedback is really helping me narrow down my choices! I'm starting to lean towards a very simple look that could be brightened up with accessories (roman shade, my cookbooks, tea towels)... My thoughts:

1) White shaker-ish cabinets (likely Ikea Grimslov or Bodbyn) with honed black granite (maybe with white streaks), with white backsplash. Something along the lines of this, but not as 'country' (more modern pulls, less country window treatment).

Traditional Boston Kitchen · More Info

2) White shaker with white counters (likely Corian or quartz or something with no variation) and then a statement color backsplash, like this:

Narrow Alley to Open Galley · More Info

or this:

[although with the colored tile option I would probably agonize for years over the right choice and be ABB forever]

Then maybe a simple paneling and fun wall paper in the dining area, like this (just on a much smaller scale!):

Chic Victorian · More Info

Thanks! I initially thought to do blue walls but decided to minimize the color impact and go clean, bright, and classic. Don’t know if you can tell from the before pics but the tile and grout was in very bad shape. I was amazed what elbo grease can accomplish. I tiled the floor myself. It was quite fun.

I think your direction is perfect. I love your choices, especially the green tile. Either counter would be great but will effect your color choices for backsplash. My daughter describes the direction that we’ve been going with her non-descript 60’s faux colonial as industrial farmhouse. I’ve just kept with simple lines and pops of color. My favs are the doors and hardware. We chose a simple Ikea pull in the kitchen. Here’s a few examples.

AMS, I was scrolling through photos trying to find an example of something and saw this photo. I'm not really suggesting this, I guess, but it struck me after reading your thread, maybe because of the A Kandler kitchen you posted. Anyway, hope you enjoy it.

Фрунзенская · More Info

That's beautiful barncatz - right up my alley. It has all my favorite colors - aqua, spring green, and peachy pink. My living room is full of all of these colors right now!! I'm not sure I'm brave enough for color in my cabinets, but I love it every time I see it, so maybe I should reconsider!

Beautiful barncatz. doesn't exactly spell Moscow to me..was very surprized to see it..it looks like it could be anywhere, most likely USA. well what do I know. But great kitchen indeed

AMS..virtually any color you choose..you still need to take it into account. It's still a color. Still a part of the whole. Uness it a wood stain..and also, some of them still will demand this and that.

Say I realized the patterned tile of my dreams would actually give me more choice to choose other colors to go with it..I just can't afford it. But I still think of this direction. For my fireplace. Why do I think if I still can't afford it-lol..I'd love to know myself.

In short. I'm very anxious myself when choosing something semi-permanent. I start anxious. Then one gets back to thing X in his mind..and gets back to thing X..and gets back to it until he understands thing X is right for him and his place.

(that's a very expensive place, this Moscow apartment. When one looks at it closely...)

It's GOOD to be conservative when doing something semi-permanent! Removing it is costly and an unholy mess, and replacing it takes a long time and is very disruptive to ones life. I cannot imagine how people constantly change their kitchens and bathrooms, but I know they do!

AMS, I think you're on the right track - LOVE all your inspiration pictures. They will serve you well. They look fresh and not at all dated, but respectful of your house.

I have a DR with a swinging door and don't know how I'd live without it! I put my now only 1 dog in the kitchen when I go out. She's a clever little thing (as others before her have been!), so I have a turnkey lock on both sides (yes, one must buy TWO of these and then throw out part of one), and there is a gate to the back hall (no room for a door and took it off when we moved in nearly 34 years ago.

When I'm entertaining anyone other than family, the door is on "swing"; when it's family, it's pushed open while serving and clearing, but closed while we're eating. Even though I'm very much a "clean-up as you go" kind of girl, when there is a big crowd it's impossible to not have dirty things showing and I don't want to look at them while I'm eating.

It's good to be conservative(and yes I hate changing stuff that can be left as is lol)..but what reads as conservative in one location, won't read conservative in other location, and vice versa.

It will depend on a house.

And it should depend on a house, or else we're getting the situation when condo on somewhere Maui has suddenly granite and fake stone porcelain look Meditteranean style, exactly as every condo or house in every state built between date x to date y does.

but none of them stand in Mediterranian or even remind Mediterranean whatsoever, being erzatz for what some people thought Mediterranean might feel like.

so it looks very strange in the end. and that what gets it "dated" whatever this word means.

Well it's not like you all don't know my thoughts on the matter, so to cut myself short-AMS I love your plans too:)

Wonderful update bbtrix and so perfect for a young boy. I happen to like that 60's tile. My mother updated her house and kept all the old tile (and even the blue toilet) in the bathrooms. Guess what? It looked just fine with her updates.

AM's I like both your ideas. I personally prefer a colorful backsplash tile to give a white kitchen a bit of oomph and to pull it away from everyone else's white kitchen, but either would work fine. I think you're on the right track.

I'm not sure I'm brave enough for color in my cabinets, but I love it every time I see it, so maybe I should reconsider!

Maybe what you can do is to find a white with a hint of blue in it, so that in "normal" light it looks white, but at certain times of day or in certain lights, it takes on a blue cast. Then do that spring green backsplash and I bet you'll have a real winner!

My cabinets are definitely white, but they also have a very slight green cast to them which works with my green quartzite and green backsplash. Yet anyone looking thinks they read white. Something to think about.

yes I agree wholeheartedly..we assign a certain.. symbol to a color..call it in a certain way. But a color has so many shades, and also it changes with the light. Thus even neutral like white that everyone agrees on-it'll still be a very considered choice, in the end. Because in your kitchen, in your light, it'll behave differently. Sometimes it'll be a tad different several times a day

(that's what I like about my cabinets' color. I can't pinpoint the color actually. I call it warm greige..yet can be oatmeal, verging on taupe, greenish off white, gleaming almost white when one looks at it lighted from outside in the dark, simpler gray when no light at all lol..it always eludes me somehow, the color, and I like it-I like when things are seemingly under my control but never fully so. It means they're alive to a degree, even if they're just kitchen cabinets)) The trick is still to love the color in most of its reincarnations.

I'd love to know what color you chose, cpartist and aprilneverends. I know that white is supposed to be the "timeless" choice but, I had a neighbor who remodeled his kitchen with white cabs, counters, floors, walls, and new lighting, and it looked like a surgical suite. Not the look I'm going for!

Love cp's suggestion.

cs929, (AMS hope I'm not taking too much space with my posts! color discussion can lead me to that), the color is actually was mixed for some unknown to me designer for her clients in Malibu or something. Our cabinetmaker prepared 4 samples for us-any colors I wanted-I chose Elephant's Breath, Revere Pewter, all the warm grays I could think of. They all looked just great when they were laying gorizontally on some surface. The moment I turned them vertically-as they'd be installed vertically, right?-they all became too cold. They became grays. And I wanted color verging on taupe, very warm color. So the cabinermaker, seeing as I desperately look at them and finding them all wrong, told me he has some other grayish samples in his store. (He holds on to every sample in his shop, in case clients want to touch up/repaint same color)

I found what, another ten doors? I asked permission to take them all home to look at them more. Permission was granted. I spent ten days dragging doors around and looking at them in different lights..)) My MIL who lived at the time with us looked at me like I'm a madwoman. Anyway. Only one color worked, out of all shebang. Only one was what I envisioned. And it didn't have a name since it was custom. So I called it after myself. It's varnish of course, lacquer-they have different formulas from paint, I mean they're made differently. We color matched it in regular paint store because I loved it so much, and it's become the color of our master bedroom as well. And there it somehow gets to be warmer, more brownish. I bet because of the different light. It's more moody too because not varnish anymore..it's more matte and deep plainly because of the different nature of material it's applied to.

Many months after that I ordered a mirror painted in Kingsport Gray by Benjamin Moore(paint on papier mache applied to metal). And I thought to myself: hmm..that's pretty damn close..))