No Pattern Required

By RetroRuth

Well, hello there readers!  Not expecting me today, were you??  Well, I BEGGED Sablemable to give me a shot at this week’s WYBMN because I stumbled on a honey of a gem of a fun find. 

A Lustron home for sale in in Hays, Kansas! This gorgeous pre-fab home is ultra-mid-century modern, if that is even a term, which I am pretty sure it is now.

This cute baby is for sale by Steve.  It has two bedrooms, one bathroom and he is asking $85,000.  The fun site he created for the home is here, and you should check it out.  Not only does he have more pics of the house, but information on the Lustron line and some sweet vintage pictures. And I couldn’t resist posting a few of the more adorable bits here on this site.

A little bit of background on this one.  The Lustron homes were created by Carl Strandlund, a Swedish-born designer living in the US.  His vision was to create a mass-produced house made entirely of steel.  The Lustron homes were produced in Ohio from 1948-1951, when the company went bankrupt.  Only 2,500 homes were produced by the company, which makes this fun home even more unique. 

The house was described in a 2008 exhibit of the history of pre-fabricated homes in the US  in MOMA:

[The home] consisted of a concrete foundation and steel skeleton frame topped by trusses. All internal divisions are pre-fabricated modular units that double as shelving, cabinetry, closets, dressers and vanities, and the exterior is clad in porcelain-enameled steel panels.  The entire house was designed to pack flat for arrival on a Lustron truck. Assembly took approximately eight days with half-dozen workers.

So, after that fun intro, here is Steve’s house.  And his ultra-awesome collection of mid-century furniture and accents. Great job, Steve!

Close-up of the exterior.

The living room.  Notice the metal walls!

The dining room.  That view kills me, and I adore the light.

You know I love a cute kitchen!

Master bedroom.

A vanity to die for.

Guest room.

Another view of the guest room, so we can appreciate the coolness of the linens and the hotness of that Thermos collection. Love it.

So, anyone decided to move to Hays yet??? Be sure to check out Steve’s site for more pictures and a ton more information on Lustron.  Thanks, Steve!!

I know that redirecting your traffic is a big no-no in blogger world, but for those of you who haven’t read it yet, go over to Retro Renovation and check out Pam’s fantastic and ultra-detailed post on vintage metal kitchen cabinets, you will be glad you did!!!

Our 1956 Steel Geneva Cabinets

By the way, in her article Pam recommends VCT tile on the floor for a 1950′s kitchen.  If you haven’t seen pictures of our kitchen before, here it is before the VCT tile:

And here it is after!

Pretty big difference, huh????

I know.  Because I’ve got it.

So, I found myself excited for spring the other day.  Not because I am sick of snow and not because I am looking forward to gardening. I was thinking I was looking forward to spring because then I could start running outside again.  And running outside means that I would be able to peep into my neighbor’s houses, trying to catch a glimpse of their kitchen cabinets.

I am a sick, sick woman.

So, too keep my voyeurism in check, I had to resort to looking for vintage kitchen’s on Craigslist.  It lets me keep warm while I peep, and I don’t leave any pesky tracks in the snow.

Here is a great white Geneva metal kitchen in Madison, Wisconsin.  Wipe the drool off your face!  I know mine is covered. And I think that might be a Flair oven, too!

Here is a great deal in downtown Fort Wayne, IN.  A whole metal kitchen for $50!  Okay. Catch your breath. Whew. There is wallpaper on the front of the metal cabinets, but it looks vintage so it might be a plus and not a minus.

A set of green Youngstown cabinets in Bloomington, IN.  Awesome. Even comes with the white enamel sink!

A white metal set in Lakeview, IL with some interesting handles.  These are another great deal at only $100! Love the wall oven. God.

A pretty pink stand alone cabinet from Egan, MN.  Love the handles on this one!

Here is a “beige” set from Hyattsville in the D.C. area.  It says beige, but they sure look pink to me!  A pretty set, I like them a lot. 

They also have this dreamy green set as well!

If you have the cash, 5 grand that is, here is a GORGEOUS set of terra cotta St. Charles cabs for your very own.  The St. Louis owner says they are in mint condition!

And, a cute beige, actual beige, set of Youngstown cabs in Baltimore.  This kitchen also has an album if you want to see more pics!

Wow!  That’s a lot of cabinets. I feel better already. More…calm.

Feel free to share any links or email me pictures of metal cabinets if you have ‘em to help me get through the long winter. Oh, and don’t forget to visit Pam’s metal cabinet forum if you are seriously in the market for some blue steel beauties!

So, I was digging through all of pamphlets and instructional manuals the former owner of our house had left behind for us and looking for the directions on how to operate the record player in the basement.  Seriously. I remember using a record player when I was little, but the model that is hooked up in the basement goes far beyond a simple record player. 

In any case, not only did I find the instructions for the record player, but a ton of other interesting instruction manuals as well. Including the original installation instructions that came with our blue Geneva kitchen cabinets.  I need to do a bunch of scanning before I upload the others, but here is the cabinet instructions. Enjoy!

I put this link up in Twitter yesterday, but it is so cool that it deserves another mention.

Sable sent me this great ad from Craigslist in Denver for an entire turquoise Geneva kitchen WITH built-in appliances.

Ack.

Look at this kitchen-aid dishwasher!  The thing is, I have a Kichen-Aid dishwasher in my blue Geneva kitchen too, but the blue part is on the INSIDE rather than the outside!  Bizarre, huh?

But this would be so very, very sweet in my kitchen!

But it doesn’t hold a candle to this feature:

What, it just looks like a row of cabinets, right?  Nothing special here.

Wrong!  It is a built-in fridge and freezer that just LOOK like upper cabinets!

Holy cow! And if I am not mistaken, I think that I glimpsed some of the wood-faced metal cabinets as well. You know, the ones that Pam just did a post about!?!

Wow. What a find, Sable! I hope someone can snap these babies up!

God, I love Craigslist!  It is great to have a free site so that people don’t feel like their wasting money listing the old stuff from the back of their garage.  Then others can buy that old stuff and turn it into the focal point of their mid-century home. And everyone is happy.

Ahhhh….I love the smell of commerce in the morning!

The first bit of eye candy today is a great 1940′s sink with drainboard for $100 in Traverse City.

Anyone need a small table for their kitchen?  Here is a 36 inch pink and gray swirled formica table on hairpin legs with metal edging.  Uhhh….super cute. Also in Traverse City.

Here is a mini vintage kitchen table with a gray formica top that has fold-down sides. Comes with two white chairs, which I think are adorable.

A 1946 white Standard bathroom sink with all the accessories, including the metal legs.  According to the add, there is issues with plumbing in the sink, but for $50 it would be worth it just for the legs!

Of course, the required pink toilet and sink for sale in Gladwin.  $50!

Super sweet kitchen table set in Porter, only $109. Love, love, love those chairs!

Ok, enough for now.  Stay tuned for more great Michigan finds!

"New" Vintage Red Metal Chairs

Ugh, I hate getting sick.  And worse than me getting sick is when Tom is sick.  Poor guy.  He got a nasty cold that has been going around and has been home sick for two days. Which is good because he needs to recover, but is also bad because he is messing up my social life!

Just kidding, Hubs.

Sara from AZ,  who is on a fantastic road trip to get some vintage pink kitchen cabinets, was in Michigan on Monday and was going to stop by for a Mid-Century Menu luncheon.  Unfortunately, we had to scrap that plan because Hubs was home from work, and I didn’t want Sara and her mom to get sick for their trip home.  But I still had a great time giving  Sara a quick tour of the house, and I hope she and her husband come back soon for another, longer visit!

Raindrops on the Red Chairs

I also had to scrap plans for craft club tomorrow night.  Even though Tom will probably go into work, I don’t want to risk it in case he doesn’t.  Besides, there are a couple girls in the group who have little kids, and I didn’t want them to be exposed to more germs than they need to be. 

So, Hubs and I are home today hanging out. Time to play some Yahtzee, watch some movies and have fun.  I am going to make the Mid-Century Menu tonight, and then probably some chocolate chip cookies as a treat for my sicky. 

Oh, and the pictures are of the new red metal chairs we got recently from our friend, Karen.  Karen is possibly the greatest real estate agent ever, and we have become friends even after the purchase of our house was all said and done.  Since Karen and her husband are selling their lake home to downsize, she has been trying to pack up some stuff and get rid of other stuff.  When I went to a get together at her house the other weekend, she had these two great metal chairs downstairs on her porch.  I, of course, squealed and asked her where she got them.  She said she had purchased them a few years ago from a rummage sale for $5 each, and painted them with this great red paint. 

It turned out that Karen didn’t want to have to move the chairs, which are very heavy, so she gave them to me!  Pretty nice, huh?  I was really excited.  Thanks again, Karen!

Well, I am off to make some tea for Hubs! Come back tomorrow for a great Mid-Century Menu!

Just a quick post from Tom’s computer while mine is still in the shop.  A super cool (pun intended) selection of vintage ice buckets!

This great gray bucket is from patcheyeboxer, and is really cool glittery plastic.  Love the color!

This sweet bucket is a giant owl! From seller TheLovely’s and truly a unique bucket. 

From seller austinmodern, a fabulous teak ice bucket.  Love that color!

I discovered an entire treasure trove of post-war metal awnings this weekend in Bay City.  Tom and I were driving through unfamiliar territory looking for an estate auction when we came upon a couple blocks of some of the cutest, most colorful metal awnings I have ever seen.  Of course, I had to snap a bunch of pictures since Pam just did a post about them on Retro Renovation.  And what better place to photograph all of these great awnings than in the town that was home to the Aladdin Company, who produced kit homes for many years.  There are so many adorable period neighborhoods in Bay City, the architecture there is almost as fun as the shopping!

In any case, I took about 35 pics of vintage awnings, which I have uploaded to Flickr.  Take a look at the slideshow and enjoy a great Monday!