Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Suddenly, it's 1956! The Dining Room



This shot shows the built-in room divider in between the living room and dining room. The divider is not original, but is from an original 1954 design out of a home interior magazine from that year. I drew it up and had it made and installed while I was renovating the place.

Another shot looking at room divider and into dining room.

Yeah, I know...vertical blinds. The thing is I can't find the right drapes I want to put there, so they are going to have to do for the time being, I guess.  :(

Floor is green and light gray checker linoleum tiles. They were trimmed to the original 9x9 sixe squares to stay period correct. I definitely did not want to do the stereotyped 50's malt shop, black and white checkered squares that so many mistaken as being the true 50's. Give me a break!

 Looking at dining room from kitchen. The table and chairs are all original. The only thing I had redone on them is the chrome. Other than that, it has the original mother-of-pearl (a.k.a. crushed ice) formica top and vinyl on the chairs. You can see on the room divider that there are doors on this side of it for cabinet storage.

 The hutch, again, was my godmother's and was purchased in 1956 from McMann Furniture in Ontario, California. When I received it from her it was orange from cigarette smoke residue. It took a couple hours to really clean it up. It's not perfect, but it still rocks!

Another shot of the hutch showing it's contents...vintage 1950's glassware.


This fiberglass planter used to be turquoise, but it was too faded and stained, so I painted it a light yellow to still keep with the color scheme of that time.

I snagged this off of Ebay a year ago. The thing screams atomic!

The retractable flying saucer lamp was another Ebay find. It still has it original brass finish. All I did is have it rewired to be safe.

21 comments:

  1. Everything looks FANTASTIC!! I want to have dinner in that room tonight and just look at everything!!!

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  2. Absolute perfection! You'd never know that the room divider isn't original to the room. It's awesome.

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  3. Hey Zootsuitmama...if your cooking dinner, you are more than welcomed to eat in that room. LOL!

    Eartha, thanks for your comments. I wanted to make sure that the divider looked like it was here originally, and now you confirmed that. ;)

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  4. This is amazing, practically my dream kitchen, I'm SO very jealous!

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  5. Really a great looking arrangement, I love everything, and you did a great job with that divider, it looks like it was always there.

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  6. hi, just stumbled upon your blog. Love the 50's..we have a 50's military vehicle which we exhibit at shows..we don't do it as full on as you though even though i'd like to! x

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  7. @Atomic Chic...please don't feel that you never can acomplish a kitchen like this. I'd much rather have a bigger one, but it's just for one, right now. ;)

    @Uncle Atom...thanks for the compliments! My plan was to make the divider looked as if it always belonged there. I guess I should have just said nothing. LOL!

    @Claire...yeah, I've always wanted it to look like you've just walked back to the past. This is proof that things from the 50's are still stylish and useful, today. Just have an imagination and do your homework on the style and furniture of that era before going for it.

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  8. Your place looks FABULOUS! I absolutely love 50s home decor. I really like all the teal/turquoise you have. I have a lot of it around my place, too, as well as pink. Who says those of us that are struggling teachers can't have fun places to live with great furniture!

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  9. Haha, I didn't realize it would post a long stream of letters and numbers as my name. Sorry about that!
    Jana :)

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  10. Thanks for the comments, Jana. Do you have a blog or photos of your place?

    Darin

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  11. What a capital F-abulous home! I love everything you've done. It's obvious the planning that has gone into creating such an authentic 1950's pad. Can't wait to read and see more.

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  12. I don't have a blog :( But, I could email some pictures to you if you would like.

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  13. I love your reproduction room divider. It's very aesthetically pleasing. We added some to our house also, but did planter walls with a circle cut out design riser.
    http://frankiezwife.blogspot.com/2010/03/kitschy-corners-2.html

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  14. Wow! You have an awesome home! Love the stacked sideboard/bookcase combo in the dining area.

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  15. are u kidding me...this is 50's heaven..i could so do with the hutch..are they two separate pieces?

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  16. Thanks, Sudah. Yes, the hutch does come in two pieces. I'll be posting pics of my newly painted and cleaned 1953 GE combination frige and freezer. Keep an eye out! Thanks, again for looking.

    Starduster58

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  17. Love, love, love this!!! Fantastic job! Can't wait to see your fridge!

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  18. Good Post.
    Glass Offices
    Thanks the list is really helpful

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  19. Gorgeous!!! Can you decorate mine now ;-)
    I bought a 1941 house a few months ago. I have the flying saucer light in my breakfast nook- does yours go up and down? I also have the original or possibly 50's/60's heavy blinds with now disintegrating cotton cord. I want to remove them but can't find drapes or curtains I like either. Sigh....new stuff is so PLAIN.
    Anyway love your house and hope you' ll share tutorials of how you made the lamp basesand frames

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  20. Your color choices are fantastic! everything looks so sharp and 1950's spectacular!

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  21. I have been looking high and low for that exact pull down saucer light. My grandparents had that one in their dining room. Any chance that you would be willing to sell it? Thank you for sharing the pics.

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