Our Retro Kitchen Hardware to Complete Our Retro 50’s Kitchen

"Fancy" 5 cent pulls (only 2 of those)

OK, so it took me some time to find the kitchen drawer and cabinet hardware that I wanted, but I did find it. I wanted something chrome-like and 50’s dinner or 30’s streamline moderne. In the basement, there were some built-ins with the coolest pulls. I wanted something like that. The items offered at Lowe’s were either Scandinavian modern or country kitchen. Not what I wanted. Here’s what I wanted and how I got it:

Our kitchen. Don't judge me on the mess. No dishwasher 😦

Hickory Hardware "The American Diner" knob, reproduction

For the cabinets we purchased from Van Dyke’s Restorers “The American Diner Knob” in Chrome. We paid less than $2.50 for each. I don’t know if Van Dyke’s is carrying the chrome knob anymore. We of course ordered many of them and needed one more. Van Dyke’s was sold out. We found our last one on Amazon for more money. The American diner knob is manufactured by Hickory Hardware. So if you are looking for this style of knob, search for places that sell Hickory Hardware. Total cost for us: $21.50 plus shipping (including Amazon knob). I think shipping was like $9 (ordered some other things). And I had to buy that lonesome knob from Amazon for like $4.50.

OK, now to the drawers. I wanted something that matched the built-ins in the basement. We looked and looked. We were about to order The Deco Drawer Pull from Rejuvenation in Polished Chrome. This beautiful pull retails for $16 each. Ouch, we’d have to buy 13 of them. But, I was sick of looking and I wanted to open and use my drawers. By chance that afternoon I went to our local Habitat for Humanity thrift store. I found the pulls picture here for 5¢ each! OK, so they aren’t as jazzy as the Deco Drawer Pull. But, they are so cheap, in awesome condition, and are original. I picked up more than I needed (in case I didn’t notice rust or needed to replace a few). I even got a set that was very fancy. I used these on the cabinets under the sink. It pays to thrift! Now looking at all of them up. I think I like these better than The Deco Drawer Pull because they are simple. The kitchen has

5 cents kitchen "plain" retro pulls

more of a pink/aqua 50’s vibe and the ones that we have “fit” better. Total cost for us: 65¢

We were fortunate enough to have these hinges already on the bottom cabinets. They cleaned up nicely. They aren’t perfect but I’m not going for perfect. I’m also going for cheap. Total cost to us: $0

Our total on kitchen hardware: under $30 (including shipping) for 20 drawers and doors. We didn’t have to buy screws for the vintage hardware. We already had that lying around.

Guide to Retro Hardware:

Looking for retro hardware or retro looking hardware? Look at dealers such as Van Dyke’s Restorers. Do not overlook their clearance page. It has awesome deals! Who knows? Maybe what you want is on sale or you can settle for something similar. If you know you like a reproduction knob/pull. Find out who the manufacturer is and search for them on-line. Find the best deal that way. Love the ease of Internet shopping! If you’re not on a budget search at places like Rejuvenation or Anthropologie.Don’t forget about salvage yards, thrift stores, and even antique stores. Sometimes you can find a great deal like we did. By thrifting we saved over $205! If you choose to go the thrift route be prepared to look and look. Keep a list of the number of knobs/pulls that you need and their dimensions on your phone or in your wallet. And if your going cheap, don’t forget to mix and match. It can look really great and polished. Check out kitchens in design magazines. They usually use up to 5 different knob/pull designs in a large kitchen. I need to add that sometimes salvage yards will make “trades”. Have a 40’s sink you switched out for something else? Trade it for hardware. (I’d call before hauling a sink around). Also check out vendors on Etsy. Etsy has options that fit into the no budget range and the budget range. It’s worth checking out.

*I’m not the best at pictures. Excuse my crummy quality. Photographing small chrome things is not easy. Also, this is a living and working kitchen. Excuse my crummy mess. I don’t have the mad skills to Photoshop the dirty dishes out 🙂

Original hinges

-Victoria

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Will Our Retro Kitchen Ever Be Finished?

Our unfinished kitchen

I think it is only appropriate to show such a “moody” picture of the kitchen. This is how this kitchen makes me feel. I feel we made many gains quickly and then it stayed in this shape for 4 months. If you need a refresher, I’ll give you one. All of our cabinets and drawers were covered with blue faux fur, think Cookie Monster here, underneath the custom van complex addition, there were layers and layers of paint. This included an adorable mint green with the cutest vintage rose decals ever, too bad that couldn’t be. I think David spent 3 months just removing layers and layers of paint off of the cabinets/drawers. Oh, and Trappy’s Pepper Sauce (rehab homes are not easy may I remind you). Months later and we are still waiting for the fresh coat of white paint to dry on two doors. It then took me a couple of months to find the perfect vintage hardware (not seen in this pic). I did find the perfect hardware and that is a post soon to come. David redid the floor with eco-friendly (I couldn’t resist) and vintage fabulous marmoleum, the white tiles have been salvaged. We ordered the black. The original floor was a wreck, once again, a post in waiting. We did keep the original fixtures. I adore my faucet and my light fixtures and my shallow, long sink. I worked with my pink with gold flake counter top. I do love that as well and would get it new if I could. The walls are painted a ’57 Chevy teal or a milkier Fender Strat in Taos Turquoise, of course not seen in my moody pic.

It’s not the best picture. But, this hasn’t been a picture perfect renovation. It is going to take some time to get there with us both working full-time. I just thought I would share some of the progress we’ve made and to also complain a little about how I live. At least we have a stove and fridge. We lived off of a George Foreman and a mini fridge for many, many months. I guess I shouldn’t complain that one can see my spice collection, tea library, and bare white dishes. There used to be a dead muppet on the doors in there and a wigs worth of crazy bachelor’s hair. Oh, and I forgot the shagadelic, mod felt faces wallpaper!!!

-Victoria

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