[barga14]

Hi everyone

I'm from England but now based in Tuscany, Italy and I am obsessing about a retro 50s kitchen, black and white floor tiles, baby blue SMEG fridge etc.

I really wanted some baby blue cabinets - abstrakt but pale blue and shiny - the applad blue grey is too pale for me and not shiny (they are still available here in Italy).

I love the abstrakt shiny red however - could I combine pale blue and shiny red and my black and white floor tiles - any ideas please? I have lots of 50s accessories - all in baby blue, silver, red etc.

Thanks
Julie

[DesignDiva]

Hi julie and welcome! Glad you're here!

That's too funny that you're in Tuscany and want an American 50s kitchen...here all the rage is Tuscan kitchens!

Here in the US, most 50s kitchens had metal cabinets, so I think one of the colored slab-front (applad, abstrakt) would be your best option. You'll certainly have a unique look!

I think red and white Abstrakt would be great with your look. Red base cabinets and white uppers, I'd say, would be super and very 50s. I think baby blue as an accent to the red/white/black would be fine, as would yellow or mint green.

The Applad blue-gray has been discontinued in the US.

[mid century madam]

Do you get that TV show "How Not To Decorate". There are two Irish guys who renovate whole houses somewhere in the British Isles. They are always doing bold kitchens. They had a high gloss red one which was gorgeous! I remember thinking that the use of bold color works well in a small space. They have also done kitchens in high gloss white, with wood counters (seems very popular in Europe right now), and then painted the walls in bright red. Might be a safer way to experiment.

I love the ikea red kitchen. If you have a big kitchen, maybe you could use it on an island? If your kitchen is small, maybe you should go for it! You can change the doors later if you get tired of them - that's the benefit of ikea!
One final comment - if you do a kitchen as bold as the red abstrakt, I wouldn't do the black and white floor tile. If you really want the black and white on the floor, it will be the focal point - so you may want to think about where you want the focus - the floor or the cabinets.

[barga14]

Thanks so much for your support!

Yes, it is strange that Tuscan kitchens are all the range in the US and here in Italy the high-gloss simple ultra modern look is all the range. There are some beautiful kitchens here in Italy but they are sooooo expensive!

I have a Tuscan kitchen in the basement of our house and there's a mediterranean feel down there but upstairs the feel is more contemporary so I'd thought I'd go for the 50s retro look.

I've decided on the red ABSTRAKT. Our nearest store is about an hour's drive in Florence and every time we go there I stroke the red abstrakt kitchen on display there - the other customers must think I'm mad.

Thanks for all your help

Julie


That's too funny that you're in Tuscany and want an American 50s kitchen...here all the rage is Tuscan kitchens!

Here in the US, most 50s kitchens had metal cabinets, so I think one of the colored slab-front (applad, abstrakt) would be your best option. You'll certainly have a unique look!

I think red and white Abstrakt would be great with your look. Red base cabinets and white uppers, I'd say, would be super and very 50s. I think baby blue as an accent to the red/white/black would be fine, as would yellow or mint green.

The Applad blue-gray has been discontinued in the US.[/quote]

[barga14]

Hi!


Yes, I know the series "How Not To Decorate".

I found the red kitchen makeover you mentioned on the programme's Web site. - looked great.


Yes, high-gloss kitchens are all the range here, very simple lines and uncluttered!

I don't thing I will be able to cope with the uncluttered look but high gloss looks great.

I'm going to go for the IKEA red kitchen after all. The colour is beautiful and it's good to be bold and of course I can change the doors later - I hadn't thought of that!

Good point about the floor, too.

Thanks
Julie

[cinamax]

Hi. What kind of countertop color goes well with High Gloss Red ? The doors look great but what goes on top ?

*Edit - are those 21 " red doors? What door handles are those?

[johnmari]

Originally Posted by cinamax

Hi. What kind of countertop color goes well with High Gloss Red ? The doors look great but what goes on top ?

I think the silvery-metal-looking ones (or real stainless if you want to deal with the scratches, smudges, fingerprints, and all that, but my preference would be for the laminates for practicality!) would look smashing, as would white-white or something in the black/gray range. I think a salt-and-pepper granite-y pattern (in real granites, that would be something like Caledonia, Stanstead Gray, etc.) would be great and more practical than the solid and near-solid blacks which show every speck of dust and water spot. Slate might be an interesting textural contrast. Mandysbaba's kitchen in the Finished Kitchens Blog has the high gloss red combined with madura gold and verniz tropical granites along with pale birch, which looks nice too although I'm just enough of a child of the 80s to have a weakness for black, white, and fire-engine red (or cobalt blue).

Mari

[nigel-bigel]

How can anyone plan a 50s kitchen without using this on their counters- with the metal edge banding, of course...

http://www.formica.com/publish/site/...6942.0001.html

barga, my mom had a red and turquoise kitchen in the late 50s (before my time...). She still speaks of it fondly!

[DesignDiva]

I have just three words for you:

BOOMERANG
BOOMERANG
BOOMERANG!!

Or Cracked Ice.
Maybe.

[Toxigal]

that is in the process of being ripped out!

it had the black and white floor, white cabinets with red knobs and red and white striped wallpaper.

it wasn't bad, but not my style.