Sunday, October 05, 2008

Kitchy Kitchens

Since Christopher assured me that I won't get in trouble and Mark really wanted to see the Con-Tact paper kitchen, I scanned a few pictures from one of the decorating books I bought at Goodwill yesterday.
The walls, cabinet and drawer fronts, and even the canisters are all covered in Con-Tact paper.


This dishwasher is covered in the same wallpaper as the rest of the kitchen.


I LOVE this banquette-style breakfast nook. This space is begging to be outfitted with some Shamrock Fiesta.
I wouldn't change a thing about this kitchen...except for maybe the appliances.

From Complete Home Decorating

13 comments:

papa said...

Yikes! That second pic is scarily close to what my kitchen used to be! Except the wallpaper is closer to what my carpet was and the carpet like my wallpaper! So you can see why I had to destroy it!
However I LOVE the shammy breakfast nook! I'd love to have the space to do something like that!

RainbowDishes said...

JUST LIKE HOME! LOL

That second one is close to what our kitchen looked like growing up. Except for it being brown, ours was lots of burnt orange with touches of avocado green, gold and gold glitter. That covered the walls, the floor was done in a hideous laminate that was orange and brown.

But that Contact Paper kitchen really takes the prize. And to think, somebody back then bought that book and went home and covered their kitchen with contact paper.

DS Mark said...

Wow! I would love to meet the person who thought the contact paper was a good idea. Not that it looks great in the photo, but can you imagine what it would look like after a year or so when it started to peel here and there? What a mess!

Ms. Val said...

Papa--
I TOTALLY thought of you when I saw the shammy breakfast nook. It looks just like the same color as your kitchen!

Craig--
I remember gold glitter!!!! It was used alot in the early 70s. I recall seeing it added to the popcorn ceilings. As if there wasn't enough texture up there! Did you also have mirror tiles with gold veining in them?

Mark--
That was the first thing I though of when I saw that picture. Contact paper was not meant for surfaces that would see heavy use, or even places where the seams could be exposed to fingernails.

Also, I'm sure removing the contact paper would leave an even bigger mess...like sticky residue on the walls. That would be a bitch to clean

RainbowDishes said...

Did you also have mirror tiles with gold veining in them?

Nope, I do remember that my parents did cover one wall in the kitchen. I can't remember what was originally on the wall, but they covered it with huge squares of cork. That one wall was one huge bulletin board. Which was cool for a short time. Until the glue wasn't holding the cork very well and the cork isn't very easy to dust. It was a huge dust magnet.

Ms. Val said...

Craig--
We had those cork squares too. My mom hung them in a vertical row flanking the windows in my sister's and my bedrooms. We used those to display our posters and drawings because Mom didn't want us putting thumbtack holes in the walls.

RainbowDishes said...

I am not sure what type of glue they used for the cork, but it didn't do a very good job holding. We had to be careful of not to put anything heavy or too many items on the same square, otherwise it would be on the floor in a matter of hours.

RainbowDishes said...

BTW, I posted a response for you on my blog. Enjoy!

papa said...

My whole house had been "remuddled" (not remodeled!) in the '70's and everything was in the style of the kitchen,the bedrooms had one wall each of some funky wallpaper (one bedroom still has it,a shiny gold),there was a huge mural in the livingroom of a woods scene (I had to drywall over that,it wouldn't come off!) and my master bedroom still has the RED shag carpeting. I may leave that as I can problably do something cool in that room with it. The shag in the living room was baby blue and the hall,other bedrooms and bath were this mottled brown/gold shag that kinda looked like a dead lion! Too bad the previous owner didn't redo the house in the "fun" '70's decor, I would have left that!

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ChristopherM said...

1. I am not licensed to practice law in the state of Arizona (or anywhere else yet), and anything I say should not be taken as valid legal advice.

2. I really rather like kitchens 1 & 3. I've always wanted some banquettes in a breakfast nook.

Ms. Val said...

1. I am not licensed to practice law in the state of Arizona (or anywhere else yet), and anything I say should not be taken as valid legal advice.

I know that, Christopher. But then I remembered that some of my instructors have mentioned that it's ok to copy portions of books for educational purposes. In fact, just about every teacher I've had in the last few years has done this.

Becky said...

Well, this is certainly educational! LOL. That Con-Tact paper kitchen is beyond belief. But I like the built-in banquette. Kind of an updated version from classic Craftsman houses. Has anyone ever seen a solid green ceiling fan?