<p>Glad to hear my kitchen with the wood beveled edges wasn’t the only one of its kind in the early 90’s. A friend did the wood Formica trim…not my choice… But I have to say…hers still looks good…not yet replaced… Also 1994.</p>
<p>Oh, I like rounded edges too. That’s a nice look on granite. (Another relatively inexpensive upgrade was rounded external corners on the dryway… seems less vulnerable to dings). </p>
<p>I almost always use cutting boards. And hot stuff usually goes
on the smoothtop range. Frankly I’d do the same even if I had granite. Probably it would hold up fine, but just seems to pricey/risky. </p>
<p>It yelled “1994” - Ha, I understand that. I felt the same way about our kitchen light fixtures. Raise your hand if your 1993 house has brass and ridgged-glass fixtures. I loved ours until I saw them at Village Inn. And half the restaurants and houses I visited the first few years. We replaced them with black a few years ago. </p>
<p>The formica/wood does not bother me. I still like it. But to DH it is horribly dated. However they remain in terrific shape after almost 20 years (hence my durability comments). So I’ve been able to drag my feet on his granite dreams. In the meantime, switches to budget black fridge (needed) and black lighting gave us a minor change of scenery. </p>
<p>Neither of us are love with the builder grade oak cabinets. So it will be a while before we delve into major reno. You folks have plenty of time to find us the best countertop material (DH not a fan of formica, I’m not yet sold on granite).</p>
<p>Nope…no brass trimmed faucets here! Thank goodness! We had the Moen white pull out kitchen faucet…another dated model that was very popular in 1994. I see some of you raising your hands! Its gone now…brushed nickel finish replaced it. We upgraded our cabinets when we built but they are still oak…but the new granite counters really make the cabinets look better! </p>
<p>We took all the wallpaper down! Now for painting (bathrooms).</p>
<p>I have the wooden bevel edge and the formica. It does still look good but I want to replace it. I haven’t broken the news to dh yet. He will not understand. I still like our cabinets even though they are light oak which apparently are dated. We need to replace light fixtures too. Yes, mine can be found at the Village Inn unless they updated theirs! I thought I would start with lights this fall and ease into things.</p>
<p>I grew up in a development that was built in 1961, but I dont remember many colored appliances ( most houses were also adapted for the sites which was slightly hilly, so they all looked different).
Our appliances were white, but we did have pinkish beige fixtures in the hall bathroom, that I rather liked.
We did have avocado green tupperware though, and my mom lined the cupboards with " wood" contact paper.</p>
<p>My inlaws have turquoise fixtures in their hall bathroom, but its kinda an awful shade. The color of the room accentuates it. </p>
<p>When our neighbor redid his house, he opened up the floorplan a little and has a built in refrigerator that blends into the cabinetry. ( same with his washer & dryer- he has limited mobilty so they are on the main floor) His sink and counters are the Paperstone.</p>
<p>Regarding brass, have brass handles on cabinets, drawer pulls, and light fixtures, including the ridged glass light fixtures.</p>
<p>Custom quarter sawn oak cabinets here, which I’d be loath to replace as it is an odd, retrofitted space. </p>
<p>Was reading this thread in hopes my white fridge would no longer be passe. It needs replacing, due to interior fittings cracking in places, but keeps the food just fine. Will give a fridge allowance when I sell, if that is soon. </p>
<p>Rather a fan here of keeping things till the wheels of fashion turn back again. And travel with any extra money.</p>
<p>I still love the soapstone counters we put in eight years ago. No need to worry about stains or sealing, and you can put a hot frying pan on it without a care. Or defrost/cool something down. It has some minor scratches and tiny dings around the sink edge, but you get soapstone because you’re a faded jeans kind of person; nothing too formal or pristine or shiny.</p>
<p>I think people can make elements from any era work if they have good taste. There is a decorator in LA named Kelly Wearstler whose work I first saw at the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica. The decor is 40s-style Hollywood Regency (what I would call “Palm Beach grandma”) and it is fantastic. She also can do 80s and make it look good–really!</p>
<p>There is a place for high-quality brass in both of those styles and others…I have nice modern gold-toned hardware on my house and can’t imagine anything else. I also have some honey-oak trim–which I used to loathe–that also works with the interior style.</p>
<p>Our house was built in the 70’s and the kitchen screams it. Orange formica countertop and backsplash. Harvest gold cooktop and sink (the sink we replaced with stainless many years ago), dark cabinets. </p>
<p>We were going to do a total remodel, but after getting a couple of quotes, and not loving any of the current cabinet styles (they were just ok. If I am spending that kind of money, I want to love it), we took another look at our kitchen. I decided I really do like my cabinets. I like the pattern on them and they are solid wood. H researched the manufacturer and found out that they are high quality and were put in high end kitchens. Even the dark was not bothering me so much. So we are just going to take out the countertop and backsplash, replace that with a light cream colored quartz, get a new induction cooktop to replace our old gold one and a new contemporary (and much slimmer profile) stainless steel range hood. We will also clean up the face of the cabinets and replace the current white knobs with stainless steel knobs. </p>
<p>I really wanted to get a bisque colored fridge, but we can’t find a model we like in bisque. So I resolved myself to SS, although I really did not want it, but I didn’t think I still wanted white. But after reading the “Is white the new stainless” thread, I may re-think that!</p>
<p>Some things should remain the colors they were meant to be. Kitchen and laundry appliances should be white, just as Oreo cookies should only be chocolate and white colors. I don’t like all the crazy colors!</p>
<p>Formica lasts if you put hot pans on hot pads, and use a cutting board with your knife. Simple rules. :)</p>
<p>I am in midst of the kitchen redo. Actually, in planning stage with KD. I wish appliances came in off-white or bisque. I have several friends with white appliances and either grey/black granite or blue pearl. Unfortunately, I’ve got nothing white going on in my house; honey maple floors and furniture in FR in cocoa. So, going with non-shiny stainless, probably the GE frig that EK mentioned. I like quartzite, especially the ones that resemble marble (I have carrera on top of DR cabinet). </p>
<p>First, I must choose stain for maple cabinets. Close to natural, or with brown stain that matches floors and rest of furniture? to be continued…</p>
<p>I never left white for appliances so I’m back “in” again. </p>
<p>I think the avocado, harvest gold and pumpkin colors are very difficult to make work. I had them at one house for a while as they, of course, worked just fine, and trying to coordinate them was not easy. They were just downright ugly.</p>
<p>bookworm: Appliances used to come in almond or bisque. Not sure what happened to them…I loved the look. Especially with natural wood floors & granite counters, you’d think they’d be “in.”</p>
<p>No my 1992 kitchen had a nickle plated school house lamp. I’d get one again in a heartbeat. I loathe recessed lighting.</p>
<p>Sears carries bisque online. I told one salesman how stupid I thought it was that I could get a washer and dryer in all sorts of color but couldn’t get a fridge in such a basic color as bisque (beige, bone, whatever you want to call it). So we ordered online and had it delivered. We were even able to get it on a Sunday which worked the best for us. It just made a much warmer look than white or SS.</p>
<p>I like off- white too. Which is the color of tile I sent H to get for the bathroom, but I was actually out of town when he installed it.
I suspect that he actually knows the difference, but he didnt want to have to change the fixtures. Oh well. I rationalized it by saying that by going with white ( which is cheaper), I can go higher end on the details.</p>
<p>Our house is 1900, kind of a mix of Queen Anne cottage bungalow and I started out emphasizing the arts & crafts aspect, but then decided that was more structured than I wanted, because I also love other periods, like " mid century" </p>
<p>Mathmom, We bought our porch lighting here & I love it- and I am redoing the kitchen lighting as well
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<p>A significantly cheaper redo of cabinets is to have them refaced, either with new doors or new doors + veneer over the visible surfaces.</p>
<p>I am not sure if we have a kit house, but our house is amazingly well built, we have the original kitchen cabinets and they are in excellent shape. They just don’t grow wood like that anymore. H made new cabinet doors for them though.</p>
<p>But its a shame they had the ceilings lowered. One day we will open them up so you can see the decorative tin.</p>
<p>We redid our kitchen in 1996, and I chose stainless. Natural cherry cabinets, delft tile backsplashes. I wanted a “no-color” color, and I am very happy with it still. Not the easiest to keep fingerprint-free, but I’m okay with it. I just had to learn to keep up. The only burning desire I’ve had, and at the time of the remodel I couldn’t quite afford it (and didn’t really have the room for it) would be a kicka## Viking stove in a fabulous color. Maybe next house…</p>