Diary of a stripper

[bheansidhe]

I'm absolutely charmed by the gamut of Atomic Ranch colors my kitchen was painted. As near as I can tell as I strip down the woodwork and peel the plaster, the original palettes were:

Medium split-pea yellow walls with cream trim;
then aqua walls with butter yellow trim;
then mint green walls with jadite trim

Comments

[beaq]

Some of those older paint layers are interesting to try to strip, too. Hurgh.

I'm really torn on that green "brick" sheet product. I had my doubts it was linoleum rather than vinyl, but you have some in hand -- what do you think? I *almost* like it? Maybe?

[bheansidhe]

You know, these people call it linoleum, but I think it's sheet vinyl. The original linoleum I uncovered was the hard flat tile stuff. I'm amending my entry.

It's yellower than it looks, or I got the yellow colorway instead of green. And maybe it's okay, but then look at their counters... the clash of the patterns.

I had the metal trim formica counters in my old apartment. Grunge accumulates in the seam of the metal over time. It's less than easy upkeep.

[beaq]

Grunge accumulates in the seam of the metal over time.

Uggghhhh. Yes indeedly do. Especially if anyone has ever, even once, fried anything in that kitchen.

[beaq]

I've always just called vinyl linoleum, even though I supposedly know better, but they made a point of how the previous layer was probably all full of asbestos and their new layer was wonnnnnnderful. That gave me pause because SOMEone SOMEwhere told be some linoleum has asbestos backing, plus I remember that brick stuff. (Maybe they were good childhood memories? But yellow does not sound nice.) I remember picking at it, and the way it peeled, and my vague recollections say vinyl. Does it melt over a flame? Whatever. Landfill!

[echoandsway]

The aqua with butter sounds pretty.

I remember THAT vinyl -- we had it too. It's not a nice vinyl, no matter what those folks say. Maybe it's just that I still don't like avocado and harvest gold as color choices.

[bheansidhe]

No one should like avocado and harvest gold (and the third member of the trifecta, baby diaper brown).

Actual avocado flesh is a much more beautiful and subtle color than 70s "avocado." I'd paint my kitchen to match a real avocado.

[plantyhamchuk]

This entry derailed me into reading all about color and midcentury stuff on the internet for hours. Your house definitely has an interesting color history, that's for sure!

[marchenland]

This entry derailed me into reading all about color and midcentury stuff on the internet for hours.

Me too!

[bheansidhe]

Join the club.

While house hunting, I got fascinated by the midcentury bathroom tile combinations in my area - there are a ton of 50s ranchburgers with original fixtures here, and only eight or so colorways. I even started a flickr album of images grabbed from online interior shots. Then I thought, well, is that a little obsessive of me? It's not like I was going out of my way to find them; I just copied the ones I ran across and parked them in an album.

Then I found the paen to pink bathrooms and felt much better. Also less obsessive.

[bheansidhe]

I think it's fascinating how a color can "look" like an era. And you were blinking at that yellow I'd picked - you should see the lime green. It sang backup for the Partridge Family.