Inexpensive hardware for 1950s and 1960s kitchen cabinets - Retro Renovation

Posted by: pam kueber May 17, 2011

No doubt whatsoever: In the five years that Ive been doing this blog, the availability of fixtures and hardware and decor to renovate our mid century homes has exploded and I don think its near over yet. Things that were rare and expensive are now becoming abundant and inexpensive. Remember, though: You still tend to get what you pay fore. Jon of Jon Trixi of avocado sink fame and of wanton hacking away at cement board covering vintage laminate countertops fame sends in these latest tips on inexpensive kitchen cabinet knobs and pulls of both the atomic and mid-century modest variety, writing:

Hey Pam!

So, a little tip for you and possibly the readers! Weve moved on to the cabinet portion of the kitchen which is exciting, thats the bit Ive been the most thrilled about changing. Weve been hitting every store in the universe looking for the best possible hardware, from the big box stores like Lowes and Home Despot to little family-owned hardware stores. Mostly, the hardware is all modern and awful we were thinking wed have to shell for expensive stuff from one of the online retro places that specializes in period cabinet hardware.

But no. A trip to our local Ace Hardware (which has become our second home in the last few weeks!) reveals that Ace, interestingly, has a TON of retro cabinet pulls, and the best news is THEY ARE CHEAP. The retro places are charging eight to ten bucks a pop for their hardware, but check this out:

The radar dish cabinet pulls! Ive seen em online here n there for 8 bucks a piece, Ace has them in several sizes and finishes for about 2 bucks each!

T he hammered iron knobs and drawer pulls. This is what was in our house originally, and what my folks had in my house growing up, theyre HIGHLY retro!

These standard chrome drawer pulls Ive seen em in a hundred mid-century and 60s houses:

And I notice the Amerock corporation website the company that makes all these pulls has a ton more! 30 pages of pulls, knobs, backplates and more, and in a ton of styles designed to exactly match

your houses original pulls. Theyve got bathroom towel bars and rings and such, too, in nifty retro / chrome styles.

Check it out!!

Thank you, Jon. When I was in Kentucky recently, I actuallsaw a lot of these pulls or derivatives of them at a Home Depot in a suburb of Louisville.  The retailer is Liberty Hardware. And I bet they are from exactly the same factory in China, because one of my Early American samples which I have right here on my desk appears to be IDENTICAL to your black-hammered pull. My other sample, is almost exactly the same as your burnished gold , but lacks the burnishing. My recollection was that these were also very inexpensive, around $2 each. Here is the link to Liberty Hardwares cabinet knobs and pulls.