Choosing New Countertops--We're Going With Formica

These are our current counter tops.

Our "grandma house" was in its beautiful, original, 1952 condition, with the exception of a few unfortunate early 70s remodels.  

Like these counter tops.

At least they skipped on the popcorn ceilings.

Anyway, we knew these bad boys had to go.

We wanted to replace them with...that's right, more Formica.

Why?

Because, even though it's considered low-brow among the granite crowd, we like it.

It's period.

And there is some pretty cool Formica out there, people.

Just feast your eyes on the possibilities.

RED

At first red seemed like the obvious choice.  

I love red.  Especially in the kitchen.

And I love red and turquoise together.

Turquoise is featured prominently in my kitchen.

But......we have a red floor.

Not only was it hard to match the reds, but it seemed like a lot of red.  Even for me.

Red was out.

BLACK

I surprised myself with liking black.

But when I saw this kitchen in Dwell magazine, I was attracted to it. 

(that's right, Formica in Dwell.  see, even the high-brows can like Formica)

It looks good with those white, vintage metal cabinets. (just like ours)

And it seemed like a neutral, that wasn't white.

And it would look good with our black base boards.

Black was in the running.

VINTAGE GREY PATTERN

Then Aaron suggested we might like a pattern rather than a solid.  

This one is new to the Formica line, but it looked very vintage to me.

Kind of vintage-modern.

Not kitschy--there is a fine line between vintage kitchens and kitschy kitchens.

I liked it a lot.

Citadel Warp (that's what it's called) was in the running.

CHARCOAL BOOMERANG

Then there was the charcoal boomerang.

Drat that boomerang.

Aaron really loves the boomerang.

I love boomerang too.

But I am afraid of it.

I am afraid of the kitsch factor.

It can be too dinery.

It can be too Ruby's.

Our friend Justin assured us that unless we put up a lot of Coco Cola signage, it would not look like Ruby's.

Justin was one of 2 people who said go with boomerang.

Everyone else dismissed it.

The rebellious part of me wants to show all the haters that boomerang is cool.

Charcoal boomerang was in the running.

AQUA BOOMERANG

The boomerang debacle continues with aqua.

Oh how I love the aqua.

Yes I do and I am not ashamed to admit it!

Next to the charcoal, it sings.

And with the metal edging, it would look amazing.

But again, I was afraid.

We have red floors.

Are we out of our minds????

We found out that Formica discontinued aqua boomerang in January.

The only boomerang still being made was charcoal.

We researched.

There could still be some aqua boomerang laying around somewhere in the US of A.

Aqua boomerang might be in the running.

So...what did we choose?

You'll have to wait with us to see.

The counter tops, which were supposed to be in last week, won't be in until next week.

(ahh the world of remodels.  Everything takes forever)

I am on pins and needles to see how it all turns out

Stay tuned!

Love from,

Greta

Lest you think we are crazy with our Formica love, here is another kitchen with Formica counter tops.  This one is from Apartment Therapy (full post here)

I think the orange is incredible.

Have you noticed, I am in love with color?

And everything you need to know about vintage counter tops here. at Retro Renovation.
Peruse a bit and see what you like.


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