Formica Irish Linen is one of my favorite "why don't they still make it" patterns.

I think it's great. Lots of charm! Definitely better than the Before and well worth the $500 spent :)

They don't make that pattern any more?? :( Bummer.

Here's a similar colour though:

Wilsonart Bottle Glass

Also fun:

Wilsonart Sea Glass

The green one in the photo may actually be Wilsonart Irish Linen. ( I didn't know they had one, too).

The house I grew up in had Formica Green Irish Linen (a warmer green) and Formica Gold Irish Linen. (neither pictured here)

Looks like a match palimpsest.

My mom before she died did her bathroom in lavender Wilsonart of some type. It was so pretty!

That's amazing. I've been trying to come up with a laminate colour for my bathroom. I wonder if DH could be convinced? Hmmmm....

I confess I dont even like green so this was more a curiosity thing to look and had to comment because wow does this look charming! To be fair, that is a very pretty green and nice contrast with the bottoms (cute cabinet pulls!).

Especially like combo, dark lowers, pale counter and white uppers - so much character and what a ways to come from.

When I saw the title of this thread I immediately thought of my parents' house, built in 1956. And yep, exact same Formica! They had also boomerang Formica in the bathrooms.

That "Irish Linen" isn't quite the same pattern but it's very close.

I actually don't really like it - I think that kitchen would be AWESOME if they put in something like soapstone (and a case where soapstone with its scratches and patina would totally work with the rest of the room). But something about it looks kind of dirty/grungy to me. I love the workbench/island, though.

"But something about it looks kind of dirty/grungy to me."

IMO, a good paint job on the uppers would take care of that. An example of taking cabinet painting shortcuts...that didn't work.

I think soapstone would be terrible in here. Not only would it blend with the dark lowers, it would be so boring and repetitive. I love that this kitchen doesn't look like every other new house or renovation out there. It has personality.

That's not to say soapstone is boring. I have slate, which is a similar look. But to pull out the only piece with colour in this kitchen and replace it with something colourless would be boring.

I also like the worn, used look to the kitchen.

I like a worn, used look too. But something about those counters look as though they would be sticky/grimy to me. I also agree that the poor paint job may be contributing to that. It also may be that at some point in my life I've been in a kitchen with similar counters that I associate with being dirty (although I can't think specifically of where/when that was).

I always liked vintage formica counters when I had them in rentals. I was shocked at how poorly the builder grade laminate wore in the kitchen that I just ripped out - after 12 years it had disgusting stains and lots of visible wear. The surface was oddly porous in a way that I never experienced with vintage formica that was decades old.

formica is making a huge comeback now.

I love it! It is absolutely adorable! I can't wait to send the link to some friends to see! They will love it too! :)

ETA: I was reading some comments this morning and I find it odd that someone said it looked dirty because when I showed it to my husband, he proclaimed that it looked "sanitary". WOW, two totally differing views of the same kitchen. I say it looks great and I agree that a fancy new counter(stone) would not look right and would make the rest of the kitchen look like it needed to be replaced.

This post was edited by arkansas_girl on Thu, Jul 17, 14 at 6:44

To be clear, I'm not specifically suggesting that the owners of this kitchen NEED to replace the old formica, even though I do think something else like soapstone or maybe butcher block would look better. Their budget is their budget. But that doesn't make me like the formica and think that the fact that they kept it makes the kitchen extra special. Does that make sense? I like the overall vibe of the kitchen, especially the table/island. But the OP specifically called out the counter tops, which I just don't care for. Different strokes and all that.

The main thing I took from the kitchen was that if I was putting in a new budget kitchen, a fun coloured laminate counter with white/black cabinets would be something to consider. Mostly when I see laminate lately, it's "stone look" or a really safe neutral. I understand those choices, but it's neat to really use the colour options of laminate that you don't have with stone, etc - rather than imitating them.

I can see that, even though I don't like this particular formica.

What I do wish I saw more of was cabinets painted in an actual color. I like white as much as the next person (my "cherry finish" cabinets should be turning into white cabinets sooner rather than later), but there are definitely situations where if you're going to re-paint, I say go with a color!

It really is just a matter of personal taste AND with something like painting cabinets a "color", resell-ability is also something a lot of us have to consider.

For resale, with non-high-quality cabinets, I would consider options other than white. White is hard to pull off - the colour has to be perfect, and it can look cheap and draw attention to imperfections. Check out Farrow and Ball for colours that look quality...I really think it's possible to make inexpensive/old cabinets into a feature with judicious use of colour.

I'm doing IKEA cabinets with custom oak fronts that will be DIY stained a greenish/beige-ish grey. If not for dh I would have gone for painting more of a colour.

I would have pushed for more of a color if my kitchen wasn't totally open to my living space, which isn't a huge space to begin with. I feel as though I have to go at least "mostly" neutral because colors used have bigger overall impact.