The original cabs in my 1908 home are shaker inset. They were white as were most kitchens of that era.
Diane

Yes- both examples show slab drawers but I was going to do the 5 piece drawer front option if we went with shaker...(you have to click on the pictures in the link to see that option in some of the kitchen photos under the shaker style.)

The era I am going for is mid-century I suppose- but not midcentury modern. The house was built in 1940. I have a 1950's O'Keefe and Merritt range, will use a farmhouse sink with curtain underneath, white appliances, and schoolhouse style lighting. I am leaning toward the partial overlay cabinets since all of the retro ones that I like from the 50's are partial overlays, and I love them. (the kind with the thinner wood door fronts that tapers in a curved edge to the cabinet front...wish I could buy those somewhere!). :) I think I am just having a hard time choosing the partial overlay because it isn't what the masses prefer right now, and I'm having a hard time trusting my own intuition and taste!

Thanks for the comments. I'm open to hearing more!....

Are you talking about this?

Here is a link that might be useful: Pillow Edge

Also, RE: partial overlays - are you planning on selling your house anytime soon? I wouldn't concern myself with the masses unless I was planning a rehab to sell. Do what you want and love your kitchen in its entirety.

To be honest, what you're going for is of very specific taste anyway, and will likely alienate half of the masses regardless of your overlay (btw I think it's going to be beautiful but I'm a sucker for vintage kitchens).

I found the antique white with a full overlay nice for the vintage kitchen.

Here is a link that might be useful: www.thecabinetdepot.com

I love vintage kitchens too! White cabinets, either slab, or shaker w/partial overlay or inset will work with a 50's feel. I was watching an old movie from the late 50's - early 60's last week and in one scene in the kitchen, I saw white inset shaker cabinets, along with some glass door uppers, those cabinets would be on trend today 50+ yrs later. Talk about a timeless look! Yes, some potential buyers may not care for it, others will love it, so unique and very very cool.

Swentastic- yes- those look similar to the ones I really love in older homes. i don't know if they would look right newly installed though... and those appear to only come in full overlay rather than partial.

Lots of great advice from all of you! Thanks for encouraging me to do what I really like. This is a home we intend to live in for the indefinite future, so may as well make it how we like it. If we ever do move out, we would likely keep it for a rental, so won't be selling in the near future.

Get either partial overlay, slab front; or get full overlay, slab front. The latter work as either vintage or modern, depending on the hardware.

While you're at it, you can get a vintage 1940s drainboard sink. Unlike sinks from the 20s and 30s, these had drainboards that sat flat on the counter, without an apron. So you can fit a dishwasher right under them.

I can't wait to see what you do - I'll be living vicariously from afar!

Marcolo your picture made me laugh - we pulled this out of the basement of our 1949 ranch. We think it's too cool - I can't wait to use it again! You can find them on craigslist and the habitat for humanity restore.

I agree with Marcolo :)

And Marcolo- So good to see you!

I think you're talking about a lipped edge on the cabinets--it's half inset and half overlay, kinda, so they look very thin. Like this? photo of inside cab door--this one is plywood with straight edges:

And closed:

Lipped cabs have a totally different look when they have a nice curved chamfered edge and paint and maybe a little applied moulding--retro 40s. It's very furniture-ish.

But old houses tend to be low on space and this is not a style that makes use of every inch!

Marcolo, that's the kind of kitchen we had in our 1948 house. Cabs were metal and never showed a ding or scratch. We had one sink with the built in drain board that extended over the dishwasher. When I was little my mom would wash my hair with me lying on my back on top, with my head over the sink.

No comment on thread, just wanted to say how good to "see" you Marcolo.

For a 1950s kitchen, I'd be looking at slab cabinets and Formica counters. Both would be period appropriate--and budget friendly as a bonus.

Someone posted a 1950's kitchen a while back with appliances in red, I think they were Big Chill? It was one of my favorites that I've seen on GW. I wouldn't worry about resale with partial overlay cabinets, they are the right look for a retro kitchen, and a buyer who likes the retro style will not be put off by that at all. Its supposed to look that way.

I found a pinterest board awhile ago with a bunch of fun old kitchens in it. I really love looking through them - you might enjoy!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pinterest Mid Century Kitchens

The 1955 ranch style house I grew up in had flush inset slab doors with exposed hammered copper "H" hinges. They were a plywood veneer, and stained a red-ish brown.
We still own the house as a rental, the cabinets are still there and functioning fine, but have since been painted an off white.

My 1950-ish kitchen in the 1942 house had almost full overlay slab doors and drawers with the rounded edge (demi-bullnose to borrow from counter terminology) that you describe. Seems like that or inset were the most common in houses I have seen from that era.

I have been lurking here for months and have done a lot of reading and searching to get where I am today. Cabinets installed, part of countertop done. Maybe you'll like this look. We were going for vintage-ish modern. Slab painted drawers and doors, full overlay. Hardware makes all the difference in the feel. I'll start another post to show the big picture.

crcollins- I LOVE it! What countertop material did you use?!

Swentastic- thanks for the link- I can't wait to sit down tonight and peruse all of those pictures on pinterest.

and crl_- good idea about formica. we may be headed that route anyway due to budget

fori- yes the lipped edge is the look I was describing in older cabinets. but you're right. it doesn't use every inch well and we have a small kitchen. this is one of the concerns i had about partial overlay doors- is there less room in these cabinets? or are the openings the same as full overlay doors? I suppose it may depend on the cabinet manufacturer.

marcolo- i love those sinks, but ruled them out earlier in the process solely on how shallow the sink is. We are a family of 5 and I feel like we need a big sink. If anyone has one of these older 1940's sinks with a large family- tell me how you like it!
There is one on craigslist right now for about 100 bucks we could buy- drainboard on one side sink on other. And formica would go with this look too....

Thanks so much everyone for all the comments. I LOVE this community here!

We are using Formica Aqua Dotscreen on the perimeters and Formica solid surface Sea Glass on the island. Dotscreen is mostly in, as you can see, but the solid surface comes sometime next week. I couldn't put granite in this kitchen. :)
More to come!

The space inside the cabinets is mostly determined by whether you have face frame or frameless cabinets. Frameless cabinets typically have essentially full overlay doors--ikea has this kind of cabinet as do many other lines. Face frame can have whatever kind you want. Frameless are much more space efficient. They are not as period perfect for a 1950s kitchen though so there's a trade off.

I don't have one of the cool drain board sinks, but I do have an old, shallow cast iron sink. It is only about 5 1/2 inches deep, believe it or not. It is about 27 inches side to side and 15 inches front to back--those are interior measurements. I have been fine with this size sink. We are a family of four and we eat in and I cook easy meals more or less from scratch most days. We went without a dishwasher for six months when we moved in as the place had never had one. So I washed a lot of dishes. I find the shallower sink actually helpful in scrubbing pots and pans as I don't have to lean over so far to scrub. The main downside is that I do get more water splashing out of the sink than I ever have before, which I'm guessing is because it is shallow.

Crcollins has done a smashing job with cabinets and hardware. Go that route if you want frameless cabs. Or go with frames; the loss of space isn't fatal. Remember old framed cabinets were not separate boxes; each run was continuous. So any modern non-custom cab will be a bit different, whichever route you take.

Also please get straight in your head: frameless cabs have full overlay doors because there's no face frame to reveal. But not every full overlay door is on a frameless cabinet. You can put a full overlay door on a face framed cabinet, too. Make sure you order the kind you actually like.

Sinks: there are several depths available if you poke around. Especially in the flat vs. apron drain board style, because those continued to be made much later.

Sorry,forgot to add this.

Here is a link that might be useful: Read if you think you can't have a drainboard sink

marcolo likes my kitchen! I feel all warm inside. :) BTW, feeling is mutual - loved yours, too!!

Just wanted to clarify, my cabinets are not frameless. They are framed, full overlay.

Shiloh still makes LIPPED aka 3/8" Inset door overlay styles. Here it is in my showroom. We just got this Vignette installed a couple weeks ago. Hardware was not installed at time of photo. Shiloh offers many door designs....I'm not sure if they offer a solid slab though and not sure they do veneer slabs in this style.

I love this style too.

Here's the link below showing overlay options.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lipped doors by shiloh

I like that Shilo green door a lot for a vintage feel. The colour is nice too.

My Inlaws live in an apartment in Manhattan built in the late 40s. Their kitchen cabinets are identical to crccollins and they have a tealish Formica countertop with a metal edge around it. Your hardware is spot on, too! I believe the cabinets are metal? They are extremely durable and lightweight. They've been painted countless times. My MIL loves them and would never dream of replacing them.

My inlaws have been in the apartment since the early 70s. Over the last 15 years, management has begun gutting the apartments and "modernizing" them when the long term tenants leave with wood cabinets and warm granite. Then they jack up the rent by 300% ;)

Now the advantage of your new, vintage kitchen is that you won't have to deal with the lead paint issue!