Thread: Kitchen Styles

Did you all know we owe great gratitude to the shakers as it was a lady shaker who first came up with the idea of a motorised panel saw

Oh right. Like a gate.

Originally Posted by silentC

So I'm not really expecting someone to say "this is what kitchens looked like in the 20's" more "this is what cabinetry looked like in the 20's". Is there or has there ever been an Australian style, or has it always just been imported?

The Australian Style is evolving, but no, historically unless you look to the work of individual architects who had a strong style, Robin Dod is one who comes to mind, everything was borrowed, usually from working class pommie roots.

The typical kitchen cabinet (in Queensland at least) was a double or triple doored "dresser". Now I have no idea how a kitchen cupboard got to be termed "dresser" but in some quarters, that's what they are called.

Typically these cupboards stood about the height of today's fridge, were round 15" deep, were made of pine and painted. "Restored" versions typically have the paint removed to reveal the clear pine :eek: :eek: .

The doors were usually framed (and this is from memory) from about 5/8 thick material, and rebated over the face frame to leave a quite fine half-round edge. The top doors were always glazed with patterned obscure glass, and more expensive versions had lead lighting of varying complexity.

The bottom drawers were glazed with ply! and there were usually a row of drawers between the two.

Catches typically were a little spring lever thing surface mounted.

Early kitchen cabinets from my observation were derivatives of this style, and I still like 'em.

Descriptions like the above, are why photographs were invented!

cheers,

P

The typical kitchen cabinet (in Queensland at least) was a double or triple doored "dresser"

My Nanna had one just like it except it had sliding obscure glass doors in the top. It had a row of drawers and hinged overlay cupboard doors under that. Can't remember what the catches were but I seem to recall some sort of spring loaded roller arrangement, although that might have been something else. It was stained a walnut colour. She also had (and used) a meatsafe! It was pressed metal and stood on a stand next to the dresser. She kept her yo-yos in an old ice cream tin on top of the dresser so we couldn't reach it.

Yes Craig, like a gate.

Silent - I think you've pretty well answered your own questions!

I've spent a bit of time combing old books, etc. for clues to an Australian 'style' in furniture, in particular, but can't say I've hit on anything that wasn't clearly derived from an existing style elsewhere - usually with a long pedigree. The 'Jimmy Possum" chair is about as close as we've got to a home-grown design. Moulding profiles for the various periods are pretty similar wherever you look - after all, you can only do so many variations on the bead and curve, without going to extremes.

And I'm of the age that I remember farmhouse kitchens that didn't even have a sink - you washed up in a little tub and chucked the water out the window afterwards. For the longest time, our kitchen had a single cold-water tap sticking through the wall from the tank outside. (We did have a sink - an uncle cobbled it up from an old sheet of flat galvanised iron). After a particularly good year, the new slow-combustion stove was installed, and for the first time, we enjoyed the luxury of hot water on tap!!

You would have to be a masochistic purist to want an 'authentic' kitchen from that era, alright.

I've lived with 3 kitchens that had panelled wood doors, and can't say we found their dust-collecting properties a major problem. Any kitchen door gets splashed and a regular weekly wipe-over (every 6 months or so ) seems to do the trick.

My current kitchen (just moved into a month ago) is a disgusting thing of melamine-covered chipboard. Eight years old, and looking 20. The kickboards are the same stuff as the caninet doors, permantently attached to the plinth, and obviously left raw where they meet the floor, because the bit under the sink area is starting to swell. But it's going to have to do for the next couple of years until I get rid of this day job - a new kitchen will be my first retirement project.

I used face-frames on a couple of kitchen jobs, but with the frame sticking out either side of the dividers, it creates inconvenient little corners. My compromise is to glue a decent (10-15mm thick) strip of matching wood (matching the doors, that is) to the fronts instead of edgebanding, then go for European style hinges and full overlay (panelled) doors. These hinges work really well with lighter, wooden doors, and of course, make door installation a lot less fussy than butt-hinged full recess types. The newer, thicker plastic edgebanding (2mm) may be a lot more durable, but you've got to have access to some expensive machinery to apply it well.

I just wish there was a better alternative to this pathetic melamine chipboard for carcases. We're stuck with the melamine surface, I think - you won't talk many girls into going with anything else. Brims advertise a melamine-covered ply, but have had no experience of it to date. (Anyone out there who has used it? What do you think?). Even if they were to offer a denser, higher glue-content particle-board product (something like the flooring stuff) you could use it around the high water areas like the sink cupboard. It would be a big improvement.

Still, I probably shouldn't fuss about it. Even with a material life expectancy of 15-20 years, I suppose I won't be worrying about the replacement...
Cheers,

The farmhouse I lived in as a kid had the most modern of appliances: the briquette water heater. Luxury!

I was thinking about making the carcasses from some birch veneered ply that I picked up. Maybe melamine shelves with a timber edging. Dunno yet. It's really only the horizonal surfaces that present a problem. Also considered getting the local kitchen maker to build the carcasses and I'd do the doors, drawers and benchtops.

What really got me into this line of enquiry is that I'm planning to make the vanities for the new house and I was looking for a traditional style to use for them. Thought it would be a good test run for the kitchen too. I was pretty sold on the Shaker design but I wondered if there was something more traditionally Australian that I could use - seeing as I'm always bagging the yanks I thought it might appear hypocritical of me to flatter them with imitation

When it all comes down to it, the Shaker style is the closest one can get to the sort of detail which evolved from the basic stuff.

The proportions are what really makes the difference, and our stuff is proportionally different. Hunt around the antique joints and get a feel for some of the dressers, and wash stands.

Then: TRY to translate these to today, when our benches are a good 100mm higher than they were then!! They used to STAND and work at table height!

If in doubt, copy but not in the sense of flattery, that would make all the Shaker's roll over in their graves.

Remember originality is but plagiarism undetected. Tell everyone that it's evocative of a traditional OZ form, and only a few of us will know!!

Cheers,

P

Originally Posted by IanW

Silent - The 'Jimmy Possum" chair is about as close as we've got to a home-grown design.

Yes it was unique in ways, but the style hasnt realy forged its self in our design culture.

One of my favourite Australian woodies was Schulim Krimper who migrated here in the 30`s. He was truley unique and his style even to this day is soooooooo sexy What a gem this bloke was. Have a look at this writing desk designed in `55 made in `60.

http://www.nga.gov.au/Federation/Det...m?WorkID=88276
He also has a couple of peices in the Ballarat fine Art Gallery if anyone is close to it.

Originally Posted by IanW

Brims advertise a melamine-covered ply, but have had no experience of it to dateCheers,

Brimms is very good quality stuff, But Very very expensive at the same time:eek: British standard marine ply is the go if you want top quality material for the guts of a kitchen. Dearer than the crap malamine stuf, but half the price of brimms. I use it in all the interiors of my furniture. Just adds that extra touch of quality that far exceeds the extra price

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

Remember originality is but plagiarism undetected.

How true - Gotta love that saying

I don't think that you would go for it but my dad outfitted a kitchen in the late 50's early 60's. He framed it up in situ with 2x1's and used masonite as the covering material. The masonite on the doors overlapped the openings by about an inch and the swinging frame of the door sat inside the opening. This kitchen had all mod cons one of the first Fridgedair Electric fridges. There was a built in stainless steel sink with a four gallon nail drum with a fencing wire handle as a bucket to catch the sink water. If it was'nt emptied it overflowed. There was also a bench top oven with a hot plate and a Primus Kerosene Burner. All in all very modern.

As I said you possible wouldn't go for it.

Brian

Originally Posted by IanW

I just wish there was a better alternative to this pathetic melamine chipboard for carcases. We're stuck with the melamine surface, I think - you won't talk many girls into going with anything else. Brims advertise a melamine-covered ply, but have had no experience of it to date. (Anyone out there who has used it? What do you think?). Even if they were to offer a denser, higher glue-content particle-board product (something like the flooring stuff) you could use it around the high water areas like the sink cupboard. It would be a big improvement.

High Moisture Resistant (HMR) melamine faced chipboard is available for wet area use such as vanity units etc.

By the way:

Really flash kitchens even as far back as the 20's used to have terrazzo bench tops. Yep.

There wasn't that much in the way of benches, but the new movement to concrete benches isn't all that new at all.

Green was good, with maybe a black border.

cheers,

P

Originally Posted by echnidna

High Moisture Resistant (HMR) melamine faced chipboard is available for wet area use such as vanity units etc.

Ta Bob - I'm continually impressed by the number of things I don't know! I just googled on 'HMR melamine' and found quite a bit of stuff, but not where I can get it. Shouldn't be too hard now I know what I'm looking for...
Cheers,

Its easy to recognise as the edges have a greenish tinge to them