That first kitchen is so 1968 "flower power" fabulous. My mom's kitchen of that era had walnut cabinets (she still has them, they're painted white). She never went for the full style back then. The original appliances where white and the formica was powder blue. I loved the 70s!

I remember the days of the older kitchen too -- but it wasn't mustard yellow, it was "Harvest Gold" and the orange was "Tangerine".

I LOVE the look of walnut -- so dark and serious. But when it's made into something fun like the limited edition Hang It All, it is so unexpected!

My in-laws still have those cabinets and their avocado green kitchen sink.

for someone who is in love with vintage...i dont see a problem with the first one either :)..

What is with the two phones side-by-side in the vintage kitchen?

Allie, one is likely a phone for land line, the other may have been intercomm for the house. I recall my grandparents had a setup like that.

If that photo is from a NYC apartment building, the second phone (without the rotary dial) is probably an intercom system to the lobby.

Nope, not for me. I have never liked dark wood cabinets, not even in the 70s. Now, I might tolerate the first one because all the walnut is below the counter and everything else is light.

People say that dark cabinets are more practical because they don't show dirt. I'd rather see the dirt so I can clean it off.

I LOVE that floral wallpaper! My grandmother had it in her country house eat-in kitchen. I fought my mom for years to keep it. I finally lost the battle due to some water damage. Fun stuff in a summer cabin full of surprises along with an aqua blue tiled bathroom and a toilet and tub to match!

If you're looking for a laugh, check out http://www.omodern.com/Eurobad/euro.html

It's got some really "great" Swedish interiors from the 70s.

I don't mind the cabinets provided they are in good condition. I like the idea of keeping old vintage cabinets. I would chuck everything else but the stainless steel sink. I could see how to update this. I never did like the avocado green and harvest gold look even though I had harvest gold back in the day.

I'm pretty much in love with that wallpaper.

The 70's kitchen is almost exactly the same as the one that was in my condo. Mine had lemon yellow counters, tangerine floors and harvest gold appliances and a dropped plastic ceiling with florescent lights. The place was built in 1973. The vinyl wallpaper was a nightmare to remove. The only thing I liked about my old kitchen was it's size.

I like that first kitchen better than the other three. I'm in love with the wallpaper and at least it has some personality.

Ooops, I meant better than the other four. 1970's FTW.

i still have harvest gold appliances in my apartment. id love to see a post around integrating that color with dark wood for those of us who rent and are 'stuck' with what we have!

I rent an older apartment. The crazy 70s wallpaper in the kitchen has been painted over and I love the avocado green stove, dishwasher, and counter tops so much. The dark cabinets drive me nuts, though. If they were painted white would make the room feel much more open, but I'm not sure what doing so will do to my security deposit.

Cegillis, I love Eurobad, but it's mostly German interiors, Swedes didn't go quite as crazy then, but hunter green was big in Swedish appliances. One of my friends, from Scotland, told me that (after sending me another similar site) they thought that those interiors, bathrooms especially, were AMERICAN, believe it or not, as in the Europeans who installed them thought that's how American bathrooms looked at the time.

Yay something besides white kitchens!

I've been infatuated with walnut kitchens for a while now. Given the right combo of wood and door style, I think they're timeless and beautiful.

The cabinets in the first photo are as attractive to me as those in the current photos.

I agree with Strawberry79 - it's refreshing to see something other than a white kitchen!

There are white kitchen cabinets in the rental I'm in now. They look nice, but I am forever wiping streaks of coffee and spilled food off the doors. They get dirty so fast! I live with a roommate who is oblivious to this kind of thing, so I've become the cabinet cleaner-upper, which has made me not like white cabinets so much. I grew up in a 1960s ranch house with old dark cabinets and dirty cabinets were never an issue.

Does anyone else have the gets-dirty-quick white cabinet problem? I've wondered if my roommate is unusually messy or if this is a normal white cabinet thing?

@illuminatedpst I have this problem with my white cabinets too. I am definitely unusually messy, but if that were the reason, we'd have to claim I was magically less messy when I lived in places with wood colored cabinets.

"Yay something besides white kitchens!"

Strawberry79 and Mrs. Vickie, right on! So sick of seeing white kitchens everywhere!

Love 1 & 2 of the modern walnut kitchens, the color is much more beautiful than the reddish orangy brown we see so much.

The first kitchen I remember was orange (matching the dishes of the lead photo). We had dark walnut director's chairs with bright orangey-yellow canvas (matching the light fixture of the lead photo). Can't remember anything else about the counters or appliances, but I think my mom would've approved of the above color scheme and I'll bet she was right on-trend for 1968!

I LOVE no. 1. I wish I could magically install that kitchen in my house right now.

Thank you for doing a piece on walnut. It's the most amazingingly durable and beautiful wood in the world.

I love the second kitchen, especially the dark cabinets. The first one is just too much, I didn't see the 2 telephones until I began reading the comments, they just blend in with the paper. But that was the "70 and the style
just about everyone had, even me.

If the retro kitchen had the abundance of windows and natural light gracing the modern kitchens, you would have a kitchen with all sorts of potential and less in need of a sledgehammer. I have a similarly claustrophobic dark wood cabinet, brown applianced early 70's kitchen that is soon to be gutted in order to allow for enlargement of a small window. Well, that and the install of modern white painted cabinets, and Pietra Verde counter tops. I try to recycle, reuse but the kitchen to me is not salvageable. I am reusing the drawer/door knobs.