Monday, September 26, 2011

Check one off the bucket list

Ain't she sweet?

As she sat in the seller's basement- obviously this is not my kitchen!

I have wanted a vintage stove forever. Certainly as long as I have lived in our current place -going on 9 years now. With the vintage kitchen I have, it was one of the biggest missing pieces.

But I had a modern stove that worked fine and was perfectly acceptable until recently. As a matter of fact, it still does work, it's just not pretty to look at. So this was the perfect time to start looking for the vintage stove of my dreams! I can have the luxury of taking my time with a restoration project, but still with the motivation that it needs to get finished and get put in ASAP.

Plus, it was relatively easy to convince my husband that we shouldn't spend so much on a brand new stove that I didn't really want anyway. I used my own money on this stove and will continue to do so for the restoration, which probably will include new counter tops, since this stove is 10" wider. (Thank you to those of you that have shopped my Etsy store- your purchases made this little project possible!)

So what did I get? A 1950s Westinghouse stove with double oven, three burners and a deep well cooker. I haven't figured out the exact year yet, but I'm guessing sometime around 1954-56. The double oven was #1 on my list of "must haves"; the deep well cooker, not so much. I don't yet know if I'm going to love it or hate it. But it does have plenty of "counter space", as well as two outlets if I decide I want to add an extra burner or two.

It works great- the knobs are super cool. They change from green backlit to yellow to red as the burner gets hot.

I do want to completely rewire the burners, and probably the oven elements, though, for safety's sake. And I have already taken some of the chrome pieces (door handles) off to get re-chromed. (We have always wanted to restore an old car, and this is kind of like my own version of that.) So it will be a bit of a learning process for me. Hopefully everything isn't too tricky to find and to fix; I really don't want to spend tons of money on professionals.

I will keep everyone updated on the progress, and hopefully you all will be as interested in this as I am! In the meantime, enjoy this c.1960 commercial for Westinghouse appliances featuring the cast of I Love Lucy.

10 comments:

  1. Yay! You finally got it! It's beautiful, and I'm so happy you can finally check that off your list. Your kitchen is coming together spectacularly!

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  2. SO happy for you! A little Jealous too, My 54' Frigidaire has a "warmer drawer" insted fo a double oven. as for the Deep Well, I have just recently fallen in love with mine. It's one less pot you have ot store in a cabinet, you always know where it is. I make Chicken and dumplings in mine, and all kinds of Chilli's and soups! It took me a good long while before I liked it though.. I was afraid I was going to mess it up, or that it would be a paint to clean but nope! Hope you love your new Vintage cooker!

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  3. How wonderful! Congratz. I have an old stove and I love it, except the left oven is 75 degrees off! LOL!

    Thanks doll,
    The Glamorous Housewife

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  4. Yowza! What a cool stove!

    I want one but don't have the room. Maybe in another house.

    Congratulations!

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  5. You WANTED one of these? We had one in our house when we first bought it and couldn't even give it away. It was a very sad day when the trashmen came and crushed it.

    Hope it brings you much joy and happiness,
    Jill

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  6. Congratulations! Welcome to the ranks of those who are younger than their appliances!

    I love mine, too...but I really want a 20s stove, with 2 ovens and a broiler... :-D

    I'm sure you'll turn yours into a showpiece. Mine needs some work, but I don't know when we'll get around to it. Still, it's a wonderful stove.

    Have great fun with your new treasure.

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  8. I've been doing a lot of research on these lately (obviously) and found a great resource for those of you looking for a vintage stove or looking to get rid of one. Check out www.stovelist.com - there are lots of stoves there free, looking for a good home. (Lots of early ones, Eileen!)

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  9. AWESOME! I have a vintage fridge named Fred, and a vintage oven named Ethel! I think you should name yours Lucy!

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  10. Amber- great idea! I can name the stove Lucy and the fridge (it's red) Ricky! :D

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