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House call | The new retro
Kate Sanderson’s Logan Square home decor is 1950s-meets-now.
Sanderson says these Geneva cabinets are the same kind Jackie Kennedy had installed in the White House when she famously renovated the First Family’s home.
Sanderson was worried about using such an old stove (this one is from the ’50s), but says it’s the best she’s ever used. “It’s so spot-on with baking,” she says.
The couple found this prison medical cabinet buried among trash in a salvage yard. When Sanderson was cleaning it to convert it to an entertainment center, she found a scalpel taped to the inside of the sink. “It was either a doctor’s quick defense method, or maybe someone was planning an escape,” she says.
There’s a workspace steps away from the kitchen where Sanderson makes vinyl bags for her Kickstarter-supported accessory line, Sink or Swim. The line started when she made a collar for her dog, DeVille.
Weird coincidence: Sanderson found this piece of art by street artist Solve in an alley the same day he was stabbed and killed. “Someone told me this was probably his work table, where he would test stencils,” she says.
Auto paint is an oft-used resource in the Sanderson-Gamen home. The coffee table is coated in the same shade (called Lido Lavender) the couple used to paint the car they’re working on.
Ever since she moved into her cozy Logan Square house eight years ago, Kate Sanderson’s home has been a work in progress. But now the 34-year-old has just a few more tweaks left on her list.
“It was a complete fixer-upper,” she says. “The kitchen was completely rotted.”
Looking at it now, it’s difficult to picture a derelict cooking area. The sparkling, 1950s/’60s-style kitchen looks as if it could be used in a Mad Men scene, thanks in part to the set of light blue Geneva cabinets Sanderson scored on Craigslist for $375. “They were [originally] white and covered in tar from cigarette smoke,” says Sanderson, who works for Motorola.
The renovation of the space really kicked into gear when Sanderson’s boyfriend, Pete Gamen, moved in three years ago. As a side job, Gamen paints cars and motorcycles, so he used auto paint to give the cabinets their current blue hue. The recently applied backsplash is actually automotive metal covered with metal flakes and a coat of clear paint.
The kitchen is a perfect example of the couple’s combined aesthetic. “It’s funny how our house formed. When I had a vision of redoing the house, it was all [going to be] midcentury,” Sanderson says. “And then when Pete moved in, little aspects of him started coming in, which is awesome.” He brought a hot-rod aesthetic to her throwback vibe; just like the cabinets, the old-timey fridge is also covered in shiny auto paint.
The design scheme isn’t entirely a nod to the olden days, though. “People always call my kitchen retro,” Sanderson says. “But it’s really not retro.” Instead, she likens it to restoring a classic car but not sticking to all the exact details. “When you redo a car, and you don’t do it period correct, you call it kustom with a k,” she says. “I think of our kitchen as a kustom kitchen—it’s retro with some new features.”
Speaking of classic cars and modern twists, the painted car hood hanging over the sofa has a postmodern street-art look to it. In addition to renovating their pad, the couple are also restoring a 1963 Cadillac. “Until we need it for the car, that’s where it’ll be,” Sanderson says of the hanging hood.
Finding new uses for items is a strong theme here. The steel entertainment center, which includes a built-in mini fridge, is actually a 1950s prison medical cabinet. Step onto the tiki-flavored backyard patio, and you’ll find furniture made from wood pallets surrounding a hot tub the couple scored for free from a friend of a friend.
The back of the house is a great spot for hosting gatherings. And now that the renovation of the home’s main spaces is close to completion, the couple have been entertaining inside as well. “Last summer, we went out a couple of times a week, just to get out of the chaos of the house,” Sanderson says. “Now we have people over all the time.”
It's okay to be a show-off.
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