Turquoise Love

Doesn't the word 'turquoise' just thrill you? A Mid Century Antique myself, I can appreciate the word and the color. It hearkens me back to my childhood and images of my neighbors copper gelatin molds, gleaming on the ocean blue of their kitchen walls.  The preferred color at the time was either the turquoise, (sometimes pronounced tur QUAZ by the more dramatic) or pink with gray accents.  I do remember this. So when the current infatuation with all things Mid Century began, I was there.  I believe it probably is some unconscious effort on my part to take a piece of childhood and reconstruct it for good.  To take the essence of the 50's and 60's, recapture it, and bend it to make better memories than perhaps I was endowed with.

Whatever.

    Truth is, I love the color.  Even in 1992 when I bought this dandy Branchell Melamine vegetable bowl (which is  handily holding fresh black raspberries from Gardening Church Friend's abundant fields), at an Estate Sale for a quarter, I knew it's time would soon be coming back. Even though the trend at the time was the Victorian Look Revisited, I knew that the sweet little bowl would just have to start something in my collection.  Ever since that day, bits of kitchen turquoise has been happily appearing.  And thus shall it ever be, that when the time came to replace my elder counter tops, my full commitment to the Beloved Color waved it's flag.  In keeping with my mid century love affair/psychiatric upheaval with the color, the Turquoise Boomerang pattern of long ago shall be my cooking companion  till I am called elsewhere on this sod or the next. So I am busily preparing for the day when The Big Turquoise Commitment arrives.  This would involve a fresh coat of paint to my 70's all maple cabinets.  I know, I know.  My realtor of long ago, who just so happened to be the man that remodeled the kitchen in the 70's, was quite protective of the quality of the all wood construction.  He warned me rather sternly, 'Now don't you go paint those cabinets; those are solid maple!'.  To wit, I nodded in agreement, thinking that maybe a nod would be less of a lie than a verbal acknowledgement.  The smallish kitchen was a little too closed in  to handle all the darkness of the wood's color.  Before the year was out, the first coat of paint had appeared and I prayed that the gentleman would never visit.  I knew the possibility of replacing these gems was slim to none, so I have adapted in the way that one does when one is on a budget: Paint.  In the first redo 10 years ago, I did replace the knobs with the shiny brassy thingys that were ever so popular then.  Twenty seven of them.  Time has passed and the knobs that appeal to me now are way too far out of my Kitchen Update Budget, so again, Paint.  I've spray painted all the knobs my Psychiatric Treatment Turquoise. And the brassy grids of the lighted display cabinet.  And to balance it with the Turquoise, orange , yellow scheme, I've outlined the Former Maple Cabinets with a jaunty yellow stripe. Please do not tell my elderly realtor, if he's still alive.  I think he would ground me.  I had just enough paint left over to cast a dubious eye to my phone stand, that before Saturday,  had managed to escape any paint since the 60's.  It's durable and safe finish has stood guard over my phone and all the area's books for quite awhile now and he just looked a bit sad in all the 50's hoopla and jazziness, so it got sprayed as well.  It is very happy.

You must stay tuned as more of the Tur QUAZZIE goodness spreads throughout my kitchen.  Pardon me while I go and visit my therapist.......