Cullen Meyer, Crown Prince of Kitsch - 40 photos - Retro Renovation (2024)

“…I like the wild stuff,
or what some people call ‘the dead50s’ …
I’m not sure anyone else does kitsch quite like me.”

Cullen Meyeris a wee babe — just 27 years old — but goodness crikey, he has a jump on us: Hehas been collecting vintage for more than a dozen years already. This ambitious young man searched tirelessly for more than four months to find a time capsule apartment in Brooklyn, just so he could display his collections. Which oh by the way, are MIND BOGGLING, your eyes are going to pop right out of your heads. And what a treat we have today: His friend Paul Quitoriano has photographed the apartment Just For Us.

Oh, did I mentionthat when Cullen initially reached out to me, I knew he had such a great story that I sent the tip to my friend Steve Kurutz of the New York Times? Steve — who wrote the big story about Retro Renovation last fall — knows a great story when he sees one. So, Cullen is in the New York Times today — YES: Cullen is in the New York Times today — woot!

I have been sitting on all these photos for more than two months … tortured… until the big newspaper story had time to hatch; I didn’t want to interfere with Cullen’s crack at the big time.

That said, NYT may be big, as in “All The News That Fits, We Print”, but we’re online, so we can go on and on and on as digital is cheap. We get Cullen’s megastory — and 40 fabulous photos of his apartment. Amaaaaazing.

So buckle up, here come a gazillion photos from Cullen’s Brooklyn apartment, along with his story.

WARNING: Cullen’s collections include some cheesecake p*rno chalkware and salesman sample calendars featuring topless dames, etc.; if you are offended, either do not proceed or cover your eyes. The rest of you pervs: The photos are kinda in the middle somewhere, don’t sprain your index finger scrolling too fast.

Cullen writes:

Hey Pam,

I have been reading your blog for years and love it. I have been collecting/hoarding the most wild 1950s kitsch I can find since I was about 15. 12 years later, I have created an interesting aesthetic/unique slice of mid-century design that I think your readers might find fun. I have held off for years of publishing/showing photos of my space, but I think people would enjoy it.

Sadly, I live in NYC and don’t have a 50s house yet and am only 27. I lived in the West Village for eight years, and made my apartment as retro as I could.

I decided I wanted a bigger space and put up a craigslist ad for four months looking for the least renovated mid-century apartment. I finally found one after four months of constant searching, in Williamsburg Brooklyn. It’s a great story…

So…my apt search. Well, my search started after already living inNew York for eight years. I had moved just after turning 18 to go tocollege. After one year in the dorms I was ready for my own place, and Ifound a great deal on a one-bedroom in the West Village off WashingtonSquare Park.It was your typical renovated blah NYC apartment, but I didmove as much of my 50s collection as I could cram in and made it asretro as I could.

After seven years in the apartment, not only had I accumulated an unholy amount of moreantiques, but I was ready for a real sized apartment (my 1st bedroomwas 12×7).

So I figured since I was going to try to move, I wouldactually try to find an unrenovated mid-century apartment. This, Iknew, was almost impossible. The modus operandi of NYC, especiallywith lower rent apartments is to constantly gut renovate when peoplemove out and get rid of all the great original details.
The only thingpeople really started to preserve was Victorian details, mostly foundin Brownstone buildings in Manhattan and Brooklyn. I had never evenseen or heard of anyone with an original 1950s apt or apartment thathad even been redone in the 1950s and had been preserved.

So for four months I contacted ever realty company I could asking them to watchfor an untouched 50s apartment, and most just laughed, wondered why Iwould want that or told me I would never find it. I also ran aconstant craigslist ad for my very specific hunt.

One day, during thefourth month of looking, I get an email from a broker in WilliamsburgBrooklyn, saying she has my apartment and I needed to come to BrooklynASAP to look at it. As I was unable to leave during the day I rushedover right after work.

What she told me sounded too good to be true.She told me that a friend of hers had just bought the building nextdoor to him and was going to fix it up and rent it out in a fewmonths. He asked her if she wanted to handle renting the apt when itcame time so she went over and looked at the space.

She either saw myad that day or the next day when she was creating craigslist ads forother apartments she was trying to rent. She saw that my ad said Iwanted the most unrenovated 1950s apartment possible. She called my now landlord and told him not to touch anything more (as they had literallyjust started to renovate) until I got there to look at it.

She wastelling me how 50s this place was she couldn’t believe it and that Iwas going to sign the lease the minute I walked in. She tells me this,again sounding too good to be true, but the place was a few blocksfrom her office, so we walk over. At the time the 1st floor wassupposedly reserved for a family member, but I was given theopportunity to rent either the 2nd or 3rd floor apartment.

I walkedin, and I couldn’t believe it, I had never seen anything like it inNYC. All original bathrooms, built-ins, window valances, everything.What had happened, was the same family had owned the building sincethe 1920s when it was a single family house. When their children hadgrown up and were out of the house by the 1950s, the parents decidedto renovate the top 2 floors to rent out and make extra money and liveon the ground floor. Apparently within six months or the first year, theyhated their first two tenants so much, that they kicked them out,reclaimed the entire house for themselves and never rented it outagain.

Someone from the family lived their until a very old age a fewmonths before I saw the apt. When I saw the apartments I took (the topfloor with a little better layout and original pink bathroom) andasked the landlord to preserve all original details, and even askedfor some scraps of scalloped wood edging that had already been removedfrom somewhere. I also told him he should preserve the 2nd floor, theone I didn’t take, and that those details and a mid-century look wasreally a plus and a selling point for my generation (or anyone withtaste).

Really the only thing my landlord had done was put it in newwindows (thankfully). The kitchen floor was damaged and had to go, butsince I got in so early in the process I asked my would be landlord ifhe would put in a black and white check linoleum floor if I took theapt, and he said yes! Everything was totally original, except for somereason the sink in my apartment had been replaced in the 80s-90s witha bad Home Depot thing.

Although the original built in cabinets arewood, I’m guessing that there was a steel sink and maybe a leak causedsome rust and it was tossed. Me being a crazy purist/refinisher, Iasked my landlord(who just happens to be plumber) if I found a periodsink and restored it, if he would put it in for me and he said yes.

SoI found a great Youngtown’s Sink in upstate New York, picked it upwith a friend, refinished it and he put it in for me. So, needless tosay, my now favorite broker in the world was right and I put down adeposit that day to sign a lease the following day.

I did do someminorrestorations, like restoring all the original kitchen hardware,removing all the paint etc ( and also learned at the time as I tookthe hardware off that the original kitchen had been the same pink asthe bathroom).

I also painted every inch of the apt and moved a lotmore of the antiques I had stored at my parents house to Brooklyn, asI finally had the space and right backdrop to display things. I’m sadto say, there is about as much pictured in my apt still in storage, sohopefully one day I can upgrade again to a period house. But for now,I honestly think I couldn’t have found a more 1950s apartment in theamazing condition it was in in NYC.In short it took me about a year to paint everything etc. I also collect vintage linoleum and have linoleum and chromed quite a bit of the apartment.

As you can probably see from the pictures, one of the biggest parts of my collection are wild 50s lamps including moss and majestic.

The apt also have the original pink bathroom, which I have tricked out a little more. I photographed my kitchen, dining room that I turned into a bar, living room and bathroom. I have yet to photograph my bed room and another small room.

And like every good mid-century collector, I have about as much furniture pictured in storage waiting for my dream 50s house that will have room for everything. Sadly, its a rental so I don’t have a vintage stove or fridge which is the one thing I would change.

Thanks again for your blog, its the one blog I check everyday. I’m sure you are constantly crazy busy, but hope to hear from you soon.

Thats pretty much the story of finding my apt. I have a lot morerenovating stories. Like, I collect old linoleum and all the piecesaround my apartment with linoleum surfaces trimmed in chrome I didmyself. And I refinished or refurbished just about everything I have.But anyway, after all that rambling I will stop.

Thanks again, Pam.

Best,
Cullen

You’re welcome. But don’t stop. Don’t EVER STOP.I ask Cullen how he got into retro. So young!

Well,

My parents are big collectors, but of Victorian antiques. I startedcollecting vintage clothing and 50s antiques at about 13. I still sellvintage clothing on the side to private clients and dealers, movieindustry etc. I studied journalism for 2 years at NYU and then got mybachelors degree in fashion design from Parsons.

Since graduating,I’ve worked in trend forecasting as a historical/vintage expertconnecting historical trends in fashion and interiors to modern trendsfor our clients. I guess I’m like an inspirational expert. I’m alsoworking on my first line of men’s/unisex accessories that should beout this fall.

In regards to my apt, I do have a lot… However part of my job isstill going to every major flea market and antique show around thecountry [emphasis Pam’s OMG], and if I see a ‘dream’ piece, I still buy it because I knowI’ll never find it again. And, yes sadly, if its too big to fit in theapartment it goes into storage. That being said I sound like more of ahoarder than I am, ha. It’s just that things from the 50s were so big!I can’t help but run out of space, especially in NYC square footage. The majority of stuff instorage is lamps and lighting, which is my favorite thing, and I can’tpass up. I think I have about 50 Moss lamps alone, obviously not allat my apt. I like the wild stuff, or what some people call “the dead50s”, and I’m not sure anyone else does kitsch quite like me. Also, I would really love to get into set design for movies etc. WhileI collect 50s stuff, I really know every decade and think I would be great at period pieces or even hyper stylized period pieces. However, I feel like costuming and set design are an even tougher world to crack then acting. It seems impossible to get into it unless you know someone or have done a union movie, but you can’t be in the union until you’ve done a movie, and know will hire you to do a movie unless you’re in the union (one of those catch 22 type deals).

Best,
Cullen

I, Pamela Kueber, Queen fer a Day o’ the Retro, Doth Hereby Anoint You, Cullen Meyer: Crown Prince of Kitsch. You have done well. You will go far. We’ll say we knew you when. Don’t forget us.

Thanks so much, Cullen, for sharing your story and thank you so much,Paul Quitoriano, for the photos. No more blog posts for a couple of days. This is gonna take time for everyone to digest; let’s bask.

And we now have music video, too! Thanks to Christopher Considine for the fantastic music!

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