The newly renovated kitchen inside Steve and Keeli Elaschuk's 1950s bungalow flaunts a black and white checkered floor, an old-school sugar shaker and napkin dispenser, and round, vinyl-covered bar stools befitting a diner from that era. The coffee Keeli serves up on a frosty fall morning, thankfully, is not vintage.

The fresh, full-bodied joe, served in a Corner Gas mug, is--like the black granite countertops and stainless steel appliances --indisputably from this generation.

It's a sign that, though the young couple wanted their new kitchen to give a nod to the northwest Calgary home's history (the nifty '50s), they also wanted it to have all the modern amenities of the new millennium.

With the help of Jen and Dave Storm of Rocket Renovations, the Elaschuks created a contemporary-meets-retro cooking and entertaining space that's an apt reflection of its owners.

The more traditional Steve, 37, appreciates the design sensibility of the '50s, while Keeli, 25, prefers a more clean-lined contemporary look with a dash of retro and "a little bit of punk rock."

"The hardest thing (about the renovation) was just getting the two of us to agree. Our tastes are fairly different," says Steve.

The Social Distortion poster hanging on a wall in the adjacent living room? It belongs to Keeli, as do the Star Wars lunch box and high-tech light sabre on display. Steve's decor contributions include the framed Frankenstein and The Shakedown posters in the living room, and the three framed, vintage, orchard fruit box labels hanging above the sink (his grandma owned an orchard in Kelowna).

Though to some extent he believes good design ended in the 1950s, Steve stopped short of sourcing Formica countertops or retro-looking appliances for the cooking space.

"After a while you turn into a bit of a cliche, if you go that far back into the '50s," he says.

The old-school elements are balanced smartly with modern details such as stainless steel and blue glass tiles for the back-splash, and three funky pendant lights that hang above the oak butcher block bar. A design touch embraced by both Keeli and Steve, the lights look a lot like little rocket ships. They're retro and modern all at once.

It's a style that design duo Jen and Dave Storm specialize in. Though the husband and wife team can achieve any look, their clients are often "attracted to our funkiness," says Jen.

That's what drew in the Elaschuks when they met the Rocket Renovations team at the Calgary Home + Interior Design show last year.

Steve and Keeli asked several reno companies to bid on completing their dream kitchen, and Rocket Renovations was the only one that came back with a quote under budget. All in, the couple spent $51,000, an amount that included new windows and a couch and recliner in the living room, in addition to the kitchen's many features (cabinets, blinds, Maytag and Kenmore appliances, counters, floor, backsplash, lighting).

What's more, the company worked with them to save money, and was supportive of their decisions to go with ceramic floor tiles from Rona and cabinets from IKEA, for example.

Adorned with modern stainless pulls from Rona, the white cabinetry proves you can achieve a Champagne look on a wine budget. The four bar stools also look expensive, but cost just $150 apiece, plus shipping from New York (the Elaschuks ordered them online).

Being a small, family-run renovation company, Dave did all the work himself except for the electrical wiring, plumbing and backsplash.

"With most of our renovations, Dave pitches ideas. He's really great at design," says Jen.

"He can picture what the space is going to look like."

And then deliver--the kitchen turned out pretty much how Steve envisioned, and Keeli loves it too.

From a functional perspective, Steve likes the additional counterspace; from an esthetic standpoint, he digs the floor.

"I'm glad I got my way with the floor. I knew I was right."

It's yet another example that the couple didn't always agree on the details--Keeli pushed for a grey slate floor and a stone counter that resembled a seabed (both too modern for Steve's tastes).

Though she's been won over by the checkered floor tiles, what Keeli loves most about their new kitchen is its size. By taking down a wall and opening the kitchen to a new bar area (in what was before an underutilized space filled with houseplants), it appears much larger.

In fact, the couple were able to host 13 people for a buffet-style Thanksgiving dinner last month --a feat they never could have pulled off pre-reno.

Says Keeli: "I feel like I moved into a new house."

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