This American of Martinsville credenza is a repeater in the vintage world. You will come across it quite often. American of Martinsville, or AoM as vintage dealers call it, made solid wood furniture starting in 1906.
If you go to their website, you will see that they ultimately transitioned over to making furniture for hotels, but back in the 1900s, they made amazing residential furniture.
I have painted several of their vintage dressers and credenzas over the years. This one is an all-time favorite.
Usually, AoM furniture has beautiful details and cool hardware, but this one is pretty simple in terms of hardware. The hardware is unimpressive, but they have made for some of it with lovely details on the doors and fantastic legs.
The dental molding is also an excellent detail on the bottom. The toe caps are a lovely detail that pops once the piece is painted.
The large doors on this credenza are a great feature to add amazing hardware on, and I have done it almost every time that I have painted it.
American Of Martinsville In Inchyra Blue
A favorite designer of ours, Emily Hall, chose this credenza for her customer’s entryway. She chose Farrow and Ball Inchyra Blue for it.
Farrow and Ball describe it as
“This moody hue can read more grey, blue, or even green depending on the light.”
And their description is spot on. As you can see, it looks all of it at the same time.
Emily chose Modern Matter’s Benson backplates with Benson knobs in an antique brass finish.
American Of Martinsville In Aqua Blue
This was my go-to hardware until I designed the hardware of my dreams. I will do a separate post on the hardware. It’s an amazing DIY hardware option, especially for credenza doors.
This is our custom Aqua Blue. It is the perfect Tiffany box blue. The “hardware” is just a wooden applique with a knob on top to be able to grab and open the door.
The Creamy White Version
Of course, white is the most popular color that clients choose for their furniture, and I, too, choose it plenty of times because it is such an easy sell.
Here is the blog post detailing my favorite whites for vintage furniture. I don’t remember which white I used for this, as it’s been a few years, but it looks like Sherwin Williams Greek Villa.
I think it looks fabulous in any color and also in creamy white. I have painted this in white at least a couple of times.
Final Thoughts
This American of Martinsville credenza is a vintage classic if you get your hands on it to paint or already painted (by someone else) pretty much in any color!
You can’t go wrong with this one.