First things first; what do you think of the name of this post? Better or worse than "Credenza Extravaganza"? The latter name may be more appropriate, since you're about to see a plethora of credenzas... a herd, if you will. Fasten your seat belts:
I just love a beautiful mid-century modern credenza! They're very "now" and the simple lines and warm wood tones make them very in line with my taste. Images of lovely teak and walnut sideboards (like the one above) are all over blogs and magazines. The image above is actually borrowed from a post in a blog called I Like What I'm Herring which describes the blogger's excitement over acquiring their first MCM piece!
While we've loved our little DIY Buffet (below) it is too small to hold all of our china and it has never really felt like "grown up" furniture. In our new house, it will probably be retired to a guest room where it can serve its original purpose as a dresser. Our new house is small, and (with any luck) it will one day be a home for our family. We are considering the need for storage in our small home and trying use it to guide each purchase and design decision.
We definitely need a full sized credenza in either the dining room or family room but our unique harvest table leaves us with a small dilemma: On one hand, we don't want to match it since having another similar piece would take away from the effect. On the other hand, we can't have a piece that clashes or looks silly with it. Basically we want a credenza with more storage; which looks good with but doesn't match our reclaimed wood harvest table; and is preferably vintage or made from salvaged materials. No big deal, right?
Which brings me back to the MCM sideboard. I had ruled out the style for our dining space but I happened across this gem on Craigslist:
The price was right and I just loved the look of those legs. It looked like it would need a little refinishing but was in overall good condition. As per my typical Craigslist routine, I checked for similar items at big box stores and on ebay and yielded results similar to this:
The price was good and I knew the storage would be useful. I also happen to love the piece. Usually, those are my three criteria (Is the price excellent? Is it useful? Do I love it?) but I thought I'd go a step further to see if it would actually "work" with our decor. For me, sometimes I need to see an image of another space in order to visualize a concept in my own space. I turned to "google images" for my research.
My first concern was how the credenza would look if I decided to stain the floors dark. This credenza looks great with the blogger's dark floors and light, mid-century furniture.
I was also concerned about mixing woods since my harvest table is stained a dark shade. I wanted each piece to stand out without competing for attention. The example below shows how different woods can work together in a room and that the material can actually become the focal point. Also, I just love that burl wood table!
Finally, I wanted to see a mid-century style credenza paired with a harvest table in a room. Although I don't love the example below, it at least gives me confidence to see that nothing clashes or looks out of place and that the two styles can be paired together in a modern space.
So it seems that I can probably make the sideboard work in our dining room. I have some ideas which may help me tie the different styles together. If I can't make them work together, I think I'll keep the sideboard for the family room, because it still hits all three of my Craigslist purchase criteria.
It's a versatile piece of furniture, since it can be used in almost any room and it even looks good at the beach. Okay, this is probably not true, but this picture popped up on my google image search and it was too funny not to include. What the...?
What do you think of the MCM trend? Do you love the credenza or do you agree with my mom that it's just awful? Would you paint it or try to restore the wood? Do you see it in a dining room or family room?
By the way, if I were going to paint it, I would try to save as much of the original finish as possible. I will probably only paint it if the finish can't be saved.
If paint turns out to be necessary, I would prefer to half-paint it to look like this one.