Finished piano island… back to the kitchen.
if you’re new to the piano, start here! This is part 7… here is: part one, two, three, four, five, six
A refresher: we live in an old Victorian house + I love old/giant/impractical objects = an antique grand piano kitchen island.
The last time you saw the repurposed-piano kitchen island, we had designed the storage, and built and installed the drawers… but we still needed pulls for the drawer faces.
We couldn’t finish the front without knowing exactly what the hardware would be.
If you’re new, this is the post to read to understand the how/why of the design details… here’s the series of piano posts: getting it, epic quest, deconstructing/gutting, debating design, building drawers.
This is where we were:
It took me THIS long to find handles that I loved.
Which is the precise problem with trying to create what lives in your imagination, rather than simply going to the store and choosing from options that actually exist.
I wanted something brass. That was large. And appropriately fancy. And of course old. And I needed three.
And just to make it impossible, I also wanted something recessed into the wood so that the hardware wasn’t disrupting the line/visual/some detail I have in my head that doesn’t matter to anyone else.
I thought I might end up compromising on something like this; choosing simplicity and BEING FINISHED, over MORE LOOKING.
But then these finally showed up.
***
I spent the last year digging through boxes of hardware at auctions and salvage yards…and I also saved about 900 search-term combinations on eBay.
Every phrase I could think of related to: brass/antique/hardware/drawer/pulls/Victorian/ornate/heavy/giant/recessed/fancy.
Which meant I spent a lot of time wading through ebay-notification emails… and plenty of time being disappointed when I found something I really liked! But ARGH! Was only one or two, rather than the set of three we needed.
The front/face hides a double-decker drawer that provides a LOT of storage and organizing options, while keeping the exterior appearance simple and true to the original style of the piano.
We skipped hardware for the skinny drawers under the piano, because you just grab the bottom/under lip.
I was a little bit worried that trying to grasp the centerpiece/handle bit would be an issue, (obviously I ignored this possible problem in favor of visually getting exactly what I wanted) but it turned out fine – you don’t actually pinch the center bar, you just put your fingers underneath the handle’s lip, like a cup pull.
New topic: The last time I wrote about the kitchen, we took out the half bath and ripped up the floor in the addition… at the time, Elvis was reaching the end of her vet’s-best-case-scenario-hypothetical-timeline and the LAST thing I wanted was to have a lot of chaos if she was fading. I cannot overstate my gratitude that she is somehow still here! And my preference would be to continue to postpone all kitchen stuff indefinitely and spend whatever time we have left taking her outside to supervise the squirrels.
HOWEVER. Elvis and I live with this other person… and this other person has some scheduled vacation time coming up. And if he doesn’t get to use it work on the kitchen, his head will explode.
And seeing as how the man drove 14 hours in two days to make all my dreams come true, it does seem like the very LEAST I can do is try to keep his skull intact. So. We’ve ordered windows for the back wall… theoretically, it will look like this… BUT FANCIER.
Now I have two important announcements: 1. My career as a motivational hoarder is beginning! I will be in New Hampshire, in October, speaking about self-actualization through Giant Fancy Things.
A gathering of New England’s best antiques, vintage and re-purposed dealers in a huge Victorian barn built in the late 1800’s. — Sage Farm Antiques, Autumn Spectacular, October 7th-9th… Facebook event page.
Magically, this will put me 20 minutes from my best friend, AND allow me to shop a BARN FULL OF GFT’s (and also SFT’s— SMALL fancy things, and also hopefully BFT’s— BROKEN fancy things)… and if they give me a microphone, a kitten, and a Marine, my life will be complete. I really, really, REALLY hope that I’ll get to meet some of you! (But please do not try to buy anything I am interested in.)
2. I am LIVING for this necklace.
It’s BLUE! It’s SHINY! It has TASSELS! It’s WEIRDLY LARGE!
But to truly drive yourself crazy enjoy the necklace as I have, you have to buy two… then you have to remove the fringe from one and add it to the other… This should take roughly 14 hours, and involve two pair of needle nose pliers and a deep desire to stab someone; and also give you ample time to question your life-goals.
I had more to say about this, but then I remembered that I have already written an ode to necklaces. I revisited it, and I still like it. It’s an early post, and I use the s-word; because it was before I rooted out any offensive element of my personality so that I would appeal to as many people as possible… leaving only the bland shell you see before you today.
May 5, 2016 @ 9:26 pm
I would love you EVEN MORE if you wore more tassels.
I am so inspired by your hoarding that I may come get more inspiration on hoarding and the acquisition of GFTs and SFTs in person!!
May 5, 2016 @ 9:28 pm
Victoria, you know the secret of the Universe: put your wishes out there, have faith, and sit back and wait for your desire to manifest itself. Those drawer pulls are PERFECTION! They look fabulous! Your piano kitchen island is one of a kind, and I’m a little envious!
Congratulations on your speaking engagement!
May 6, 2016 @ 9:29 am
Love. It. But I have a question. What paint/stain/finish products did you use to match the drawers to the piano?
May 6, 2016 @ 12:17 pm
I always say that the right items find me, but truthfully they find me because I search a lot! The handles are Devine (as is the piano island).
May 6, 2016 @ 12:22 pm
sweetums, do you think you will ever finish that kitchen? i know most of us probably thought you were nuts when you decided to use a piano as an island….. but i will admit to being wrong…. it is going to be an exceptional piece……but come on, those windows? they are huge… and no drapery in the kitchen, they will get greasy….congratulations on what you have achieved so far : remodel, unique piece of furniture, still married to a most patient spouse….LOL. keep us entertained….
May 6, 2016 @ 2:12 pm
If only the piano that came with our house had been a grand instead of an upright! Unfortunately it took up far too much room in our small house and after being unsuccessful selling it or giving it away for free (because people want their free 130 year old pianos in perfect condition) my husband and father in law took it apart to get it out of the house. I’ll admit I cried a little.
May 6, 2016 @ 4:34 pm
I live very near where you’ll be speaking! So I will be there; I am unreasonably/appropriately excited to get to meet you!
May 6, 2016 @ 4:48 pm
So worth the wait and arduous search but so absolutely perfect-the piano is quite Giant and the pulls being fairly large add a delicate quality that melds perfectly with the end result. I would not necessarily make the top too white depending on the cabinets and wall color if any.
I think a granite or quartz with black( not speckles but streaks of old gold-like the pulls) and another lesser color might be handsome …or not……Keep on keeping on Miss Elvis-you look Mar-vel-ous!
May 7, 2016 @ 11:16 am
Piano – A+
Window plans – A+
Weird Necklace fetish – A
Protection of P’s skull – A+
Meeting Marion! – A+ (Advanced placement +1 point)
Elvis = extra credit!
May 8, 2016 @ 6:46 pm
Wow, wow, wow! Congratulations on your speaking engagement! 1. Bland is a word that really does not fit in your GFT world. 2. Yeah, I love the piano island, the whole idea, the great creation of storage, the success of your intense search to find great brass pulls. 3. I’m amazed by your creative thought and ability to write it with such humor. Hope your speaking and blogging lands you fabulous career. I have thought for a long time that writing a book should be in your future. Thanks and keep sending us fans your creative self! PS land an engagement south of the Mason-Dixon Line!
May 15, 2016 @ 9:29 pm
The island is superb looking.
Congrats on the speaking engagement 🙂
May 21, 2016 @ 3:21 pm
There’s no where good to put this…but I hope you’re going to post about horse-racing at some point. I can’t stand this time of year. Some poor horse is always dying in one of the triple crown races. So tragic. So unnecessary. I can’t open up cnn.com or google news right now after glimpsing the headline. Humans are so messed up… 🙁
June 1, 2016 @ 1:13 pm
I’ve been following this project for awhile now and I think I’m more excited to see the progress for this than any of the redecorating I’ve been doing in my own house! I can’t wait to see the final project! Keep it coming! Thanks for sharing 🙂
June 1, 2016 @ 11:26 pm
You have such a way with words and you make me smile with your serious silliness. How exciting that you will be speaking at something BIG. It’s too far away for me but I hope you’re able to find and capture some new and exciting “have to haves” for your home. Glad to see Elvis looking good.
August 25, 2016 @ 6:05 pm
Hi…from G.R.I.T.S. Girl…Girls Raised In The South… Augusta, Georgia.
I have a square grand piano, and as near as I can tell, it is exactly like the one you are working on for your kitchen island. It beloved to my precious grandmother “Mommy” who lived just next door to us when I was growing up. She was more like a second mother to me than a grandmother. Her lovely piano sat in the “parlor” of her home and she let me bang on it all I wanted to. She has been gone many years now, and I inherited the piano…and most of her old furniture. It is mostly in storage, but hopefully I will be able to paint it for a cottage farmhouse that I hope to own before I die!! It’s more like something to paint white…kinda not so shabby chic style. Not fancy at all. Not like your home and furnishings!!! Have always wondered what I would do with that piano. Standing next to it one day a few years back, it hit me that it would make a great kitchen island. My son has it in his den just now. Hold his TV and Racing Trophies. I’ve told him…now remember…it’s just on loan til….. I have found a few sites on the net where others have used one for a variety of uses…only one was a kitchen island. They left the keys and covered with plexiglas…or something. I would do what you are doing…drawers. Hang the sound boards and inner parts up like art. {I already have the inner workings and parts of an old upright piano on my walls.] Do you play the piano? Not me tho I took a few lessons as a child. Too tom-boyish to stick with it. Couldn’t stay still long enough to practice. SOOOO…when am I going to get to see the finished product actually in your kitchen….???? I am waiting!! Linda
October 18, 2016 @ 9:27 am
This is wonderful! I have not seen a piano re-purposed like this before. Gives me lots of ideas for pianos I see at auctions all the time that no one wants to bid on because they don’t want to move them!
December 8, 2016 @ 2:57 pm
I know Sam, I see them all the time too!
July 6, 2017 @ 11:17 am
If you ever come to northwest Florida or Alabama area there is a place here I think you would love. Check out the Facebook page for Charles Phillips antiques & architecturals…I think you’d have a blast there for sure…& it may be safer than Craig’s list:)
August 12, 2017 @ 9:45 pm
I think of you and your kitchen island whenever I watch “The Quiet Man” and see Maureen tell the boys to place the piece in front of the window.
May 9, 2018 @ 2:51 pm
Love your mind set, your posts, you, in general. Wish I could come to NH for the Fall Fancy Things of All Sizes extravaganza, but I plan to be in Berlin at that very same time, searching for Old German Fancy Things.
Some day we’ll have to have a fancy thing cook-off, as I have a few Fancy Old Mirrors to rival yours. Dueling Fancy Things.
With sincere appreciation and admiration,
Marta Chausée