Our Piano

I have always dreampt that my boys would play the piano. My side of the family has music in our blood and I wanted my children to learn. Starting with the piano, you learn to read music and then you can do so many things with it. But when I see teenage boys play the piano, there is just something that gets me. They are going against the grain and I want to encourage that.

The boys started music lessons when they were 3 and 4. There's not much to it at that age, but they get exposed.

We bought a keyboard for Christmas that year so the boys could do their homework. We really didn't know if it would be their thing, so I didn't want to invest too much.

And I still don't know if it is "their" thing, because I want it to be theirs, but they are currently loving it, so we are continuing.

I've always wanted a piano in the house and thought I had the place picked out, but I was being very specific with what I was looking for. (Some might call it picky). While Mr. JCrew was out of town over the summer, I bought an upright piano. I got so excited when I saw the listing. It was a couple in a neighborhood just around the corner from us. I sent the picture to Mr. JCrew and begged for him to let me get this piano.

The family was moving and had no place to put the piano. The piano had been in their family for years and was originally black! They stripped it and stained it to what it is now. I love it!

We had a local piano guy move it for us and then he came back to tune it. On the day we went to go get the piano, the couple selling it told us they were no longer moving and they were going back and forth on the sale. But they decided that our boys would have such a long time ahead of them, that they wanted our boys to have the piano. I am so grateful!

Now, I originally wanted the piano to go in the living room. Eventually I'd rearrange the room. But when I put the mirror up on that wall, it messed up where I was planning to put the piano.

I then thought I could put the piano on another wall in the living room, but the wall wasn't long enough. So, the piano ended up going in our master bedroom!

Decorated

Odd place, I know, but it is perfect. While we are all getting ready in our bathroom before school, the boys play the piano while we are all going through our morning routine.

Before Hanging a Picture Above It

An upside to the piano being in our bedroom, is that no one knows it is there. We don't have kids banging on the piano when they come to visit.

The boys were so excited for a piano. They couldn't wait to tell their music teacher.

There is nothing like the sound of a real piano compared to the keyboard.

I wanted to decorate around the piano, but didn't know exactly what. But I staged the piano for a picture to gift my mom and I liked the large picture hanging above the piano. I had the large frame and I actually had the large mat (it was hidden inside the frame.) I printed the staged picture and put it in the frame above the piano.

And I have my favorite maiden hair fern (silver dollar) on the piano.

I am hoping this piano will stay in our family now and be passed on. We love it so much already.

Ukelele Hanging

For Christmas 2016, Mr. Brigglesworth was gifted a blue Ukelele. He has loved that thing! But with baby brother's hands, it was kept up more often than it was played with. We had to keep it out of Mister Pfitzer's hands and it was stored in all kinds of places. But it has recently found a permanent home!

At first we were storing it in the living room on the book shelves. That way, we could see it. But it wasn't played with. It then got moved to the play closet and was REALLY not played with because it was on a shelf up high.

I then got the idea to get a hanger similar to the guitar hangers and hang his ukelele. Next decision was where? I thought about putting it in his bathroom, but then I decided to put it in his room.

I think it is cute. It's played with more and little brother can't reach it.

Bonus Room

The Bonus Room is not complete, but I'll share how far it has come along.

The first thing in this room was a couch. We bought a small couch from Costco.

We had a small bookcase that we kept the small TV on and the VCR player.

And you saw the music side of the room with the guitar's hanging.

We eventually upgraded the TV in that room and bought a console to conceal more toys.

It is definitely meant to be a fun room where all the playing happens and that's what goes down. Mister Pfitzer loves to get play time up here because it is a whole different set of toys he doesn't get to play with often.

It is a fun room that I am not done with. It is functional in how we have all the toys with easy access, but I'm not loving the look. I'm all about having toys easily accessible so the toys are actually played with, but I battle putting them on shelves to look "nice" but then I know they won't get played with.

Stay tuned for updates to this room.

Dining Room

The dining room is constantly changing, but here it is in its current state.

The old dining room set we owned dated all the way back to my condo in Orlando. I kept it as a square in the condo, but put the leaves in to make it a rectangle in the larger house.  The buyer of our old house wanted it, so he kept it. It was a bar-height table which worked, but I was ready to get down to table-height.

Condo

First House

I bought the new dining set while we were living in my parent's townhome and we put their dining room set in storage and put our new set in her dining room. The table and chairs were not a set together, but I picked the table I liked and the chairs I liked. I've always been drawn to ladderback chairs.

The table has leaves to expand and we need them to fit everyone during the holiday's. I love having a big table!

If I could change one thing, I might have changed the color. I went for a dark color, as I love dark wood, but the new house has very little dark wood. I guess it doesn't blend into the floor or wall, but it definitely sticks out. But the color has grown on me. The thing these days is to mix colors of wood, so I am okay.

2015

I was back and forth on a rug. The rug from our dining room in the last house is now under our bed in the master bedroom. This table is larger, therefore needs a larger rug. I first thought I wanted a sisal/jute rug, but that became too popular. Now, I'm thinking of a rug that has navy in it so it can tie in the office right next to it.

Here is the rug I am currently liking.

Kensington Blossom by FLOR

I took my time decorating the house (still not done), but the first thing I hung on the walls were the candle sconces. But the space above the shiplap was bare and I didn't know what to do with it. I couldn't center artwork on the wall, because that wouldn't be center with the room. The staircase opening threw things off.  But I was fine with not having anything on the wall. Til one day Mom found a large cutting board. I had been looking for a large one to use as a table runner. I found this one locally and loved it, but it wouldn't work as a table runner. It just got lost on the table with all the decor on it. And if I was going to spend good money on it, I didn't want it to be hidden. So, it went onto the wall!

I like it!

As for the table, the decor has also changed on it. I got the large jugs at Hobby Lobby in the tinted green color. I have a few different sprigs to alternate during the seasons, but the fiddle leaf fig stems I found at Pier One have been my favorite and I have not rotated my other stems.

Pussy Willow

I love that our dining room is close to the kitchen, but open to the rest of the house. I could sit at our table for hours and eat and talk. Guess I need to plan more dinner parties!

Sources:
Dining Table - Pottery Barn Cortona Wood Extending Rectangular Dining Table
Dining Chairs - Pottery Barn Wynn Ladderback
Tabletop Jug/Vase - Hobby Lobby
Cutting Board - Local Shop (Brooks & Collier)
Chandelier - Lowes Westmore Lighting 9-light Hartford Oil-Rubbed (also used in many "Fixer Upper"s!)
Candle Sconces - Pottery Barn Juliana Hanging Iron Hurricane Item # 43-1868504