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.

Guitar Hanging

The Bonus Room is coming together in phases, but it's definitely a hangout spot.

I always envisioned it being our music room, and it definitely has a music side of the room. We have various instruments we put on display in that room. Mr. JCrew has an electric guitar and my dad had a guitar.

We at first bought wall hangers for the two guitars to get them off of the ground.

Then my mom came home with another guitar. She put it in the toy closet and it was taking up too much room on a shelf, so I went out and bought another hook to hang the third guitar.

The space below the guitars has some more musical instruments so that the boys can just breakout in music at any time. The wire cubes came from the old house and work for the moment. It's not my favorite set up, but I am living with it. I don't know if new cubes that are all the same color would work or if it needs to change all together. I actually have more wire pieces to make it longer, if needed.

We'll see how this area changes. I really like having the guitars hanging on the wall.