I always wanted to learn to play the piano, but when I was growing up, we couldn't afford one, so I learned what I could here and there.
Somewhere around 1989, when I married my second husband, the wife of one of his friends told me something that changed my life...no not on a grand scale...but changed nonetheless. She had an old upright piano and she said “If you can move it, you can have it.” I don't remember all the details, but my husband got several of his army buddies to help him move the 500+ pound monster, and at the age of 26, for the first time in my life, I had a piano! I was ecstatic!
I have never learned to play well, probably because of my lack of focus, but I loved that piano. My oldest son took lessons for a few years, and Katherine has had a few lessons too. By the time my boys were grown, and Ed and I were together, the damper pedals were broken, so any playing was out of tune and muddy. I had already been told that the 100-year-old piano could not be fixed or tuned, and it was pretty much worthless, but I couldn't afford a new one, and I was seriously attached to it anyway. You all know how I am about throwing stuff away.
Last summer another friend made a similar offer. She had a smaller piano, probably from the 1940's that she kept in her book store. The problem was that the legs were unstable and she needed to be able to move it around. Did I want it? Absolutely!
Ed says, “so what are we going to do with the old one?” Repurpose it of course!
We did have to overcome a few obstacles that included getting a dolly to move the new piano from the store to the house, coordinating my sons to come and help, and getting the old piano out of the house.
I should mention here that Ed has nicknamed my youngest son, Kyle, “Bam Bam” after the Flintstones character. Kyle is our muscle man. He can move the old piano across the room by himself. If we had needed that, there wouldn't have been a problem. We didn't. We needed it moved out the front door, which is just barely wider than the piano. The angle has to be just right, or it isn't going.
It was hot that day.
Here is just a sample of the two hour ordeal to get the piano out the front door.
They finally got it outside, the new one in, and were ready to call it a day, but I wasn't . Over the next few hours, I did manage to get the two of the front pieces off: The one on the top that covered the keys, and the one on the bottom that covered the dampers.
For my first repurpose project, that was all I needed, along with a couple dozen old encyclopedias and text books. Our television, DVD player, etc. had all sat on top of the old piano. The new piano was too small, so I was going to need a make do entertainment center. Of course, its a temporary one, but I like it.
The trunk next to it, was another repurpose project. I got the old trunk from a flea market for about $7.00. It was pretty beat up looking, but it was sound. I painted the trim black, and used Mod Podge to cover it with old wallet sized pictures. I had tons from old school pictures and professional portraits. Its a great way to display a lot of photographs. Inside I have all my photo albums, baby books, and other family history treasures. Ed bolted some casters on a piece of plywood and sat the trunk on it. That way, we can move it easily.
As for the piano, Over the next few days, I got the keys and dampers out, but then the weather stopped cooperating and we had to put the deconstruction on hold. I'll tell you some more about it next week, and show you my second project from the piano.
See ya tomorrow,
Connie
No comments:
Post a Comment