I
have played the piano for a little over 15 years now. It has done more for me
than I will ever be able to recall. I was born into a family who loved music,
however, nobody happened to play an instrument. I remember being 4 or 5 years
old, and I would constantly just listen to music. It soothed me. It could make
up for any emotion I was feeling: sadness, remorse, happiness, hyperness, fun,
and a whole lot more. My mother got me into piano lessons at the age 6 and I am
SO incredibly grateful for that. When I was 10, I kept bothering my parents
about playing the harp. They rented one for me and I happened to just love it.
A couple of years later, they purchased me my harp for Christmas (which was
practically my car). I have been in love ever since. I am super super attached
to my instruments. Whenever I’m having a bad day or am feeling super sorry for
myself, playing music will just calm me. When I got married, I had my harp, but
not my piano. And I can honestly say that I had no idea what I was missing
until I didn’t have a piano. It was really hard not being able to play. I
remember, in a few wards we lived in, I would try and get special permission to
sneak over to the church house when nobody was there and play in the chapel for
a few hours. Music just…calms me. I can’t really explain it. I can’t imagine
where I would be if it weren’t for music. Because it has taken me to lovely
lovely places. After being married for about a year and a half, Trev and I
decided to start looking for pianos on online classifieds. We came across one
that was listed for $200 and happened to be like 15 minutes from our house. I
called them, we go to pick the piano up after renting a U-Haul, and the guy
says, “I just really need this out of here. If you will just take it you can
have it for free.” Mind blown. Therefore, I got this piano for free.
After
moving into our latest home, I couldn’t stop thinking about painting the piano.
I’ve always wanted a piano with a little more personality and spunk, and I can
honestly recall wanting to paint a piano at the age of 13. I asked Mr.
Schroeder if he thinks that could be a possibility, we picked a paint color
(talk about a drag), and started painting. Well, the piano has been EVERYTHING
I dreamed of. I thought of painting it turquoise at first, but I’ve seen
nothing but turquoise pianos. I wanted mine to be different. And I didn’t want
it to be trendy. I needed it to be timeless. So, I painted it cream. We had a
piano tuner come over a few days later, and he told us that the piano was made
in 1907. Definitely an antique! I am so in love with this thing. I can’t walk
past it without playing a quick song. My harp has probably been feeling a
little neglected lately, but I’ll make up for it! Here is how the piano looked AFTER we painted & antiqued it!
The brand of the piano was something we wanted to keep. We wanted that antique-feeling to stay there! Mr. Schroeder covered it with tape and carved out EVERY letter! IT took him a few hours to do! But it looks so amazing now and complements the piano drastically. So proud of him, his work, and his creativity.
I
am incredibly blessed to have room in my house for my piano and harp. My
entryway is complete! I hope my family knows
how much I appreciate their help with this project! I’m still grinning from ear
to ear!