Friday, January 20, 2012

A Piano, Reborn

 The cabinet that my husband built from a 1916 piano.

Nate gutted the piano, took out the strings, keys, soundboard, and the decorative panel in the front.  He removed the structural members in the back. He then built a box cabinet and fitted out the former key area into compartments.  

The compartments are perfect for silverware and serving pieces.  They are about 2 1/2" high and 14" deep.

The left side of the cabinet has a vintage wire towel rack. This picture also shows the built-in wineglass racks and the lights inside the cupboard.
     
Nate built a drop-leaf shelf on the right side of the cabinet.
He used a hinge from the top of the original piano.
     
Under the cabinet, he used the large central decorative panel to create doors for a storage unit.
This part measures about 19" tall, 22" wide, and 13" deep.
   
To the left, he created an opening for a wine chiller or a small cube frig.
  
Two mahogany-stained pieces for display and storage: a raised plate rack and a tiered box for wine bottles.

The metal bar (that dampened the strings), removed from the interior 
and suspended along the front.
  
Can be delivered to 50-mile radius of Elk River, MN area.
612 239 4888 (Nate Murphy)

Price reduced!!
Now $2400 (was $3200)

To see our other piano bar, click here.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Paring Down

Driftwood from Lake Pepin and Superior's North Shore, piled in a basket and formed into a cross.  
These old weathered pieces of wood are free.  
But I suppose they cost something.
They came from trees that were as fresh and green as the leaves in the white vases.

Now the wood is dead, but to me it is lovely.
It reminds me that pounding and suffering don't make things disappear.
The essential thing remains.

"If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there; if you're kicked in the gut, he'll help you catch your breath.  Disciples so often get into trouble; still, GOD is there every time.  He's your bodyguard, shielding every bone; not even a finger gets broken."
Psalm 34: 18-20, The Message