Piano Styling Ideas

Wow, it's been a while! The last week of school was a whirlwind and now we are into the second week of summer and having a great time! But now that the kids are home it leaves me very little time to work on projects, so I hope you'll excuse my absence.

Today I want to talk about piano styling! Many of you have pianos, many of you might not. But if you don't, keep reading anyway, because the tricks and tips to styling a piano can easily transfer to dressers, consoles and tops of other things.

Recently I asked several of my friends if I could style their pianos for them and use them as examples on the blog. I was actually surprised by those that agreed to it, because their homes are already beautiful and definitely don't need my help! But sometimes it's just nice to have another person come in and give a different perspective, right?

The first was Sarah's house. Sarah has been my partner in crime in many trips to the flea market, and she has a great eye and loves to decorate. Her house is BEAUTIFUL, but she was stuck when trying to decorate her antique piano. The challenge with this piano is the windows above it, and the two lamps against the three windows wasn't very complimentary.

So I took everything down and started gathering accessories from her house that she already had. And this girl has a LOT! I traded out one lamp for a more substantial lamp base, and on the other side of the piano I added a teal vase with a spray of flowers to add balance to the other side. Next to the vase I put a beautiful brass pitcher and a small wire ball, which mimics the style of the lamp. In the middle I selected some teal and navy books and set them next to a bust of Jesus and an antique iron.  

Now the space has a little more interest and compliments the windows instead of competes with them.

Next is Tristen's piano. She has a beautiful new house, and although much of her home is already decorated, she hadn't gotten to the piano room yet. 

Her piano is situated on a small, but very tall wall. And smack in the middle of the wall is the light switch, which creates a challenge if you want to hang anything on the wall. 

So I went to Hobby Lobby to look for a solution and found this set of three black mirrors. The moroccan shape matches the curtains and other design elements in her home so it was a natural choice. They fit very nicely above the piano and light switch and breaks up that tall wall. 

Tristen wanted the top of her piano to be colorful and reflect a little bit of her personality. So we stole a glass lamp from the guest room, added a stack of some of her favorite books and a beautiful silver bowl on top, and from my house we added three jars in varying colors and sizes. 

They way I styled Tristen and Sarah's pianos are unique in their own way, but they have many similarities. I like to style in groups of three with varying heights. Books, nick knacks, heirlooms, and small interesting pieces are perfect for piano tops, as well as colorful glass jars and flowers. And lamps. I think every piano needs a lamp, and both of these lamps are situated on the side of the piano that is closest to the corner of the room which needs more light. 

For a little change, I want to show you my piano now. 

I kind of haphazardly decorated it a while back, trying to stick with a white and bright theme to lighten up the piano and match the large gallery wall of white frames next to it. But all that white is just too much, and I'm ready for change. 

I found this amazing mirror on clearance for $30 at Hobby Lobby and painted it white to go above the piano. With a white mirror above and a black piano below, I wanted to add some texture and earthy colors to the middle, but still keep it bright and modern. I changed out the lamp, took out the tired looking music books, and added a vase with colorful flowers, as well as a few other accessories. I like it because it has sort of a moroccan vibe, which ties in well with the mirror.

But while I was at it, I decided to style the piano a different way, this time using a monochromatic theme. Teal is like the color of the decade it seems, so you can't go wrong. I didn't do groups of three in this one, and instead placed them evenly. But with the varying heights and shapes, it still works. I'm kinda wishing the bird was a little bit smaller, but 100% of these pieces I already had in my home, so I worked with what I had.

And then I changed it up again with a royal/navy blue and gold theme, which is a really popular color combo right now. Using a large vase of greenery or flowers is a bold statement. If you really wanted to be simplistic, you could forego all the other accessories and just do a large interesting vase of flowers and it would look clean, simple and fabulous.

And lastly, I decided to be a little quirky and do a solid row of colorful books with A to Z bookends. This is a good option for anyone who likes to be a little unconventional, or even for those with a small space that would like to use the piano as a functional bookshelf.

So tell me, which is your favorite?

I hope that this gave you some ideas for styling your own piano! So now.... go, my child! Gather your accessories, get thee to a thrift store, pick out some interesting stuff, and style away!