Monday, October 8, 2012

The other side of the living room

 
 
I bet you didn't even know there was an "other" side, did you? That's because it's always been our dark, little secret. The corner where we actually "lived" in our living room.
Here's a suuuuuper technical floor plan to give you an idea of how the living room is layed out.
So yeah. When you walk in the front door, to the right is this:
 
 
and to the left, there was this:
 
 
Now, I snapped this picture very, very quickly so it's not great but it also is kind of great because it meant that I didn't have a chance to clean it up.
 
Basically, we moved the computer out of the office last summer because it was too hot to hang out up there with no AC and it just never moved back upstairs.
 
We don't have a TV downstairs but we would watch Hulu and Crackle over here while we...ate...yes, we ate over here all of the time. I'm not proud of myself, okay? But that's just life. People watch TV while they eat. Deal.
 
Our little kitchen table held the computer after we moved the stereo cabinet over to the other side of the room during the great Couch Switcheroo of 2012.
 
Basically, it was just a catch all, crumby (literally, from the food eating) little corner.
 
 Here's what this corner looked like when we first moved in just for a trip down memory lane.
 
 
 Now then, why am I showing you this?
 
Well, I always had high hopes for that corner. When we bought that stereo cabinet and put it over there I thought, "This would be a great little corner to sit and read and listen to music!" As I mentioned, the stereo cabinet found a new home on the other side of the room and it's perfect there so that was out of the question.
 
Then, a couple of weeks ago, our bestest friend Aaron (who took these pictures at our wedding and who introduced us) sent me a facebook message asking if I might be interested in a piano.
 
His parents were moving and since he is a big time artist in Philly and his sister is a big time mover and shaker out in L.A. (seriously, we're one degree from Galaxy Quest director Dean Parisot) they didn't have anyone to give their family piano to. Lucky us, we still live in Wichita so last Monday, we called a piano mover and had it moved from their house to ours. Wanna' see?
 
 
No more computer cords! No more crumbs! It's so beautiful and it's in amazing shape considering how old it is.
 
 
It matches the banister surprisingly well and even though I had originally planned for it to be against the wall with the window, I think it looks prefect here. It's the first thing you see when you walk in the door!
 
 
It needs a little tuning, which we're going to try and get done before the holidays and it is missing a few ivories...
 
 
 but I think it gives it character and like I mentioned, it sounds amazing no matter what.
Wanna' hear it in action?
 
This past Saturday, my brother-in-law, Conan's older brother Jared came over and treated us to a private concert and we recorded a little bit of it.
Truth circle.
Neither of us play the piano very well/at all but if you hit play down there, you'll totally see why we have a piano now. Private concerts forever!
 


So, what do you think? Pretty neat, huh?
 
I really don't want to leave that gray couch over there because it's such a tight squeeze but I don't know what else to put over there. I'm thinking a nice, comfy chair and some shelves for books, maybe? To the thrift store!
 
Big time thanks to Alana and Aaron's parents Brenda and Ron for this gorgeous piano that we'll treasure forever and big time thanks to Alana and Aaron for helping get this piano move all sorted out.
 
 

12 comments:

  1. I love watching people play the piano. It seriously amazes me. How can they move their fingers so fast? How do they remember where all the keys are?

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    1. Exactly, Christy! I also wonder this when I see someone doing a sweet guitar solo. My fingers don't move that fast for anything! Practice is the answer, I guess, but I'm not ENTIRELY convinced.

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    2. I asked him when he was done if he remembered a time when this was really difficult for him, like when he was a kid and he didn't really say yes or no but he did say that he was obsessed with it as a child and would practice for like four hours a day so...

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  2. Beautiful! I learned how to play piano on an olllld baby grand that could never hold the proper tuning, so hearing the video was like being back in my parents' house. I'm excited to see how the corner keeps shaping up.

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    1. Aw, neat! I hope someday my kids say the same thing about this one!

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  3. I love your life! Awesome couple, awesome pets, awesome house. Three cheers for the Fugits!

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    1. No, you're awesome! We're not that great. We watch tv while we eat, remember? Our pets and house however, are getting cooler everyday.

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  4. Hello there - found you via Pinterest. I have email sent to you but decided to comment here as well. A crazy question, but I am wondering what the very first piece of music that was being played on the video? If you have a moment, could you find out, please? I'd just love to know. I am also going to show my hubby your living room shelves. I am inspired! Thanks.

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    1. I think Katherine sent you a link to the sheet music for it the other day.

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  5. Firs of all - great blog, found you trough the Houzz...
    Im always so jaelous when I see that someone have piano at home and even CAN play it:)

    Barbara - it is a piano version of Sheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov, it is a famous orchestral piece often used in movies too.

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    1. Well, it's my brother that's the musical prodigy; my skills were more of the visual nature, however. And yes, correct on the musical piece, I believe he gave Katherine the link to the sheet music if anyone's interested.

      Glad you enjoyed the blog!

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