Reclaimed Kitchen Bar From An Old Piano
We created a reclaimed kitchen bar from an old piano. Yes, a piano. Are you surprised?
No, the kitchen bar doesn’t look like a piano. Are you disappointed?
If you’ve ever had the fortune (please note I did not say if it was good or bad fortune) to dismantle a piano, you will discover there’s a surprising amount of high-quality lumber inside.
Old pianos are SOLIDLY built and typically made with gorgeous hardwood.
Below is a picture of how our old piano started out. Please note this piano came with a house we purchased. We already owned a piano. There are a lot of things we need, even want in life, but two pianos are not one of them.
For months we tried to give away this piano but had no takers. In the end, as much as it pained the pianist in me, we decided to take the piano apart and see what was salvageable.
Please note that taking apart a piano can be dangerous and you should proceed with extreme caution, proper tools, and appropriate safety gear.
Why is it dangerous?
One of the biggest reasons is that the strings are under an incredible amount of tension. If one snaps it could cause an injury.
We’ve upcycled components of this old piano into plenty of things such as art and Christmas ornaments. However, this latest creation, the kitchen bar, might be my favorite upcycle yet.
We made the reclaimed kitchen bar out of the piano’s keybed. You can catch a glimpse of the keybed in the below photo.
The keybed refers to the part of the piano that supports the keyboard. In the case of this piano, the structure supporting the piano keys was a gorgeous rectangular piece of laminated hardwood.
Laminated just means smaller pieces of lumber glued together. It seems counterintuitive, but laminated wood is actually stronger than a solid piece of wood. Read about it here.
A piano keybed is not going to make a huge kitchen bar, but it was the perfect size for the small studio space we were working with.
Here’s how the keybed looked after it was sanded and before it was stained.
Gorgeous, right?
Our kitchen bar only needed two legs because we were attaching the back of the bar to a solid surface.
Remember the studio space I mentioned? It’s a small, but open space. We planned on using a headboard as a room divider and using the back of the headboard as the spot to secure the kitchen bar.
This would give us a seating area in the small kitchenette. Trust me, this will all make sense soon.
I can see you are skeptical.
The proof is in the pictures.
Once the kitchen bar was stained, we secured it to the headboard and to the floor with screws.
It’s pretty sturdy, but I wouldn’t recommend dancing on it.
This studio apartment is housed in a building that is over 200 years old, so it has some rustic vibes.
Therefore, I left some of the holes from where this keybed was secured to the keyboard. I liked the character they added to the bar top and it fit with the rest of the space.
Didn’t it turn out great?
Never in a million years would someone guess this reclaimed kitchen bar came from an old piano.
Unless I gave you a big hint.
I’m so happy that we were able to turn an unwanted piano into a kitchen bar that hits all the right notes in this space.
How do you feel about upcycling? Have you created something cool out of an unexpected object? I’d love to hear about it. You can always comment on this blog post (I have to approve it first before it appears), email me here, or reach out via Instagram or Facebook.
Thanks for being here today. I appreciate it. If you need more fun project ideas, I’ve got you covered!
8 Fresh Ways to Repurpose a Piano (Going to need to update this post to 9!)
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