It's pretty but...stuff like this to me is like when they carve out books to make trinket boxes - it looks cool but you've ruined something useful in the process. And that was an antique piano!!

haters ain't restoring pianos or building desks out of trash. lotta work that paid off with a satisfying result. good job

Pretty but devastating. What a beautiful piano that was ruined. :(

Love it. And as for the conversion from antique piano to something new, I'd rather see it this way, than eventually get eaten by wood worms, producing a sad sound, stood smelly dank and unloved in a dark corner. Beautiful craftsmanship - I salute you ;-)

The thing is, you can't give away old upright pianos. I have one that literally no one wants from 1901

Beautiful in every aspect no matter what people say

From a lot of the negative comments here it is clear many don't understand the concept of "either/or". One of the basic concepts on how the universe operates. It was either this, or the highly probably total destruction in a dump.

Magnificent

You did not ruin the piano. You made it into something both beautiful and useful - at the same time, saving it from the dump.

I understand the piano had low probability to be really restored, and making a desk is a good idea if this is really the case. But I have a bigger issue with this epoxy paint. Why coating such old wood with common plastic??

If he/she didn't make the piano a desk, it would be sitting there, that is a creative idea! It has the coolest inside, and outside

As someone who plays the piano, this is painful. :( Instruments should be played not destroyed. :(

I love this but I have a question - do you find vibrations or noises set off vibrations of the wires left on the harp? I'm in the process of doing this, not a particularly antique one, but it needed repaired and I need a desk. I'm trying to decide whether to remove the harp or leave it in. I do want shelves though....

For those complaining about an antique piano...I'm a piano technician and work on all shapes, sizes and ages of pianos. Antique may work with furniture but not old pianos. To rebuild an old piano completely would cost $15 to $20k. Old pianos like that have no value. So to repurpose it is great or it's hauled to the dump. Nice job on the desk.

I have. 1904 Ellington upright grand just like this. All of my children have learned to play on it. What many commenters don’t understand is that these pianos DO NOT LAST FOREVER, even when we’ll taken care of. Despite semi-annual maintenance, about 1/3 of the strings can no longer be tuned. This is a great way to honor the work of art these pianos are and gives the soul of the piece another century or more of purpose and enjoyment.

Still very heavy with the harp still in it but as long as you aren’t moving it anywhere you’re ok. The piano wasn’t useful as a piano since the keys were stripped and it likely needed to be restrung and totally reconstructed. If anyone gives you guff for repurposing an antique piano have them look up how many old pianos are being given away for free because they’re completely financially worthless. Make it into something you use and you can continue to enjoy the beautiful carpentry.

Nice job on the piano! I am in the middle of creating a piano desk myself and am wondering how you managed to fix the lights? Right now, I have ugly white cables running back and forth all across the harp and it looks terrible! Any advice? P.s. the piano was given to me for free. it was THAT broken.

it looks fantastic

The piano is just as useful now as it was back then.

I rarely comment on here, but this one. Great job, well documented with images and "WOW" what a result, it looks great, a real mood changer when you stuck at the desk. You haven't ruined it in my books, you have brought out it's life in a really unique way.

Love your lighting, colours etc in your home. The only thing I have "trouble" with (in my own world as well) is the presence of screen, on or off... though it's oretty much an unavoidable discrepancy. ;) Yes it was antique, but doomed to death on the dump pile, so good for you to rescue it...

I learned how to play the piano on an old upright. My breath was taken away when I saw this post. What a beautiful piece of art/furniture.

I understand that. We actually just got a free 1918 upright piano from Craigslist so I can teach our son to play.

Such an old piano might have been of interest to a museum or could have been given for free to a piano dealer - a museum or a piano dealer/collector would probably have had the money to restore it and keep it. I think it's a shame - better than going to the dump but not quite what the piano deserved.

Gorgeous, so creative

You can afford an iMac but can't afford a cheap desk? Lol

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what a waste

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i am sorry but he made it look modern and ugly.