Dining Room Wall

One day last September, my sister called me and said, “Hey, can I swing by? I have your Christmas gift. I know it’s early. It’s 300 lb. and I need help getting it out of my car.” WUT. Camille always ends up giving her gifts early —Christmas, birthday, all of it—and the hilarious part is she then still buys a gift for the actual holiday/event. Oh, Shamille! That part wasn’t a surprise.

But 300 lb.? The only question I asked before I said yes was “is it alive?” She responded that it wasn’t so I awaited my gigantic surprise. Low and behold, Camille pulls up with a full vintage brass piano plate tucked in her trunk with clean diapers from the seller’s home padding the sharper corners of the metal.

As much as I was thinking So you just gifted me a project, I was also thinking This thing is so cool and original and will go perfectly in our home. Talk about a unique piece of art! The plate dates to the 1880s-90s and it needed a LOT of cleaning before it could be considered art.

We got to work (Camille, mocking up a flat lay of the cleaning supplies because…Camille) and scrubbed the years away. We wanted to leave some patina, but not gunk or oil that could get on the wall or guests. The plan was to hang it up nearly against the accent wall in our (eventual) dining room.

We painted the wall first, a springy green. And, yes, it did take SIX PEOPLE to hang the plate from four very, very secured hooks in studs with liquid nails and airplane cable. It’s level (yay!) and adds such a unique texture to our home. Whatcha think?!

xo

em