It’s not every day you find yourself lumbered with a couple of old pianos that are beyond repair. But that’s what happened to Tim Vincent-Smith back in 2012. Unserviceable and unplayable, the pianos were destined for the scrapyard or even a bonfire but its owner decided to give them to Vincent-Smith, knowing that he had the creative ability to transform them into something special. And that’s exactly what he did, turning the old instruments into a stunning and unique staircase and mezzanine level bed.
What followed was a process Vincent-Smith compared to butchery, as he took the pianos apart bit by bit, carefully preserving each individual part for future use. The various stair components were comprised of individual bits and pieces of the pianos’ structure, most notably the pianos keys forming the stairs’ risers, giving the person climbing the stairs the feel of being flipped 90 degrees and looking down at the piano.
The process revealed to Vincent-Smith the intricate detail and craftsmanship that had gone into making the pianos and garnered a sense of respect during the deconstruction process, not wanting to simply destroy the hard work that had gone into their creation more than a century before. The process also revealed the different woods that had gone into the pianos’ make up, with the maple frame complimented by poplar and birch and finished off with a mahogany veneer.
The end result was a stunning feat of ingenuity, design and construction, with a staircase consisting of the outer shell of the pianos and the wooden, ivory-covered keys, leading up to the bed, which makes up the entire “landing” at the top of the staircase.
The staircase was built in the home of a cellist with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, whom Vincent-Smith describes as “very glamourous” and notes its resemblance to a high-heeled shoe, while the bed gives the impression of floating in mid-air.
If you haven’t got a spare piano or two lying around, you can still create a beautiful staircase of your own using the quality and affordable stair components and accessories available at UK Stair Parts. You’ll find everything you need to build a staircase from scratch, such as spindles, handrails, treads and risers and you can even find all their stair parts in chrome as well. They also offer a next day delivery service which means you can receive your parts by 9AM the next day.
Written by David Chapman of UK Stair Parts