AT reader Sarah shared photos and words with us detailing her home's musical slant (after we asked):
Here are some pictures of my loft and basement that show how my musician boyfriend and I have displayed his plethora of guitars (and one strange, round, single-string instrument that I'm not sure how to pronounce or spell, and he's not sure how to play)...
The guitar hangers on the long corridor wall were purchased for $5 each on eBay, about half of what all the local music stores wanted for them. When you're dealing with this many guitars, every dollar counts! Ours came painted black, but they are also available in natural wood so you can paint or stain them as you like.
The loft hallway shot was just an impromptu move on my part: "Let's just stick this case here for now...oh...it actually looks kind of amazing." The fan coil unit is behind that wall, so we weren't supposed to drive nails into it to hang anything. This was a quick solution, but I really liked the contrast and scale of the black case on the tall, narrow white wall.
The other photos show the most-used guitar in a stand by the sofa for early-morning serenades (seriously), and an old electric on another wall that picks up the colours in a rare, signed concert poster from Japan that I had custom framed.
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Comments (20)
i have a guitar collection that i have tried to use as a focal point, however its such a small space that i can only have like 3 out on normal stands or resting against a wall. i really like the way these look though.
Is it an erhu (pronounced ar-hoo)?
i recognize this loft building, didn't realize the massey had units with multiple floors that went into the lower level.
nice use of space.
is it a birimbao from brazil?
They have a steel string and are played with a 2-3" rock
pinstripe - it's two different apartments. she's masterfully displayed the instruments in not just one, but two different dwellings.
As a guitarist (with two not-so-expensive guitars that I love anyway) I would be concerned for the longevity of your beautiful instruments! I don't see a single humidifier (the spongey snake thing that gets inserted thru the sound hole of the acoustics) in these photos, and y'all live in a northern climate, presumably with extremely low indoor humidity in the winter. When the wood and glue begin to dry, the instrument is irreversibly damaged.
Did you just take the humidifiers out for the photos? Or do you humidify the entire loft? If not, I would suggest moving the entire collection to a single room that can be humidity controlled.
THdad - these are just our crappy instruments. The good ones are stored properly in hard cases at my boyfriend's rehearsal space. That said, the apartment shown above where they are displayed on the wall is painfully humid, since it is a basement.
Ingrid - could be! I believe it is something with four letters.
Ange_lune - thanks buddy! I've done a lot of work since the last time you stopped by.
Pinstripeprincess - good eye! The first two photos are indeed from Massey Harris. I miss that place...we are saving for a house, so we downgraded price (and tripled our square footage) by moving to a basement...please excuse the hideous grout lines in our ceramic tile hallway! Oh, to have hardwood again...
Is that the Gus Modern Carter sectional I spy? If so, what do you think of it? Is it comfortable? I'm thinking of buying the sofa but haven't seen it in person. Thanks
Great idea, thank for the tip!
Is he pro or hobby?
I'm curious about the sectional too!
as the earlier comment said.... you HAVE to have a humidifier going for those acoustics. walls get cold, wood bends with the seasons. it only takes one rough season to find your guitar buzzing up a storm and unable to get in tune. I've recently taken down all my guitars for just this reason (and they did look lovely!!!). Even with the humidifier going 24/7 it was hard to keep things nice and healthy.
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reef1 and greenlight - thanks! It is the Carter sectional by Gus, and it's great. Apparently I purchased mine just before they beefed up the quality, but I've had no problems. I have trouble staying awake on it; it's just the right blend of firm and cushy.
funstraw - he's pro!
DRCny - totally understandable. However, our place is really humid (we actually have a DEhumidifier on 24/7 in the summer so Chris and our asthmatic cat can breathe), and these are just the guitars that aren't worth much as it is...he only plays the second acoustic on the wall (the first one was 700 pesos from our trip to Mexico, just so he could have something to play on the balcony; it's not really worth the effort to preserve it). The rest are basically for decoration at this point. They're just so old and have moved around to so many hot/cold/humid/dry apartments and storage units that they're just worth keeping to have free art on the walls! Besides...Chris is a bassist now. :)
When I was selling my house I made a point of displaying my cello in the second bedroom for the pictures and open house. I wanted it to class up the place a bit. Otherwise it stays in its case with the humidity monitor.
Ingrid, it is NOT an Erhu (二胡) (pronounced ERR-WHO in Mandarin). An erhu has two strings. 二 or Er, means two in Chinese, thus making this an impossibility.
I believe the instrument to be Indian in origin, called an Ektar. you can find a photo of an Ektar here:
http://www.chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/ektar.html
Hopefully this sheds some light on the mystery.
so who is he?
apparently the chinese characters aren't translating to my post.oh well.
The display is lovely, but what I want is that loft...
estydesign-
Thanks. I've just ordered some swatches and am planning on buying the carter sofa soon.