The Great Organ Transplant

My mother-in-law's Hammond organ finally made it to our house! My husband has been trying to get his hands on this organ for quite some time. We made the trek from Northern California to Los Angeles earlier in the year to try to bring it home, but alas, the day we planned to drive home there was heavy rain predicted over the grapevine, so we came home organ-less (and the weatherman was RIGHT). 

We recently made the trip down again for my sister-in-law's baby shower (yes, there are babies springing up in this family like lovely wild flowers), and my husband was determined to bring the Hammond home this time. 

So, in case my post title had you wondering.....uh, no. No one had surgery.


Why the infatuation with the organ, you ask? This was the first instrument my husband learned to play as a child. Now that he makes music for a living, it still holds a special place in his heart. And so, with the help of Brian's uncles (THANK YOU Uncle Steve and Uncle Bruce!!!), the organ was loaded up in our truck, and made the journey up to Northern California and into our loft (a.k.a. the recording studio). And THANK YOU to our friend Jason for helping Brian carrying it upstairs when we got home.

Amazingly, it's in pretty great shape, considering the house full of boys it lived in for many, many years. Kudos to my mother in law for making sure the boys didn't destroy it!

There were really just a few "wear and tear" areas that needed some mending. Such as the bench. The underside of the bench was very near falling off.

And the bottom left corner of the fabric had started to lift.

Both were easy fixes.

I started by removing the tape that was holding the bench bottom on and investigating the situation.

There were a few protruding staples, which I removed with my needle nose pliers.

I busted out my stapler, but alas it didn't have enough "power" to penetrate the bench base. I do have a staple gun that hooks up to my air compressor, but no staples for it, so I opted for the next best thing...

...a good, ol' fashioned hammer and finishing nails. I nailed the bottom back onto the bench and only hit my thumb once.

Ta da!!

A little hot glue from my glue gun took care of the fabric protruding out from the bottom of the organ. Now, you may be wondering why my "restoration" project is ending here...Let me assure you, I had big dreams of reupholstering the bench seat and swapping out the fabric on the organ...and even painting that fantastic decorative cutout on the side of the organ, but the hubs wants to keep it "vintage" looking. And frankly, the design plan for the loft is heading the direction of funky town, so I think the vintage fabrics and textures will be perfect.

Last, but not least, we added some art. We had picked up this over-sized scale-ly piece from Kirkland's on super clearance (it was originally $299, on clearance for $35), and originally intended to mount it over Brian's mixing console. But, once the organ was upstairs, we both agreed it would be a better fit over the organ.

And so it was written....and so it was done. I am waiting to hang it until I make a little more progress in this room, so that I'll know exactly where the organ will sit and can center the the art appropriately. Until then, atop the organ it shall reside.

Naturally, the entire project had my dog, Aybee, bored out of her mind.

Until, of course, she found her toy.

Cheers!