The world of interior design is ever changing, where trends, colours and themes come and go as fast as the fashion runway designs of London and Paris. However there is one theme that has surely remained a constant within interiors lifestyle designs throughout time and that is the inclusion of music.
Music rooms became popular in the late 18th Century when the nobility of the day wanted to impress with their social hospitality. Pianos and harps were some of the popular instruments that the gentry would be keen to learn and then entertain their guests within the setting of their ornately decorated music rooms. Indeed the love of music whether for entertaining or for solitary pleasure has never faded and today there cannot be one home that does not have some form of music outlet, whether a classic Linn turntable, a fully equipped Bose or the complete Bang and Olufsen sound system.
Manufacturers design these pieces with sleek expensive materials and varied colours to try and appeal broadly across the market as it is so important that they do fit into our interior designs but now it seems the desire for music in our homes as progressed even further. The new growing trend for music rooms within luxury interior designs has now raised the level and is giving music the respect it deserves.
Colin Leverett, from Piano Restorations Ltd, remembers how back in 1955 when he first began working with pianos ‘..every house had a piano in their homes, it was the music of the day, it lifted people’. Having restored pianos for some of the world’s most famous concert pianists, composers and celebrities including the likes of Stephen Fry and Artur Pizarro as well comedian Bill Bailey and designer Ted Baker, to name but a few, the company is now seeing this resurgence in music rooms throughout interior design.
These luxury trends are not only appealing to those in the professional world of music but indeed for all those who are musically inspired where individuals, their families and guests can be enthusiastically drawn into this social and enjoyable area.
To have the luxury of a separate music room is a wonderful addition but not always necessary when incorporating into the interior layout. Hallways, living rooms, orangeries are all becoming popular venues for the new music room and now most commonly on the increase is the open plan kitchen. As the traditional layouts of houses changes, the separate dining room has declined and the open plan shabby chic kitchen hub with a more relaxed atmosphere has become much more popular, consequently highlighting the versatility of this space. Kitchen designers are increasingly dealing with requests from clients when re-designing this area to find that perfect location for a musical focus, most usually the piano.
Obviously the luxury and beauty that a grand piano gives as a focal point in the home is instantly stunning and becomes a major talking point of the room. Whether restored to its old grandeur or a brand new buy the grand piano cannot be beaten for its wow factor. Laden with silver framed family photographs and polished to mirror perfection these instruments are a beautiful piece of furniture and a working investment. They cannot be rivalled as a stand alone almost sculptural feature, that adds a whole new dimension to a room, but that is not to say that the classic upright is to be forgotten. Designers are also increasingly searching out uprights to feature in these new music rooms designs and whether the pianos retain their original style or are refurbished to a polished upright white gloss, their chic style is evident.
As music technology increases this is also being included in the music room. Clients requests for self-playing pianos connected to their individual playlists and accessed through their mobiles are on the increase. Personalising the piano in this way naturally adds another dynamic to the music room. Whether the piano becomes the new party show stopper or one of the most beautiful new home sound systems in the home, this trend is most certainly on the rise.
Paul Leverett, also from Piano Restorations, has witnessed this request more and more frequently amongst his customers. “Despite the digitalization of music there is still a huge demand for the real thing and all aspects associated with playing, repairing and tuning old instruments – we are seeing a real growth in the demand for pianos as well as request for self playing pianos,” he told us.
