Decorating With Player Piano Rolls

Vase Display

• Appreciate the art of the delicately punched paper and vintage spools when you showcase your piano rolls in a variety of clear glass vases. When you line a bookshelf, piano top or mantelpiece with large, plain, cylindrical, clear glass vases and fill them with piano rolls, sans the boxes, you protect the rolls from handling and give the space a nostalgic look. Place the rolls in the vases so that they lie against each other at angles and provide plenty of room between the rolls so that the lines and edges of the rolls are visible.

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• An ideal solution for tattered or partial piano rolls; an unobtrusive picture frame and some archival quality matting will show off the piano rolls in an unexpected way. Roll out the music and cut off ends that are ripped or torn. Use one roll to fill multiple frames of various sizes to create an eye-catching display over a desk, sofa or along a hallway.

Unique Shades

• Although fragile, piano rolls make one-of-a-kind paper shades for a library or home office. Piano rolls can dress windows in two ways. When folded “accordion” style, piano rolls hang down from the top of a window frame to softly shade light. Two or more rolls may be needed to cover the width of the window. For longer-term use, piano rolls will be sandwiched between clear contact paper and applied to a standard paper shade roller. The sealed piano rolls have more structure and are durable enough for daily and regular use.

Under Glass

• The lovely coloring of vintage piano roll paper makes them a useful enhancement to a wood coffee table or desktop. Unrolling the music and placing it under glass gives the owner a chance to enjoy the art of the roll while protecting it from the elements. A large matte board cut to fit the space and felt under the roll will further protect a valued or sentimental piano roll.

Decoupage Dresser

• An old bureau gets new life when it is covered in battered and torn piano roll music. Ripped rolls can be applied to old dresser drawers or cabinet fronts in a traditional decoupage-collage manner. Intact rolls can be used in a more orderly fashion to cover wood furniture using a decoupage glue and clear shellac sealant. Once applied and protected the shabby-chic furniture can be used in a home office, living room or bedroom. Decoupage smaller objects like container boxes or picture frames with remnants to give as gifts.