Where I come from

Where I live now.

A friend showed me these Race and Ethnicity maps by cartologist Eric Fischer.

All data was collected from the 200 U.S. census. Maybe it’s the digital quality of the map or the fact that one dot that represents 25 people, that made me take a closer look.

Pink dots: Whites

Blue dots: Blacks

Green dots: Asians

Orange dots: Hispanics

At PinkPianos I tend to shy away from social commentary, but something about these struck me as truly beautiful.

You can search for your own city from his collection of 200 U.S. cities. I’d love to hang one of these on a wall and call it social art as they are a fascinating study of our society, it’s history and the way people have settled.

Heres is a picture of my new toy, the orbital sander!

I went for this one because up until now, I did all of my sanding with a palm sander. I liked the little mouse for tough to reach corners and still use it for that. The orbital sander buffs off layers of varnish fast and I like how it’s random orbit ensures that no tracks are left behind in the wood.

Since I love to refinish vintage and antiques I bought this with restoration in mind. I have had this American of Martinsville table for a while now. I knew that I wanted to restore the top and legs to show off the beauty of the rosewood and satinwood.

I even loved the nickel drawer pulls, which are unique to the piece. They could easily be re-plated but I decided to leave them for now.

The drawer looks shiny because I had just applied a fresh coat of wax!

It is my newest piece in shop!

I am so glad to be back from our little excursion. I will post trip pics on Tumblr later today.

Happy Monday folks!

I’ve been able to connect with so many great blogger’s in the community lately.

I love their ideas and fresh perspectives on life. I also really loved Rue Magazine’s latest DIY, can’ t wait to try it.

Which is why I became really excited to join Rachel’s blogger list over at Lovely Clusters.

In order to become a part of it, I will share a little bit about myself in an effort as well to reaquaint and show you around my little blogger part of the world.

Pink Pianos by Hilary Hahn is a place to connect the dots between Art, Design, and worldly inspiration. Here I showcase, vintage resurfaced furniture products and reinvented found objects. I love how a cast-off piece of décor becomes a functional work of art. I consider my adventures from Europe and India to tiny cities along the Pacific Coast as the grounds for one massive treasure hunt.

Her abundant adventures from Europe and India to tiny cities along the Pacific Coast provide a constant source of inspiration and finds. She believes you can take a journey anywhere even in your own back yard.

My friend Annie is also a source of inspiration for me as a blogger. Many of the interior designs that I publish are part of a collaboration between the two of us. I know lots of you have seen our latest project the Girl’s Bedroom Metamorphosis. Before I forget, here is a final pick that shows Mia’s bed that we designed.

The duvet cover was custom designed out of hand dyed silk. I am really happy with the way it all came out!

Another blog, that I can not take my eyes off is The Sartorialist, which I know is a favorite among many.

I love to meet other designers, curators, and bloggers.

Nature is a constant inspiration to me!

It’s been so nice to meet other artists and have them share their ideas, inspiration, and opinions. Rachel’s Blogger List is fabulous because it groups bloggers by region helping to connect us with each other and a larger audience.

You can contact me at hilary.hahn@pinkpianos.com

Etsy: http://www.pinkpianos.etsy.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Pinkpianos

Tumblr: http://pinkpianos.tumblr.com/

I hope you all will feel at home here and keep in touch!

I knew I wanted to stop by when I heard about this pop-up Art show, Fleeting Immersion, on the Haystack Needle last week.

The utterly creative show hosted by Janet Varney and Jessica Mackinson is a collaboration of many artists challenged to design for the theme “Sante Fe Astronaut”! You can see Jessica above standing next to her custom tepee! I just loved the neon green pom-pom trim. Also, If you take a closer look at the picture you will notice her incredible t-shirt by Erhart with a southwestern style fabric pocket and shoulder tabs! I totally want one.

The show runs from September 18-25th for those of you in the Greater L.A. area lucky enough to be able to check it out! For those of you living abroad here’s a glimpse into the life of Astronaut Art melded with Sante Fe style.

One of the many things I liked about this show were the clever little vignettes installed by the curators. Just look at those moon shoes and orange astronaut suit! This table lamp made by Janet Varney diffuses the light perfectly.

There was artwork ranging in scale from micro to macro; as the tiny the owl in an intergalactic environment at left was one of a series of tiny paintings. The playful juxtaposition of the futuristic astronaut done in vintage needlepoint made me smile.

The t-shirts looked so fresh in neon colors, I’m so happy that neon pink is having it’s moment right now!

I also scored some new graphic yoga pants done in bright pink and lavender;) because that is just what I needed to add to my collection on this Saturday afternoon.

The space astronaut oval painting is a must-see-in-person type of painting, although I hope you can tell the amazingness of it by the picture. Over at Jenn’s web site you can see her collage style graphics intermingled with paintings.

Lastly, these snow globes of wolves howling on crystal terrain grabbed my attention. Wouldn’t these be cool as gifts?

Next weekend, you can bid the show farewell in Hollywood at the closing party September 25th from 5-7 p.m!

Hope you all had a fab weekend!

My work has become sculptural lately.

You may remember the camping trip to a State Beach north of Santa Barbara. Well here is a picture of all the driftwood that I collected there. I used driftwood of various sizes to create this rustic frame around the mirror.

I used a 30″ x 30″ mirror with frame

Driftwood all sizes and shapes

Amazing GOOP

White water based stain

I began by thoroghly cleaning all the driftwood. I soaked it in our bathtub then rinsed the sande off. I even used a little bleach to be sure there was no fungus growing on any of the pieces. I let them dry in the sun for a day which naturally lightened them up. Once dry, I sanded out pieces that were ready to fall off or remnants of bark that had yet to fall away.

Next, I lied out a general design and began by gluing down the larger pieces first. The small pieces and the twisty ones then became easiest to use to fill in the gaps. For me, it was very satisfying, a sculptural process even! Lastly, I washed the entire piece in a white water based stain. I had prestained the mirror’s frame so that I wouldnot have to worry about getting in the crevices with my brush.

What do you think? I saw one like this at Neiman Marcus!!!

Now it is sitting in my shop! I think the white wood works best against a colored wall.

I am enjoying my days in studio more than ever.

This is the other rustic treat that I made yesterday! and it is a treat because it is ny no means “health food”, although I do have a recipe for a nut crust without butter that makes it pretty healthful!

Sometimes when I roll a ball out of the dough, then flatten it, I pretend I am making a sculpture. We had a ton of peaches to use up, so I made two galettes, one for a party last night and the other for breakfast this week.

This time I used the recipe from Tracy Porter and took some creative license. In the past, I have used Deborah Madison’s galette dough recipe and it is virtually identical.

The simple ingredients are as follows.

DOUGH RECIPE
1-1/4 C. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 C. ice water

PEACH FILLING
1-1/2 C. sliced peeled peaches
4 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

For step by step directions visit Tracy’s site, her trick to remove the peach peels really works! I added on last twist to the peach filling, Heath bits! (I told you it wasn’t healthy) Now, don’t go too crazy with them just 2 tablespoons. Blueberries are also a tasty variation in the filling.

Now, it’s time for my jog!

Remember when I told you, that I fell in love with something other than a dress?

I literally noticed Swarm last week when I bumped into one of these chairs at Anthropologie. I became instantly enamored by this inventive furniture, which for me is like a dream come true! I felt like shouting in store, look everybody there’s a cloud on this chair!

Then, I did some digging around online. As it turns out, Swarmhome conceived by Leslie Oschmann is a home furnishings and accessories studio based in the Netherlands. Just look as this charming applique dresser she has created. I think I’m actually blushing.

Not only does Leslie update furniture, but she retouches vintage paintings by adding patterned papers and fabric.

I just love this next picture of the whole collection of chairs made by laminating paintings onto the surfaces. I wouldn’t mind taking home the dog as well.

Bow wow! Seriously.

PinkPianos is over at NiceDwells today with tips on how to Bring Nature Indoors for Fall!

I will post pics and tips from the article next week! But for now, see you over there!

It feels so good to be back after a relaxing and fun Labor Day weekend, (yes, I did rock the dress:)

She’s all painted up and ready to go. Remember when I debated using Hunter green? Well, I will probably still do a piece that color in the near future, but you all voted for Violet. So, Violet she is!

I will be offering this piece in store and in my shop. The knobs are beautiful textured white porcelain with gold accents. All drawer pulls and trim has been completely rebuffed in Antique gold.

Look forward to my newest crush/designer I just discovered later this week.

I fell in love with the textile design on this dress at Anthropologie the other day.

I’m not exaclty one of the Anthroplogie models, but I wanted to show you all how it looks in person!

I plan on going to a Labor Day party this weekend and wanted the perfect party dress. I think you can dress this one up with heels or down by layering a tissue T underneath. I love textiles that look Eastern European.

It wasn’t the only thing I fell for that day…more on that after Labor Day! Have a sweet one!