SaveA Reading by RosaPiano Bench Cushions
A teal green velvet piano bench cushion with mustard piping, and the mistakes it skips
A piano bench is a working seat. Most of the mistakes I see come from treating it like a sofa.
A slim teal velvet pad cut to the exact bench top; mustard piping on both seams echoes the warm oak parquet.
The quick answer
A piano bench cushion should be slim and cut flush to the bench top, so playing height barely changes and the legs stay in view. Measure the top, not the frame. On velvet, cut every panel with the nap running one way, and take the piping color from the floor or wood rather than from the fabric.
Flush, slim and a little bit gold
Put a sofa-thick cushion on a piano bench and a child's feet leave the pedals. It is the most common mistake on a working seat, and this photograph skips it, along with four others.
Here is what it does right. A teal green velvet cushion, slim, cut exactly to the top of a black bench with cabriole legs. Mustard-gold piping runs along both the top and bottom seams. Beside it stands a black lacquered grand piano; below, pale herringbone oak and a white baseboard.
Soft side daylight moves across the velvet, so the teal shifts from deep sea-green to something lighter where the pile catches. Against the gloss of the piano it reads almost matte, and that is the point. In a room full of shine, the eye needs one soft place to rest.
More on piano bench cushions and on living with velvet.
Pinned by Rosa: five spots on the bench
Five pins, from the velvet top to the cabriole legs the cushion leaves alone.
- Teal-green velvet top
Velvet pile shifts shade with the light, so every panel should be cut with the nap running the same way.
- Mustard-gold piping
Piping on both the top and bottom seams outlines the box against the black bench frame.
- Slim box gusset
A shallow gusset keeps the playing height close to the bench's original setting.
- Lacquered piano
High-gloss black reflects everything, so a matte velvet gives the eye somewhere soft to rest.
- Cabriole bench legs
The curved legs stay fully visible because the cushion ends flush with the bench top.
- Teal-green velvet topVelvet pile shifts shade with the light, so every panel should be cut with the nap running the same way.
- Mustard-gold pipingPiping on both the top and bottom seams outlines the box against the black bench frame.
- Slim box gussetA shallow gusset keeps the playing height close to the bench's original setting.
- Lacquered pianoHigh-gloss black reflects everything, so a matte velvet gives the eye somewhere soft to rest.
- Cabriole bench legsThe curved legs stay fully visible because the cushion ends flush with the bench top.
Five mistakes this piano bench skips
- Measuring the frame instead of the top. The cushion ends flush with the bench top, so the cabriole legs stay in full view. Measure the seat surface edge to edge; piano bench cushion sizes walks through it.
- Going too thick. A shallow side band keeps playing height close to the bench's own. A sofa-deep cushion lifts the player off the pedals.
- Crossing the nap. Velvet pile shifts shade with the light. Cut every panel with the nap running the same way, or the top and sides look like two fabrics.
- Taking the piping from the fabric. The mustard comes from the honey tone of the oak floor. Taken from the teal, the welt would sink into the black frame.
- Adding pillows. Nothing else sits on this bench. It is a working seat, and the gloss of the piano is decoration enough.
Six pieces, and a budget that said seats first
A buyer in the US wanted a long L of built-in seating dressed in sky blue velvet, French tufted. Two seats, 73 x 24 x 4 in (185 x 61 x 10 cm) and 136 x 24 x 4 in (345 x 61 x 10 cm). Two backs, 73 x 19 x 3 in (185 x 48 x 7.6 cm) and 136 x 19 x 3 in (345 x 48 x 7.6 cm).
The workshop split each 136 in (345 cm) piece in two, so four pieces became six. The quote came back, and the buyer found it too much.
So the workshop asked the plain question: what is your budget? Then it suggested ordering the seats alone first. Back cushions can nearly double a banquette budget.
It is the piano bench mistake again, neighbor, only bigger: buying more cushion than the seat needs on day one. What would you order first?
The lesson: Back cushions nearly double a banquette budget, so price the seats alone first.
Buyer questions: a leather-like cloth, a stuck zipper, off-white linen
- A common question
Does your smooth premium upholstery fabric actually feel like leather?
The workshop's answerIt has a very smooth, premium hand that recalls soft, good leather, but it is still a textile, with a textile's comfort and durability. An older suede-look range it replaced is no longer made, so similar colors should be chosen from the newer chart.
- A common question
The zipper on my cushion seemed stuck, maybe broken, when it arrived. What do I do?
The workshop's answerUsually it isn't broken. The fabric tape under the zipper has caught in the teeth. Ease the fabric out gently with your fingers, slide the pull back a little, then forward again. If it still won't move, write to the workshop and it will be sorted out.
- A common question
Is linen L-01 a bright white or an off-white? I'd rather not have pure white.
The workshop's answerFor a natural off-white rather than white, the workshop recommends L-02. The quote that followed was for a 19 x 30 in (48 x 76 cm) cushion in that shade.
A piano bench cushion should be slim and cut flush to the bench top. If it is sofa-thick, playing height changes and small feet lose the pedals.
Rosa
On the cutting table: the piano bench
| Cushion | Piano bench cushion, one rectangle |
|---|---|
| Fabric | Teal green velvet, 124 |
| Piping | Contrast mustard gold, top and bottom seams |
| Edge | Box edge with a slim side band |
| Fit | Flush with the bench top; legs left clear |
| Nap | Every panel cut in one direction |
| Bench | Black lacquered bench with cabriole legs |
| Best for | A living room piano that gets played every day |
Have it made
Have this made — ask Rosa’s workshop
Swings sway, rockers rock, dogs circle three times. Tell the workshop what your seat goes through, and they will plan for it. — Rosa
Leave your details and the workshop will call you to confirm measurements, fabric, foam and piping. No prices, dates or payment on this page: it is a request, not an order.
Questions buyers ask next
How thick should a piano bench cushion be?
Slim enough that playing height barely changes. Every inch of cushion adds to the seat height, so measure where the player sits now and keep the side band shallow. A sofa-thick pad changes the reach to the keys and the pedals.
Should a piano bench cushion overhang the bench?
No. Cut it flush with the bench top. An overhang hides the legs, looks larger than the bench, and can shift when the player slides along the seat to reach the ends of the keyboard.
Why does velvet look like two colors on one cushion?
Because the pile lies in one direction. Light hits it differently along and against the nap, so a panel cut the other way reads lighter or darker. Cutting every panel in one direction keeps the color even.
What piping color goes with teal velvet?
Look to the room, not the fabric. Mustard gold works beside a honey oak floor, and self piping in teal is the quiet option when the frame or the room is already busy.
Porch light's on — Rosa
Velvet benches and seats, cut close
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