I have wanted to paint an old piano for a decade. We actually had a piano waiting in my sister in law’s garage for awhile waiting for us to go pick it up and bring it back the 700 miles, but another sister in law got to it first after she heard I wanted to paint it. She thought that sounded like a great idea and so she took it. At the time I was furious, but now it’s fine, we’re all good and friends (she didn’t even know we were in a fight)!
I found this piano at our local ReStore on a day we were ONLY supposed to be dropping stuff off…yeah my husband reminded me of this fact only about 100 times as he and a friend hauled this bad boy into our living room. I guess it’s heavy or something? But hey, I got it for $50! That’s practically free for a piano, and we didn’t have to drive it across 3 states-so my grabby sister in law saved us money and time! 😉
If you’ve read or seen almost any part of my blog or house you know I like white. No, that is not accurate. I NEED white. My beige walls make me feel sad. My craft room is the only room in my house that is completely done and it is all white and bright and clean and uncluttered and I go there for my health. One day all of my house will mimic the happy feelings I have in that room, but for now I need to add white any place I can.
Sadly, this piano has been sitting in my living room for like 8 months in this sad state. It might look okay but it was pretty hammered. I knew I would need to do more than just slap some paint on her, so it took me awhile to get the motivation to take the few days I knew it needed.
The side boards were both busted up pretty bad, so we had to remove the paneling that was on them and patch big sections of wood that were missing. I had a plan for those, so I wasn’t too worried about them as long as they were fixed.
The top was chipping and peeling, so even if I didn’t turn it into the white beauty that it is now, it would have needed some work.
I know a lot of people just paint the piano without taking it apart and I would have too, except my husband is a perfectionist and said I needed to do it right. I’m glad he did, it was SOOO dirty inside, so were able to vacuum out who knows how many years of dust and grossness once we got in there.
The bottom was just as bad, so if you are thinking of doing this and feel confident enough to unscrew a couple screws, you should if for nothing but to clean it out.
I was going to paint it with the DIY chalk paint I used for my yellow dining room cabinet, but I was at Jo-Ann and had a 50% off coupon so I just picked up a 16 oz jar of this Folk Art brand, and it worked great! I had to go back for a second jar, but I have quite a bit leftover of that one.
After cleaning the piano really well, I painted the first coat. I taped the keys but later ended up taking them all out, which was super simple and they are all numbered so it wasn’t a big deal to get them back in. I wiped and sanitized all of them and vacuumed underneath them. Again, so much dust! The keys are moving so much better now.
For the side boards I had my husband cut a couple pieces of beadboard paneling that we got at The Home Depot. I had plenty leftover from my hall makeover, dishwasher makeover and kitchen cabinet makeover. We used some wood glue and slapped those babies on there. 🙂
We used our Ryobi Nail Gun
After a day or two (let’s be honest, a week or two) I pulled out the finishing wax. I wanted to make sure it was good and dry before doing this step, but I probably could have gotten away with waiting for about 6 hours. I was just a little wiped out from all that work. It was definitely a project. The waxing is easy, and the instructions are on the can. This gives the paint a good seal and protection. Don’t skip the wax.
Looks much better than that chippy top huh? This is right after I polished it. 
I knew exactly how it would turn out, I could envision it perfectly, but everyone else has been surprised by how great it looks. I got quite a few skeptical looks when I told people I was going to paint it…and paint it white? They thought I was nutso.
I am nutso, but not because of the need to paint my piano white. It has become such a great focal point of the room and adds a great amount of that white clean look I am in love with. I can breathe a little better in my living room now.
The beadboard really adds a lot on the sides too, so I’m glad that it was damaged before. It feels like a custom piece made for my house.
It’s starting to come together…just 751 more things I want to do to this room. 😉
And because we all like a good before and after, here is one for ya! LOVE!
Tiffany
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Your blog is beautiful. I’m just starting out and was searching for link party pins and came across yours.