Monday, February 1, 2016

My Brave, Badass Piano Makeover

I painted my piano.  I woke up on Friday morning and thought about painting my piano, and by Friday night it looked like this.  To say I'm proud of myself would be an understatement.  This is definitely the most DIY thing I've ever DIYed.

Here's what it looked like before.  This is the piano my parents bought for me in 1970.  I have spent who knows how many hours on it banging out Bach and the Beatles.  But the last time the piano tuner was here she shook her head and said she couldn't really tune the bass any more, and there is a broken string that isn't worth repairing. 

I will be moving in a year or so, and I've been thinking about the things I will take with me and the things I will let go.  This piano was a bit of a toss-up.  Until I got the idea to paint it.  Now it's gone from eyesore to favorite thing in the house.

I even added little glass pulls to replace the old hardware.  So pretty.  So girly.

Doing this project gave me a lot of confidence.  I didn't know I had this ability until I tried.  Now I'm looking around the house wondering what I should paint next.

If you would like to paint your own piano, there are a lot of great instructions out there.  In a nutshell, you can buy the expensive chalk paint, or do what I did, and get a quart of latex paint.  Mix 1 cup water with 1 cup plaster of paris and then add 2 cups paint.  That provided more than enough to paint the piano and the bench with 4 coats.

I think my next project will be to hunt down the perfect fabric for a cushion for the bench.  Because this pretty piano deserves it.