Sorry for the lack of posting around here lately. I’ve been busy raising humans and other important tasks. 🙂 I’ve been writing a cookbook (not the same as having a cookbook published, mind you.) and just haven’t had time to do that along with a lot of posting on here. But things are settling back to normal (wait, we don’t do normal, that’s right…) Well, normal for me. 🙂 This is a non-recipe post, but I just had to share this. I love undertaking DIY projects but this one I thought was maybe taking it too far.
Our piano is a $50 piano. No family heirloom or anything, just something that plays fairly well I found cheap some years ago. But the finish was dark and worn. After falling in love with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint I decided I would paint it. I think it’s fair to say Pinterest is largely to blame.
Especially for this project this paint was the logical choice because I could paint it indoors (no fumes) dries incredibly fast, and no sanding or priming needed. A good resource for learning how to use the paint is The Purple Painted Lady website. She has great information on using it and when I ordered paint from her she even answered her phone (gasp!) and answered some questions I had.
This is the before picture:
I wiped down the piano making sure there was no dust or anything. Then I brushed on the first coat of Provence. No, there was no way I was taking the piano apart! I just used some blue painters tape around the keys and pedals. As I started the first stroke with the paint brush I kept screaming to myself inside my head (This is TOO FAR, HOLLY! Who paints their piano?! WHO?! People who have gone too far!!). I nearly slapped the brush out of my other hand. And yes, that’s a dresser painted in provence behind the piano.
By the time you get done with the first coat, it’s probably already dry and ready for the second coat.
After the second coat I opened the key cover (or whatever that’s called) and at the last minute I decided to use a vinyl cutout to cover the company emblem so it wouldn’t be painted. I just didn’t feel like it should be painted over for some reason.
I painted 2 coats around the keys, then carefully removed the vinyl cutout.
I love how this little detail turned out.
To finish I applied 2 coats of clear wax. I do have a nice wax brush, but I actually prefer using a soft cloth to apply the wax. But having a nice Annie Sloan paintbrush is worth every penny. With the one quart of Provence paint I have painted a dresser, a piano and piano bench, and a large frame. And I still have some left. Crazy how far it goes. I’m totally sold on it. It ends up being way cheaper than any other paint I’ve used and I don’t get sick off the fumes any more. Yay! 🙂
While I still think painting a piano is going a little too far… I’m really glad I did it. Our piano no longer looks dark and dingy and unloved.
I think it is GORGEOUS!