Painted Piano

This week I decided to pull the plug on my on again off again fantasy that we'll raise musically inclined kids. I offered our piano to whoever would pay the cost of moving it and had quite a few people respond. Several people said they wanted it because it's pretty. I got the impression there are a lot of ugly pianos out there that people might like to change. So I decided to write this post as an encouragement that almost anything can be painted. If you don't like something, what do you have to lose?

The back story: We were given this piano for free by a neighbor that was moving. I wasn't blogging at the time, so it never crossed my mind to take any pictures. But if you can imagine a very large, dark wood, slightly beat up (and dare I say homely?) upright piano, you've got a pretty clear mental image.

The only problem was that I couldn't live with its wooden color. I felt like it sucked the light right out of the room and I knew I'd never change my mind. So I started painting it that very afternoon. Here's what I used...

Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 Primer. This primer doesn't require sanding and it's water based so you can work with it right in your home.

Benjamin Moore's Winterwood paint. To avoid impacting the way it played, I didn't paint the wood around the keys.

Valspar's Mocha Translucent Glaze. I applied this with a brush and then rubbed it off with an old tshirt.

I think this treatment really freshened this piece up, giving it a lot of character and charm. Obviously, not every piano is a candidate for a makeover. Some are too gorgeous to touch with paint. But if yours is an eyesore, know that you can give it a new look!

Do you have a piano needing some help in the looks department? What's the most surprising thing you've ever painted?