DIY: Painted Piano

I'm one of those crazies that pretty much likes to paint everything. The walls, frames, canvas, my face....and now, the piano! :) We are one of the lucky families that got our piano for free from a family moving back to the mainland and generously wanted to give it away. I'm SO glad I just happened to be looking at pianos to buy just five minutes after the free piano was posted. Not only was it free, all the keys work and it's a beautiful upright! Just needed a little tuning. I knew immediately once I saw it that I would paint it. 

In the before picture you can see on top of the piano I put a yellow bird cage and a teal photo frame. Those were my color inspirations. I just had to decide on one. Finally, after two weeks of going back and forth to the store to look at all spray paint colors available at each store, I decided on the teal. I bought four cans, and then I ended up going back for four more!

 

Next, I made sure to wipe down and dust the piano in every nook and cranny. I really wanted this  project to turn out perfect, and not just hurry through it like most crafty things I do. ;) My youngest (in the picture above) loves to help me clean. He is very particular with all he does so it was a perfect task for him to help with.

Because the piano is so huge, I couldn't take it outside to paint. So instead, I put drop cloths up on the walls and floor. You can see this room has blah walls that I haven't gotten around to painting yet (in the year that we've lived here).

Next, I lightly sanded the piano all over. I just wanted to get all the shine and glossy finish off of it so that my paint would stick better. This part was kind of tedious but it's worth the time to put in. The last thing I did was cover the keys and pedals with aluminum foil because it's bendable and easily comes off.

FINALLY ready to paint! I decided that because I always let my boys help me with my painting projects, I would let them spray a small portion of the back of the piano. They would feel like they were included in this project and, because the back of the piano would be going up against the wall, no one would see the drip marks. ;) The rest of it was pretty easy to paint. The spray paint makes for easier coverage. 

Here is the exact paint I used. Because it's the ultra coverage 2x, I don't have to use a primer whenever I paint with it. I love being able to skip a step! The exact color is "Satin Lagoon".

TA DA!!!! I love it and my family loves it. If you notice any shadowing, please know it's not the paint. It's from the tree outside casting a pretty shadow into my front room. I can't easily move it around to get the perfect picture. :)What do you think? I hope I inspired more piano painting out there! :)