Refurbished Piano

I am a pianist… I get giggles from time to time if I do not pronounce that title clearly…so be it.

My piano was built in 1910 in Ontario Canada. It was a gift on my wedding in 1997 while I was still a undergrad student at the University of the Lethbridge. The poor dear may hold the record for the number of times a piano can be moved in 22 years. (I think it is at 15 times to date)

Before

Two years ago I discovered chalk paint and with my usual devil may care attitude decided that my piano was the perfect project for a beginner. I wasn’t too wrong. The usual joys of not having to prep too much etc gave me a satisfactory end result.

I only mention this because there are a couple of things that if this is an older piano you should know which don’t apply to this project (since it is my second attack, I mean attempt at it).

Older furniture may have lead in the paint and finish. You should wear a face mask so you don’t breath in the dust just to be safe. Ventilation is very important too.

Now that no one will die from ingesting lead….let’s jump ahead to 2019.

My piano’s finish was not holding up as well as I would have hoped. I had chosen a cream colour paint the first round, over a dark brown piano…and even with multiple coats it still blead through in spots. Also, I used a wax finish the first time…which although pretty was NOT practical with multiple lils in the home.

This time I chose a grey and a polycrylic finish.

Prepping

I lightly sanded the piano with a fine sand block that I bought at the dollar store. I then wiped the piano with a damp towel to remove dust.

Next comes the question about what to remove and what to leave attached and just hope green painters tape does the trick…

My piano was not cooperative with the idea of removing any parts so I went tape happy and made sure hardware, pedals, and keys were safe. (if you do get paint on the keys…do not panic…firstly it is water based…if you get it before it dries it is like it never happened, secondly, you can alway scrape off a chip here and there should it happen)

Painting

I maintain there are things you can save money on – paint and brushes aren’t one of them. I buy my chalk paint from a local boutique. I buy my brushes at a hardware store….pretty much everything else is from the dollar store….

It took 3 coats to get everything covered in a consistent satisfactory finish. Last time I learned that if I didn’t let the paint dry long enough between coats it would eventually crack…so I practiced patience this time (as much as I could…so about 6 hours between coats)

Painting the lid was a bit tricky. I painted it closed first, all 3 coats, before opening and painting the inside and the inner sides beside the keys. These are the mostly likely to get scuffed up with daily use so I wanted to do them last and get the protective coat on before closing the lid again.

I let the final coat dry for 24 hours before starting any embellishment or extras. This was prudent, but not on purpose….my son had something that took me out of the house.

I also redid the chair (I am not a fan of benches as a performer, I can’t afford a proper adjustable pianist chair, but I have an old kitchen one which is the perfect height for me)

Here is the chair to give you a taste of the colour

Fun Fancy Stuff

I think the history of a piece of furniture is important and I felt baddly about painting over the name on my piano the first time, so….I got out my handy dandy cricut air 2 and printed it on vinyl as well as some embellishments. I get no bonus for saying this…but buy one of these babies….I am sure the cricut will feature prominently in future projects.

I enjoy weeding, but the fine spiral was a bit of a trick…..you get better results if you let your 7 year old watch youtube and crank your playlist so you don’t have to here the inane gamer show about pokemon…just a suggestion

When affixing it to the piano be patient. However the extra pressure needed sometimes to get a perfect transfer can be cathartic in its own way.

I then took a break from vinyl creating to add some silver highlights with a tube of acrylic paint and a small brush. I didn’t want it to be precise so some areas I did freehand and some lightly taped off, just to make the lines straight. On a larger piece of furniture this can be tricky…and the fact that I find myself judging if things are level with my head tipped to the side doesn’t help….

I did the base, the music stand, and along the base of the keys. I like a little sparkle.

I then added my final two vinyl decals

Finishing

I finished my project with 2 coats of Polycrylic Satin Finish….this was by a happy mistake. Apparently I can’t read. I meant to buy Polyurethane…which is oil based and smelly…but grabbed it’s water based much more user friendly counterpart. It worked like a charm.

I applied it with a sponge brush rather than a bristle brush…no good reason, I just roll like that.

The (Almost) Final Look

Here it is in all it’s glory – before final clean up…. I will take a picture once I get it moved back and actually get to washing the floor. back to school equals a million projects on the go…..

Refurbished cabinet

One sunny summer afternoon I departed for a short walk and came across a family that was literally giving away furniture. I became the happy owner of this wooden cabinet and quickly made arrangements to bring it home.

Just the night before I had been struggling to find a place for all the board games we own…. (I honestly think, members of the LDS Church keep the board game industry alive just with our weekly family home evenings…) So I was more than happy to find this piece of furniture.

I have had some success with chalk paint in the past – my classroom desk, my piano…and so I thought this would be the perfect medium to use. I love the minimal prep and easy clean up as well as for impatient people like myself, the fast drying times is a bonus.

Getting Started

Firstly I carefully removed all glass from doors and the shelf and set them aside. I then removed the old door pulls. They were very old and immediately fell apart…I am still searching for a couple of the bolts…so although i usually try to re-purpose as much as I can…these door pulls did not cooperate.

I gave the unit a good cleaning with hot soapy water and a soft rag before giving it a light sanding. I paid special attention to any areas where dust had been apt to creep into over the years.

Once sanding was complete, I wiped it down and let it air dry. (It helped that it was 23 degrees Celsius in the house)

I assembled all my supplies

small brush
small roller
small paint tray
paper towel for spills
Chalk Paint (the colour I used was called “Daines and Daubry”, it was a custom color from a local boutique)
New door pulls
Put down plastic sheeting

The Painting Begins

The first order of business was to apply the first coat. With chalk paint you do not need to use a primer, but with going from a dark to light colour I consider my first coat as such.

If you are painting with small people in the house it helps to have something to keep them occupied. My 7 year old worked beside me painting a wood-crate for a future project…This kept him busy for about 15 minutes before he got bored and wandered off. All in all much easier and faster than if I had told him he couldn’t help.

Chalk paint is basically odorless but I like to paint with good ventilation.

After applying the first coat with a brush for the detailed areas and cutting in the corners and insides of the cabinet, and the small roller for the larger surfaces, I let the cabinet dry overnight. It really only needed 4-6 hours but it was late.

Coats 2 and 3…

I did end up doing 3 coats of paint as I found the colour was not as vibrant as I would have liked with 2 coats. I let each coat dry 4-6 hours

Detailing

I am all for buying good quality supplies, and I never scrimp on good paint or brushes….but for detailing sometimes I do cut corners.

I wanted to do some gold enhancing with a fine brush and add some glitter…I bought the acrylic gold paint and glitter at the dollar store saving myself about $40.

The nice thing about the effect I wanted was that it didn’t require a perfectly steady hand. I highlighted the raised edges on the piece with one coat of gold acrylic paint and a fine tipped paint brush.

I used a small flat brush to paint the inside edges of the glass doors where the glass would sit. This gave the piece some depth and sparkle without drawing the eye away from the wonderful bottom doors.

I used white craft glue on a flat brush and another flat brush to apply glitter to shelf edges and places where I wanted more depth. The glue dries clear and the glitter I chose was dark so it wasn’t over the top sparkly.

Finished bottom door with adorable door pull

Finishing Up

There are many ways to finish your piece. It depends on it’s use and durability. I have used wax before but it didn’t hold up as well as polyurethane when it came to my small people interacting with the furniture.

I chose a satin polyurethane. Make sure you are in a well ventilated area…or the fumes will be overpowering.

I used a brush to apply the final finish on the entire cabinet. I have better luck with that than rollers for an even finish.

I applies 2 coats. I learned that often the first coat is a bit tacky, even after the recommended drying time….probably a scientific reason that I am not going to bother to google…but the successive coats dry diamond hard.

The final touches were some adorable door pulls – I collect birds so these owls were perfect for my living room.

(note on telling people you collect things…be careful who you tell, because this could be the only gift you ever receive for the rest of your life…and I think there is such as thing as too much of a good thing. I had a piano teacher in university that thanks to an inside joke had started a pig collection….by the time I was her student she had amassed a pig collection of epic proportions…and there was no going back…you have been warned)

I then re-inserted the glass doors and shelves and let the cabinet stand for a day or two before putting anything on the shelves.

The Finished Cabinet…..

Upper doors with gold finish along inner edges

Close up of upper edging with gold paint and glitter

Total cost of project

The cabinet was FREEEEEEE…

Chalk Paint – $45 as it was 50% off

Acrylic Gold Paint and Glitter – $3

Brushes and Rollers – $20

Door Pulls – $6.99 each

Welcome to my little space of organized chaos on the web!

Thanks for joining me!

This blog has been created to showcase the tweaks and twists I put on various projects. I have never been one to follow all the directions (just the important ones) and I enjoy putting my own stamp on things, whether it is a craft project, a canning recipe, or a lesson plan….

The best way to find things is looking at the categories on the right hand side…if you want my recipes check out canning etc.

If you are ok with things being a little left of center…follow along.

“Life is nothing without a little chaos to make it interesting.” “
– ― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Demon in My View