Piano Overhaul: DIY Tutorial

After moving to Wisconsin my husband and I found that our house felt a little quiet without a piano. We hadn't really thought about much until we saw this piano at a garage sale for $100. Neil and I both tried it out and made sure it played well, etc. After that we left the garage sale, talked about it, then went back later that day to see if it was still there, and to our surprise it totally was! Neil talked them down to $60 and then we had to figure out how to get it to our house. Luckily the garage sale was only a few blocks from our house. We asked a friend to help, well...a couple of men actually, loaded it in their trailer and then had it delivered to our house that night.

Here is the whole process from start to finish! After looking online for tutorials and much needed suggestions we got started on the overhaul! Luckily I had a friend that was willing to help me out. Doing this project 7-8 months pregnant was a little hard, but when you have someone helping it makes it so much easier! Thanks Michelle! You rock!

Here is the before photo! It was in pretty good condition considering it has been in this lady's garage for a long time. The bench needed the most love actually.

 First we took it all apart, which means that we took off the top and everything that would be hard to paint attached. After we did that we had to clean it out. There were so many spiders and nasty dustiness. I thought that it would be smart to do this before we got too far along. You can take the keys off, however...I wasn't sure I would be able to put them back on in the right order or properly...so I just painted carefully around them.

 Then the sanding began! We sanded all the different faces of the piano EXCEPT the back. If you are wanting to paint a piano just know that you can paint everything except the back of the piano. That is what will change the tune and sound of the piano. After sanding we wiped it all down so that none of the dust got into the paint or primer.

 We taped the base of the legs, and pedals and then primed it. I used an oil based primer since it is wood. The oil just seals the wood so that latex or water based paint doesn't soak into the wood and affect the sound of the piano.

 Here is a photo of the pieces we took off and used the same method for.

After the primer has at least 24 hours to dry we painted our first coat of black semi-gloss paint. There were so many small grooves and different detailed areas that I got a really small brush in order to get those done well. I also got two small rollers that had sponge options instead of the more textured normal rollers. These were so nice! I would recommend a 4" and a 6" roller. It looks so cool with all the different faces taken off! Who would have known what a piano really looks like without the top on it!

 And here is the finished product! I painted the bench as well, which was all wood originally. After sitting on it and it being so hard I decided to upholster it a little bit. I bought some foam and fabric, then used a staple gun to make it all come together. On the under-side (which opens and holds music inside) I sewed another piece and used some spray adhesive to make it look finalized and beautiful even when you open it!

After completing this project I have discovered how easy it really can be to refinish or paint different furniture. Most people seem to use spray paint to paint furniture, however, I can't ever seem to get an even coat with spray paint, and I go through so many different cans! The other problem is that here in Wisconsin the winter makes it impossible to spray paint in an area that isn't well vented. It's also super humid in the summer, which makes it hard to have any paint really dry at all...along with wood-warping problems. So after you figure out how to fix something in good weather here we like to get it done fast!

Cost: $60 for the piano
         $20 semi gloss black paint
         $10 oil based primer
         $10 rollers and other supplies
         $5 fabric
So total: $105 A steal of a deal!

Now we just need to get it tuned so that everything is perfect! Let me know what you think of the finished product! I hope to do more projects like this soon!