aqua chalk painted piano

aqua chalk painted piano

I painted my piano! and it wasn’t even all that hard. Find a comfy spot cause this one will probably be a long post. 🙂

So we’d wanted to get a piano or keyboard for awhile for Sadie-she’d shown interest in learning how to play and I wanted to  have one available for all the girls to learn eventually. I had randomly researched a few keyboards on Amazon but didn’t buy anything. Then one date night for some reason, Rory agreed to stop in and check a thrift store with me. (this NEVER happens) We spotted this little Kimball spinet on the back wall and wandered over to it..it didn’t sound too out of tune, and looked to be in pretty good shape inside. The outside had some damage but nothing extensive, mostly cosmetic. I wanted to snap it up but Rory wanted to wait. It was 50% off day, did I  mention? It would have been $125….just sayin’. Anyways, the next day I was determined to at least look at it again..I convinced Rory to take us all out there and we showed Sadie-she was so excited! It was not 50% off anymore boo! It was 25% off furniture though and we talked the guy down to $150. (I’m horrible at math so I don’t know what discount that ended up being but anyways. we were happy!) It was Easter weekend so luckily there was some family in town to help Rory lug it home-and my Dad’s trailer-THANKS Dad!

So there’s the saga of how we bought it. I’m sure you were interested.

ne-ways…..

aqua chalk painted piano

Of course first order of business was to Instagram it. (also, this was my only full before shot. oops! I got too excited!)

DONE.

Now, onto painting!

aqua chalk painted piano

I started with the bench-I ripped out a bunch of gross dirty stapled leather etc from the top, then unscrewed it and the hinges from the bottom. I had to try a few different shades of paint but I ended up with this beautiful aqua!

Then I recovered the cushion with some mustard laminated cotton-perfect for wiping off anything, because these girls are MESSY.

  how to paint a piano with chalk paint

I ended up going with equal parts of this Waverly chalk paint-both Agave and Celery colors. Mixed it up in a container and used this brush…which worked really well.

I would definitely suggest getting one if you paint with chalk paint! I debated on getting Annie Sloan or the BBfrosch stuff but then I saw this at Walmart ($6 a bottle!) and my frugalness won out.

how to paint a piano with chalk paint

  My sister happened to be in town and she talked me into starting the piano…I was kinda hemming and hawing at it for a bit. I’m glad she did because it was fun! fun to see the transformation and it didn’t take too long at all…only a few days of off and on painting and drying. This is the first coat which didn’t have enough green in it for me, so I added some more for the final coat! I taped around the pedals, and then for the details I went in with a small brush. Including behind the keys-I just pushed down the black key and there was enough room behind it to paint. In front of the keys, what worked best was to get a thin piece of cardstock or cardboard, and slide it between the keys and the wood, then paint along the front!

aqua chalk painted piano

The  logo was tricky but I really wanted to keep it so I went for it!

aqua chalk painted piano

When it was all done drying I brushed a coat of the Waverly clear wax over the paint to seal it in. TIP-do a THIN coat….really thin. It’s hard to buff off all the way. (I love the detail on the side there!)

aqua chalk painted piano

aqua chalk painted piano

The kids are enjoying plunking away and learning the notes!

aqua chalk painted piano

and I love how it turned into a statement piece for my living room!

It just needs a music rack now….good thing I have lots of paint leftover!

Comments

  1. Oh so pretty! Especially those colors together.

  2. Beautiful!!!

  3. It looks amazing!

  4. Gorgeous! You’re so good with color combinations. I love it.

  5. She’s a beauty! Man, you did that fast!

  6. This looks amazing! I definitely want to do this to my piano someday. Nice job!

  7. I love it! and I also love the price of the paint! Does the paint go right over the varnish that was on the piano or did you have to sand that off?

    • it went right over it! there wasn’t much varnish-y shine going on to start with though, it was pretty matte!

  8. valerie nelson says

    LOVE this!!!!! Funny, I just chalk painted my piano this past February too! Hadn’t really looked into other brands of chalk paint (doh!). Went with Annie Sloan’s ‘Coco’ and clear wax and it was $75+. Thanks for the tip of other brands! Wish I could upload a pic of my finished piano to show you! Well done, love the color combo!

  9. How much paint did you end up needing to do the whole piano? Cost?

  10. Jess, you have really outdone yourself this time. The piano looks ah-mazing! Makes me want to run out and buy an old piano, and we don’t even play! Well done. I’ve enjoyed your blog (and girls) for years. 🙂

    Sarah

  11. LOVE this! It’s the perfect color!

  12. That turned out really cute! I like the colors you picked. Also, I’m really impressed with your painting-around-details skillz…. I tend to get paint all over the detail I’m trying to go around!

  13. Where did you find the paint in Walmart? I looked in the paint and craft department. Love the piano! Have been wanting to do mine for a while, and I think I’ve finally decided to take the plunge!

  14. My Walmart in PA was clearing out the Waverly paint, wax, and varnish for $3 (yes) a jar and I ended up buying 52 jars of paint, clear wax, brown wax, white wax and varnish on three different trips. None of the Walmart stores had these prices. Scored big time! BTW: the colors are fantastic.

  15. Just an FYI: The large panel beneath the keys (behind the pedals) will usually have a clamp at the top so it can be popped out for tuning access. Great for popping and painting without sitting in the floor too.

  16. Why choose chalk paint over latex or enamel? Doesn’t that give it a rough texture?

    • not after you seal it with a wax finish, it’s fairly smooth-not shiny smooth, but enough. I didn’t want to have to sand it and risk getting dust in the piano parts. 🙂

  17. I recently painted a dresser using waverly agave/plaster for colors , wanted the aged look however I am impatient and yes cheap so instead of waxing after painting used Minwax wipe on stain cloths which will give the”aged” look for about half the cost of wax and you only have to do it once!!!

  18. very pretty! Where did you find the material for the bench?

  19. How were you able to keep the brand name exposed after you painted the piano? Thank you.

  20. How has this held up over the years? Would you still recommend it? We’re getting an old piano today that needs some work and I was thinking about chalk painting it.

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  1. […] of Waverly chalkpaint colors Agave and Celery. I was searching through Pinterest and I came across this piano. I knew that color was the one!Before painting I had to add sides and make the door. I used […]

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