DIY painted piano

I haven't been thrifting as much over the past few years, so occasionally I'll put my mom on the lookout for things.  She has a great eye and is the ultimate queen of deals.  She spotted this piano at Goodwill and thought I might like it.  It was a steal and the sound was great, the finish however needed some work but I knew that would be a fairly easy fix.  My dad kindly picked it up for me with his truck and delivered it to our house.  It is super heavy, so my husband and a few of the neighbors loaded it into the house.

I would have preferred to paint it out in the garage, but I knew that once we got it in the house it was staying put.  It was too heavy to move in and out.  So with that in mind, I lightly sanded the piano in the house, making sure not to create a lot of dust.  Then I wiped the whole thing down with thieves cleaner.  It was covered with stickers.  Next, I painted it white with a paint plus primer combo I picked up at Lowes.  I normally would have preferred to use an oil based primer and then paint it with a few coats of latex paint, but since it was indoors I was trying to avoid fumes.

Since I didn't use a primer, and I was going over a darker stained finish, it did take several coats.  I'm pleased to say it's held up quite well though and let me assure you it takes quite a bit of abuse.  In face last week I found it covered it crayon marks.  A quick wipe down with a magic eraser took care of it and now it looks good as new.  

Side note, after it was painted we had it tuned.  The whole time the guy was tuning it, he kept talking about how paint had dripped between some of the pieces and the person who was painting it must have known nothing about pianos.  I about died.  So maybe be a little more careful than I was if you give it a try.  I will say that he just peeled off the paint so no harm done. 

And because they are my favorite flower, I have to show my peonies I picked up from Trader Joes.  I wish I could make them last forever!  I mixed them with some eucalyptus to fill up the vase more.

I've also heard that chalk paint works well for this type of project.  So it might be worth trying that too!  Nesting with Grace has a great tutorial if you want to give that option a try.