Painting A Piano With Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Friday, October 5, 2012

After posting about my family room makeover dreams I actually took a step towards making them come true. I painted the piano peeps! 


My courage to go for it came from a blog I love, Centsational Girl. Here is her post about painting a piano white and her photo that was my inspiration.
Like hers, my piano is older but not an antique. A friend gave it to me when she upgraded to a nicer piano. Frankly, I've thought mine was ugly forever and have had this picture in my inspiration file for ages.
http://www.happylooksgoodonyou.com/i-give-you-the-fabulous-painted-piano/#.UG48S008CSo
I love the blue, but I thought it might just fade into my blue/grey walls. When I saw the white done with Annie Sloan Chalk paint I knew I had a winner.

Here's my piano before. You can see it's pretty dinged up, not an antique and not a family heirloom; a perfect piece to paint!



AS Chalk Paint was the best option for a couple of reasons, since I couldn't move the piano outside it was great that I didn't have to sand it first, and also that the paint has almost no odor.

Let's face it, no matter what you're painting, being able to skip the sanding is beautiful. It feels like cheating, but in this case, it works. I was also worried about getting the dust from sanding inside the piano...so that's a legitimate not lazy reason to choose chalk paint.

Here is a good little trick for when you are in the middle of painting and need to go get kids from school or something. If you don't want to wash your brush and you don't want it to dry out, try wrapping it in a sandwich bag until you get back.

Okay, so here is the piano after one coat of paint. I used "Old White."



And here is is all done.

I pretty much love Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and I've used it on a bunch of other projects you might want to see, like my dresser. It works great for unusual applications too, like painting tiles, and perhaps my favorite, painting upholstery!
Marc is working on that huge picture of the Oakland LDS Temple. I'm not sure it will end up hanging there after he's finished-it kind of makes that corner look like it should be in a church-but I like it there for now because it keeps it out of the way when he's not working on it.

ALSO, can you believe I scored that frame at a garage sale for ten bucks? Yay me. Any paint projects going on at your place? 

(A tiny post edit for the couple of people who have asked, this took less than one quart of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I had maybe a cup left at the end.)




12 Responses to “Painting A Piano With Annie Sloan Chalk Paint”

  1. Bravo Shelley, you are brave and what a beautiful result!
    xo
    Kate

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  2. Hi Shelley, I am so excited at the prospect of a low mess low odor piano painting project! Thank you for sharing your success. I am wondering how much disassembly was necessary and if it is something a DIY novice could handle. Any tips appreciated! Thanks Cathleen

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    1. Hi Cathleen. You can definitely do this as long as you remember that part of the Annie Sloan chalk paint charm is that it has a "perfectly imperfect" look. I didn't do any disassembly. I just painted carefully with a small brush around the keys, waited for it to dry and then closed the cover and painted that. Be sure to open it a few times while it's drying so it doesn't stick shut. Mine did and I had to use a razor blade to open it. Good luck and happy painting!

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  3. Hi Shelly, I am about to attempt this myself - in Old White. I wonder if you have any tips to pass along? Mine is about the same as yours.... did you use one or 2 quarts of paint? Thanks in advance! Ali

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    1. Sorry it's taken me so long to reply, it took a little less than one quart. Good luck!

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  4. That looks amazing! How many quarts of chalk paint did you use? I just got a piano for free today and want to use the old white annie sloan paint, too! Thanks! :) Love the temple picture, too. :)

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    1. Hi Stephanie, It took a little less than one quart. Have fun with your painting! I love painting free furniture the best-absolutely no guilt!

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  5. So wait, you SERIOUSLY didn't sand at all? I didn't think that was possible! Where did you get the chalk paint? I love to paint things that I get from people's garbage or cheap on Craigslist, so your blog was the perfect find!

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  6. Oh, and did you use any clear wax?

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    1. Hi Ericka. I got the chalk paint from a store in Lafayette called The Bloom Space. I just googled "Annie Sloan Chalk paint in Walnut Creek" and that's what I got. You can also go to the ASCP web site and they have a tool to locate a retailer in your area.
      And I did use the clear wax.

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  7. Shelley, I'm considering painting my piano but had a quick question about the part that covers the keys when not in use. Do you have any rubbing and scratching of paint once it is pushed up into place while playing the piano?

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    1. Hi Summer, sorry it's taken me so long to reply. I haven't had any trouble with that at all. I did put a coat of the ASCP clear wax over the whole thing, but I think what really protects it is just that the parts don't rub together when I'm opening and closing it. Good luck!

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