Piano Refinishing Complete!

About a week ago, I posted about Piano Refinishing 101, and with the help of the hubsters this weekend, we are finally completely done with the piano! I am in love with the end result, and I hope you like it too.

As a reminder here is what the $50.00 (off of Craigslist) piano looked like before:

 In the Piano Refinishing 101 post, you will find instructions on how to get this far. It involves an in depth deconstruction prior to painting, and I tried really hard to take a bunch of pictures along the way to document the process. Here she is with the painting complete. You will see in the previous post that I added a wood scroll to the front to add some detail.

Voila! With a little glaze, the detail POPS right out! I’m in love with how great it looks! As you can see, I also upholstered the seat. If you look close on the above picture, the seat had a little warped area. Because of the warping, I decided to buy some 1″ foam and some fabric to make the seat nice and comfy (and hide the warping at the same time.) If you need instructions on how to upholster chairs or benches, go here or here.
Since I know I will get questions on the name and SKU of this fabric…it is called FC Baretta Seaside and the SKU is: 400092151381 (I got the fabric at JoAnn’s). The piano is going in my office, so I thought it would compliment that room nicely.

Here is another angle of the final result!

Want another reminder of the before…here you go. šŸ™‚

I sprayed the hardware and pedals with oil rubbed bronze spray paint (the same as I used in this previous post) to update the look. After the oil rubbed bronze spray paint dried, we sprayed them with a poly-acrylic clear spray paint to protect them.

You will see that the transformation of the bench was quite dramatic.

Here is a better before and after shot of the bench and the pedals.

I used the same technique of glazing that I explain in my Glazing 101 post, but I took some pictures along the way to share with you. As you can see, I covered the entire wood scroll with glaze. I used a brush to make sure that the glaze covered all the nooks and crannies. Then, I used a damp cloth and wiped off the glaze around the scroll.

Now I need to decide where I want it in the room for sure. I’m kind of thinking it would look amazing against my blue wall …but that would involve moving my computer desk.
Here is a reminder what my blue wall looks like in  my office…

 HMMMM. Decisions-decisions! The piano is getting tuned on Wednesday, so it will need to be in its final spot by then. I’ll let you know what I decide!

UPDATE: Aug 23, 2010 The piano is placed on the blue wall! Check it out HERE!

Published on August 15, 2010

31 thoughts on “Piano Refinishing Complete!”

  1. Wow the piano looks so pretty! At first I thought it was painted light blue from how it looked on my computer but when I saw the details on the legs I could see it was cream. Nice job on the coushion. I just got a free piano and I need to do the bench over a bit…I'll have to think about your idea!

  2. I love love love it!! I can not wait to try this on my Great Grandmother piano that was passed down to me!! I'll have to swing by and tell you when it's finished I am following all of your directions!!

  3. I love it. What paint did you use on the pedals? I've been looking for a good silver/nickel spray paint that doesn't come out looking plastic-y or gray. These are gorgeous.

  4. It's beautiful Brooke! Can't wait to see where you put it!Hhhmmm I have a good wall if you need some help? šŸ˜‰ Hey wanna meet up at Swig later?? I'm craving! šŸ˜‰

  5. kudos, that turned out amazing, a few months back I wanted to refinish a used piano but got nervous and went with a digital instead. Now I see yours (not that it was simple I am sure) and I wish I would have :[ maybe someday.

  6. Brooke, I found a similar piano at a thrift store for $50 about a month ago, decided to try my hand at refinishing it as a surprise for my parents for Christmas, found this "how-to" of yours on Pinterest, followed it to the T & got amazing results just like yours!!! THANK YOU!!! My parents were blown away…my mom bawled! I'd include a picture, but don't know how to get it on this post. Thanks a million for taking the time to document all your work in such great detail!!!

  7. love it and would like to do this for my wife for christmas. can you tell me how to apply the glaze or do you have another post you can point me to? i’m a complete rookie with this stuff. thanks.

    1. It sounds great to me. But I’m not an expert. The tuner said it sounded good too. It was so inexpensive we are just thrilled to have a piano. I’m not saying it has the tone of an expensive piano. But it is great for us now.

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