What You Need to Know to Paint the Piano

Does your piano need a makeover too? Mine was not in the best shape so I decided to paint the piano.

And I know what you’re thinking.

What? Is she crazy?

But hear me out.

The finish on our piano was really dark and pretty damaged.

There were knicks and scratches all over it.

It was missing a few pieces, the sheet music rack is broken and it was just time to do something about it.

Our piano is located in my living room with my dark brown leather couches. Because the sofas are so dark, the piano looked too heavy for the space.

Given the damage it accumulated through the years, I started researching how to paint the piano.

I searched for what type of paint for the piano I should use.

Most inspo showed chalk painted pianos. And I seriously considered using that.

But I decided to try Fusion Mineral Paint because it’s suppose to be even easier than chalk paint.

Say what?

It’s true! Fusion Mineral Paint does not need a piece to be pre-sanded AND it has a top coat built in.

How cool is that?

Ideally, I prefer to try new techniques on smaller projects, but decided to go all in on the piano.

I mean I have experience painting furniture and other types of home decor.

My kitchen looked pretty amazing after I applied chalk paint to the cabinets.

I used chalk paint on some old picture frames to make jazz up an empty space with a vintage botanical print gallery wall.

Two of my favorite chalk paint projects are when I painted the fabric on this antique bench and this vintage chair.

And I even repurposed this old vintage framed art.

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Supplies Needed to Paint a Piano

Whether you paint piano with chalk paint or fusion mineral paint, it is a personal preference.

Both work options work really well and minimize the amount of work needed to complete the job.

• Chalk Paint or Fusion Mineral Paint (I used the color Raw Silk)
• Paint Brush
• Painter’s Tape (to tape off any areas you want to avoid painting
• Finishing Wax (if you refinish with Chalk Paint)
• Sanding Block
• Dry rag to wipe down after sanding
• Wax brush or old sock to apply wax
• Piece of cardboard to help paint around the keys.
• Drop cloth
• Antique Glaze to help age the piece (if desired)

How to Paint a Piano

• Remove all hardware if you don’t want to get paint on them.
• Lift bench off the ground to make it easier to paint the legs. I set mine on paint cans that are the same size.
• Lightly sand the surface to scuff it up.

• Wipe down the whole piece to clean it up with a dry rag.
• Start painting! Allow the piece to dry in between coats. Since my piano has such a dark finish, I needed to use three coats of Fusion Mineral Paint.
• When the piece is dry, open it up to expose the keys. Lightly sand down any areas or drip marks. Then finish painting. I used a piece of corrugated cardboard paper that I had laying around to help paint around the keys.

• Allow drying for a few days. Then lightly sand the edges to give it a distressed look.
• Clean the surface with a dry rag or cloth.
• Then use a damp cloth or damp brush to lightly apply the glaze and wipe off to give it an aged appearance.

• Allow drying.
• If you finish the piano with chalk paint, use a finishing wax to seal it.

Done with painting!

Can you believe how much better it looks already?

I love how it looks so far.

It’s important to allow the piece to dry for at least 24 hours before lightly distressing it.

If you want to distress it.

I wanted to distress mine to get that aged look.

But that’s a personal preference.

I am loving the new look!

It looks so much lighter and brighter in this corner of the living room.

I’m not sure how I want to decorate it yet though.

So I just added a few items I have laying around.

What Do You Think?

And that’s it! What a transformation right?

I love how it turned out.

Painting the piano was not very difficult but was a little more time-consuming than I expected.

So give yourself about half a day for it.

It’s been really fun decorating the painted piano for the seasons.

Here is the piano all decked out for spring.

To see the rest of my home decorated for spring, click here.

Now that I painted the piano, it is much more fun to decorate.

Here it is all prettied up for fall.

To see more of home decorated for fall, click here.

I love the piano so much more now that it looks better and fits in with my decor.

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