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October 29, 2013

how to paint and reupholster an old piano



 
 
Last week I shared that I found a free piano on Craigslist and gave it some new life with a little paint and new fabric.  Back today to share a little about what we did.  After our amazing experience with painting our kitchen cabinets white by spraying them, we decided that was the way to go with the piano as well.  The finish is just so smooth and professional looking with the spraying technique.  Now I know some might think I'm crazy to paint a piano, but really there was nothing to lose painting it, since it was a) free and b) not a heirloom piano.  So we took the plunge!


To ensure that the keys and internal piano parts were protected we took our time and carefully taped and covered everything before we started painting.  This was the most tedious part, but so important.

 

After we felt the internal parts of our piano were fully protected we started priming it.  We used Kilz original primer.  Once the primer was dry, we gave it a very light sand.


To paint it, we used the same paint sprayer we used to paint our office furniture.  We picked up this paint sprayer at the hardware store for $11 and attached it to our air compressor.  We diluted our paint (Kwal acrylic paint) with water to a consistency thin enough to be sprayed.  (tip:  before we started we spent some time experimenting with the diluting and tested it on scrap boards to get the right consistency and method down before we started on our furniture)  With spraying, the paint is very thin and dries really fast, so we were able to do three coats rather quickly.


I love the finish this spraying technique produces.  A nice, clean, smooth finish with no brush strokes.

Next up was replacing this very dated fabric on the piano bench.  Really a super easy process once I finally found a fabric I liked. 

Again, trying to not spend a lot of money on this project, I was thrilled to find this gorgeous fabric for $8.99/yd at Hobby Lobby of all places. 

For the padding, I used foam from my daughter's old nap mat that she had outgrown.  I cut it to size with enough to cover the top and sides.  I added a small amount of wood glue to hold it in place.  Next I cut my fabric to size and stapled it to the inside of the board.  I placed the hinge back on and attached it back to the bench and it was done!






So here's a breakdown of what we spent:

piano:  $0 (free from Craigslist)
primer 3 cans: $9
paint: $0 (already had it from a previous project)
padding for bench: $0 (used some from an old nap mat)
fabric: $8.99 (Hobby Lobby)

Grand Total: $18 !!!!!

So happy with how it turned out! 




Have an amazing day!

you can also find me here:
 


October 25, 2013

flashback friday

We were looking through old photo albums and videos with the kids last weekend and they love seeing themselves when they were "little."  I love how there are so many memories in one little picture.  When I look at photographs, I'm transported back to that time the picture was taken and I become emerged in whatever the event, people, or feelings that are associated with the photograph.
 
So today I'm taking a break from diys, home décor, food, and fashion to share some old personal pictures.  Shall we reminisce...

1.    Pictures of Preston and Lyla together

{Summer 2010}
 
{Fall 2009}
 
{Christmas  2010}
  
2.  Pics of just Preston

{Spring 2009}

{Spring 2011}
3.   Pics of Lyla

{Fall 2011}
 
Summer 2010} 
 
4.  Pics of all four of us.

{Summer 2010}

{May 2010}
 
{May 2010}

{Summer 2007}
 
{Christmas 2010}

5.  And last is this video of Lyla saying her bedtime prayers at age 2yrs, which I cherish so much.{Summer 2010}

 
 
p.s. Ruby was our basset hound, who is no longer with us :(  They used to like to pray for her too :)

{Ruby}

I just randomly went through and picked a few pictures.  None of these are professional quality and I actually had to scan a few, but each has a special memory for our little family.  And clearly they were before I knew anything about taking pictures and editing, but I still love them!

You can also view this post to see more family pictures.  And now that I'm full swing on instagram, I usually tend to share our daily photos there.  So come follow along here if you like seeing the more personal day to day moments.  Have a great weekend!

Also linking with the five on Friday group.  Go check out what these lovely host are up to DarciNatasha, Christina, & April.

you can also find me here:
 
 

October 23, 2013

diy piano transformation



So in March of this year Preston started piano lessons and silly us, we just signed him up without owning a piano or keyboard :)  Not sure what we were thinking??  So now what...he's loving his lessons and we have no piano.  Determined not to spend a lot of money, I hopped on Craigslist one day and there it was... an ad that said "free piano" and the location was only about 4 miles from our home.  So I immediately called Grant and decided we should just go get it and decide if it would work for us later.  So we did.  And this is what we came home with...womp, womp.


The finish was pretty bad, but it had all it's necessary parts and it worked!  It did come with front covers, but my husband pulled them off right away to check out the "piano mechanics" as if he had a clue about what he was looking at :)  So anyways, I didn't get a picture before he did that, but you can still get an idea of what the "before" looked like.  We decided because this wasn't a heirloom and because we already had a full gallon of light gray paint, that we would paint it!  And why not, we had nothing to lose.



And here's my happy little pianist.  The piano's new home is in our front office, so below are a couple of pictures of how our study currently looks.




I think it's a good fit in this space.  And then here are a couple more pictures of the finished product.



Another before and after side by side.

I also reupholstered the piano bench with a much prettier fabric. 

Back soon to show you a little bit of how we tackled painting this piano.

Have a great day!


*Update:  You can click here to see our painting and reupholstering process.

you can also find me here:
 




October 21, 2013

halloween decorations


With Halloween right around the corner, I finally decided I needed to get some Halloween decorations up in our home.

 
 
Because my living room and mantel was already decorated for Fall, I left that space alone, and decided to add the Halloween décor to my front entry table and dining space.
 
 


I bought these green, orange and purple pumpkin lights a few years ago and we put them out every year.  Because we already had the colored lights, I decided to stick with the same colors for the rest of my decorations too.  I made the banner out of scrapbook paper and silver glitter letters.  Then added the Fall flowers in the same coordinating colors along with a big white pumpkin.  And that's a wrap...simple and nothing scary.  Just a little something to get in the Halloween spirit.
 
So, what about you...do you decorate for Halloween?  Is it spooky?
 
And here are my other Fall 2013 decorations.  If you're interested, you can click the link below the picture for the full post.