Don’t be scared of repainting your old piano if you’re thinking of it as a way to make it fit in your plans of giving your living room a more modern look.
Unlike other pieces of furniture, the value attached to old or even antique pianos borders on the sentimental aspect; but monetary wise, old pianos do not appreciate in value except for some brands. Generally, pianos become worn out and age through the passing of time, with a lot of parts deteriorating overtime even if not in use for years.
Anyway, just to make sure, check if your piano happens to be one of the particular brands that might be worth a hefty price, before deciding to do a repainting job on it. Selling it and buying a new one could turn out to be the better option.
What to Do if Your Antique Piano Happens to Have Good Value
It’s another story though if you’re looking to repaint the antique piano as a better-looking decoration piece in your home.
However, avoid giving it a full makeover if it turns out to have a good value, the price you’ll get from selling an antique piano might not be enough to recover the entire cost you spent in restoring the antique piano before selling it. Unless professionally done, DIY restoration jobs will only decrease the value of an antique piano.
Besides, restoring an old piano can be time-consuming and very expensive. You might as well just buy a brand new digital piano instead of spending too much for an old piece. Piano strings alone can be quite expensive, to which the prices range from $1000 to $10,000.
Some Important Tips When Repainting an Old Piano
Most old pianos remain as home fixtures because of the sentimental memories that they evoke among family members. Still, painting it is a great way to make it fit your home’s modern decor and we’ve listed some useful tips below:
1. Make sure to paint your piano outdoors as it is necessary to strip the old color of the wood, which you will have to accomplish by using strong chemicals.
2. If you’re planning to use chalk paint, there is no need to prime or sand the surface to be painted. If other than chalk paint will be used consult with the paint store if a primer is necessary.
3. Before painting the piano, apply wood putty on holes and gouges and then let the patches dry thoroughly. Afterwards, sand the wood putty to make the surface smooth and even for paint application.
4. Cover the vulnerable parts of the piano with an old sheet or newspaper and use painter’s tape to make sure the parts are protected during the painting process.
5. After painting the first coat, wait for a while before applying the second coat specifically when using chalk paint.
5. Make certain that the paint is fully dry by waiting at least 48 hours before moving on to the finishing steps like distressing (optional), staining (optional) and waxing.
While the actual process of painting the piano is relatively easy, manually sanding as part of the preparatory process would make the task tedious and take longer to finish the project . Just so you know, there are affordable power tools called orbital sanders specifically designed for light DIY tasks.
Orbital sanders can make small sanding jobs easier and faster to accomplish. Checkout the Bob Smith Tools web page for the best Orbital Sander Reviews when looking for choices on what to buy as your handy DIY sanding tool.