Repurposed Piano Front

Last year while I was on vacation in California, someone dropped this piece of a piano front off at my house. I was sort of stuck because of the color.

So, I mixed up some DIY black chalk paint. I instantly liked it a lot better.

I’ve been needing something for this wall in my kitchen, and I thought this piece might be what I was looking for. When I measured, it seemed like it might work. But to be sure, my friend Stephanie, suggested I use a piece of paper cut to size. I did. I immediately thought it was too small, and Stephanie agreed. However, after leaving it up for a few days, it grew on me.

I decided to hang the piece on my kitchen wall, BUT it has that middle piece that protrudes in the back, and I wasn’t sure it would actually sit right on the wall. So, I hung it on the fence to make sure that it would actually hang right. It did!

I hung it on the wall, carefully centering it, and placing it where I thought it should be from top to bottom. BAD! It was too high and crooked! I brought in the level, and a piece of thin trim. I installed one screw and used the trim and the level to get the other screw in the right place.

I left it hanging in the kitchen for a week or so, and decided that I would give it a go.

I removed the side panels so I could use mirrors, and I painted it with Miss Mustard Seed’s Tricycle Red Milk paint.

I went to get MMS wax from the basement, and when I came back, this is what I saw. Yep, it is bird poop. If you follow me on facebook, you’ve already seen this preview picture.

I love the way the paint looks after applying the clear  wax.

I tested it out to see how I liked it on the fence.

When I went to buy a couple of mirrors, I couldn’t really find what I wanted at a good price, so I opted for this sheet metal. (Union Jack) It comes in 1’x2’. It’s brushed nickel, just like my light fixture, ceiling fan and cabinet pulls. I used my tin snips to cut it.

Of course to hold it in place I reached for my favorite Gorilla Tape!

You can see I taped it around all 4 sides. You can also see those wood pieces that don’t allow the piano front to sit flush against the wall.

Back on the fence for a photo op!

You can get a good feel of the color on the fence. I like the way the detail shows. When it was black, the details were lost.

It’s so hard to get a good picture of it in the kitchen. The kitchen is dark with no lights on, and when I turn the lights on it distorts the color.

I like the shininess of the sheet metal. I will be on the lookout for a small canvas or artwork to sit on the ledge in the middle.

Let’s look at it once more on the fence:

I know this piece could be repurposed for so many more things. For now it’s in my kitchen, but come October, it may be for sale at Glendale!

gail