Thank you - and a bit about my newest idea

I haven't posted for a few days - sorry lovely followers! I've been absolutely chocka - celebrating my hubby's birthday, trying out some new recipes, visiting the Museum of Welsh Life with the lovely Emma, and plotting my next idea out.  And I was overwhelmed by Emma's sweet post yesterday - which just blew me away... I have also appreciated all your kind words and really enjoyed connecting with you!

I have a bit of a habit of starting lots of different projects all at once, so it's sometimes slow progress, but I hope this one won't take too long.  Just a quick word really about this - I am combining my love of music and my love of colour.  

I am in the process of sanding back my beautiful charity shop piano (£100 and sounds wonderfully mellow).  It will need a tune and one of its strings fixed too - I am hoping that this will inspire me to make time for a bit more practice - though to be honest I have so many hobbies I wonder if there will ever be enough time in the day.  I really do miss singing in a choir and can't seem to find a local one to join and would love to get some form of music in my life (though I've always enjoyed music made with other people more than playing or singing on my own).

So here's my old piano, with a few chips and chunks taken out by careless movers, and a dark varnish which makes it look a bit too big for our small house:

Here's my trusty sander - a gift from my wonderful in-laws:

 Here's the colour of the wood underneath that dark varnish: 

As you can see, it's quite golden and quite a rich colour which is really pretty - and though the original plan was just to paint it a lovely country cream, then cover with a couple of coats of varnish for shine, I am starting to love the colour and texture of the wood - and I am quite tempted to just treat it with wax or oil.  The only problem is there are areas of damage - huge chunks missing near the base especially - and I have no idea what wood it is made of.  So I will need to be inventive to keep the wood bare.

And finally - the big reveal, tee hee! 

This is the (satinwood) paint I had mixed to paint the inside of the lid and to pick out some tiny details, like the edge of the top and the stands which hold up the keyboard (as these desperately need replacing and I will not be able to match the wood).  I'd also like to use this to pick out the sides of the keys, as I think that could look really nice.

Here we are: 

I'm really hoping this rich purple will look really good against the natural wood - just enough to pick up the colour without making my piano look like a bag of dairy milk buttons...

So what do you all think?  I'd love to have your comments!

H

xxx