"Um...I wouldn't dare do it..."

I have been dreaming of taking on this project for a few years, and I finally did it! I stalked KSL for a few weeks and found the cutest piano--just the right amount of character and the perfect size for my front room. It's almost 100 years old and still belonged to the original family. The lady who we bought it from had taught piano forever and had taken great care of it and tuned it regularly. All the keys worked and the insides were good. It was pratically a steal. Before:

After:

The reader will please note that I did this entire job myself, including disassembling all the parts with all the little screws. "Yes, Larren, I'm keeping track of the screws!" The reader will also note that Larren was not too happy when he was called in for reinforcement because I couldn't figure out how to put it back together for the life of me. "Where the ___ are all the screws?"

So yes, although I did this myself, Larren vacuumed out all the cobwebs (I almost had a seizure and ran around the house) and the mice pooh (surprisingly, no seizure). And how cute is my seat cover? I reupholstered it with a staple gun and fabric from Ikea of all places. That place has been so good to me lately.

I didn't plan on it, but it's totally Tiffany blue. So now I'm living in my own Pavlovian (sure, sounds like a real word) experiment, except instead of a bell, it's a piano key that sends me drooling for over-priced jewelry that I will never wear because I love gold, but must buy because I never know when I'll be invited to hang with the Real Housewives of New York in the Hamptons to play tennis and brunch.

So there you go. You either love it or you hate it. The reaction has been very positive but there have been a few oldschool peeps that all but faint when I mention I'm painting a 100 year old piano blue. They quickly recover and say, "I'm sure it's fabulous...I just wouldn't dare do it." So the room is slowly but surely coming together. I need to exchange the rug on the floor for an 8 x 10 (but same print), get a chair for the corner you don't see, end table, floorlamp, paint the walls above the wainscot, and get new pillows. Does it ever end?? This is where I need advice, though, so hopefully my friends are still reading my blog. I don't know what colors I want to accent with--like with the paint and the pillows. I'm loving the yellow with the piano but that's as far as I've gotten. This room caused Meltdown of 2011 a few weeks ago, so hopefully someone has some ideas and will save me from emotionally eating my way into 300 pounds.