Thank you Rhoda at Southern Hospitality! You are an inspiration! I first saw Rhoda's staircase redo over at The Lettered Cottage. My stairs had been in a world of hurt for quite a while. You see, they are hardwood, but had been stained in, oh, 1963 or 1964 when our house was built. Then, they had a weird rubber old lady runner thing on them, then they had been covered in carpet, which was absolutely, ridiculously disgusting when we moved in and I was 6 months pregnant. Note to self and all those in blog world, please don't EVER move when you are pregnant, especially if your "new" old house has 1960's paneling and carpeted stairs!!! I cried and I cried and I cried and I almost made Daddy cry when I said, "I think we bought the wrong house!" on the day we closed. But, ugly 1960's paneling is something that can be beautified with a little paint, Praise the Good Lord, and thank Him for great parents who paint because you can't/shouldn't when you are 6 months pregnant!!! But, I digress. So, here are my stairs to begin with...
So, yes, quite hideous! I know you are asking yourself, "Why, why in the world have you lived with this for 5 LOOOOONNNNNGGGGG years?" Well, let me just tell you that they were carpeted when we moved in. We had all the carpeting replaced (it was nasty and was an absolute requirement from an insane pregnant woman who asked Daddy to dig up Jasper the Cat that we had buried in the back yard of our last precious home to move him to the back yard of our new/old home so he would still be with us...another story for another day). The stairs were carpeted when we bought the house, so we assumed we would just replace the carpet on the stairs as well. Bing, bang, boom and DONE. Not so fast! When the carpet layers (also puller uppers) took the carpet off the stairs, they realized that the "down" stairs were hardwood just like the "up" stairs. We live in a split foyer home (I swore I would never live in a split foyer home because they were TOO dark, but I do love our home, and I knew it would be our home the minute we walked in, pink walls, 1960's tile, hideous wallpaper, paneling and all). Again, digressing. The moral of that whole story is, don't listen to Daddy when he says, "Don't let them put carpet on the stairs! I'll refinish them since they are hardwood." Yeah, that didn't happen and I wasn't holding my breath after 5 years. Love you my precious hubby, but you are a bit behind on the DIY's:)!
Almost 5 years and many blog and Google searches later, I came across Rhoda's stair redo on The Lettered Cottage. Okay friends, now we are up to speed. I do love me some background so you can get the gist of everything...
So, I went to Lowe's and got some Crown NEXT Paint Strip environmentally friendly paint and varnish stripper (and installed myself a pole...ha ha) and got to work. Here's how my steps looked after the stripper (pole and all...ha ha)...
First, let me emphasize the importance of safety goggles. No, they don't particularly work when you have them on your head! Yes friends, I had them holding back my hair that was hanging in my eyes blocking my view of properly "STRIPPING" my stairs. As you can imagine, I flung some of the paint stripper in my eye and had to flush for 15 (3) minutes and throw away my brand new pair of disposable contacts. Oh, I was fine! It was just a little and I still have my eyesight 2 weeks later. So, I know, right, the stairs are still crappy, but my toenails look pretty in the picture! Daddy was still hanging on to the whole "I'll refinish them" thing. I'm thinking that would require a professional, which we are not! Sorry Daddy, you're a pro at a lot of stuff, but...
Next, I primed, and even the primer made me so happy! I also primed the wall/paneling around each riser and tread where there was no primer or paint due to it being painted before the old carpet was pulled up 5 years earlier. Oh, and did I mention that I did all of this when my two crazy kids were at the beach with my Mommy (shout out to Mommy who loves it when her 30-something daughter calls her Mommy - and she is the greatest Mommy in the world - overboard? maybe a little). Anyway, she took my kids away so I could ACTUALLY complete a project, so I gotta give her what she wants, my Mommy that is:)! And, drum roll please, here are my steps primed...
Lovely, right. Once the primer was dry, I set out with my Valspar Porch and Floor paint in "something" black (can't remember the exact name and the paint is downstairs and I'm not getting up to walk down there now even though I would like to see my pretty stairs, what with all this talk about them). Please note that I do tend to get paintbrush happy whenever I am holding one in my hands. I had the bright idea, which came back to haunt me later, that the parquet entry floor should be black too. I just tested it out a little. I'd love to show you, but it might ruin the finished product picture I have saved up. Let me just say that Daddy didn't like it. As a matter of fact, he said, "Why'd you paint the foyer floor?" As in, you crazy, paint brush-holding woman, step away from the paint can and put DOWN the brush! That brush happy mistake only took an HOUR to SCRAPE off.
So, after many (kidless) hours of working on my stairs, a little "stripper" in the eye, some scraping due to "brush-happy" hands, lots of primer and a little porch and floor paint from Lowe's, here is my finished product...
Oh, and I painted the end posts and railings too (told you I am brush happy), but left the spindles white. That small touch updated the entire area. I am telling you that my entry way is now a happy place to be! I also had a pedicure in the midst of all of this and picked out a fabulous purple called "Can You Dig It" by OPI.
Let me also mention that I found the cutest, most precious half round table that is perfect for my foyer, along with a great iron candle stick and a green cross as accessories at The French Flea. And here is a picture of that...
Thanks for stopping by to see my stair redo that was totally inspired by Southern Hospitality!
I still have some molding to add and some paint touch up to do and maybe a poly top coat to add that will help with the crazy kids scuffing it all up, but for now, I am in my happy place!
Almost 5 years and many blog and Google searches later, I came across Rhoda's stair redo on The Lettered Cottage. Okay friends, now we are up to speed. I do love me some background so you can get the gist of everything...
So, I went to Lowe's and got some Crown NEXT Paint Strip environmentally friendly paint and varnish stripper (and installed myself a pole...ha ha) and got to work. Here's how my steps looked after the stripper (pole and all...ha ha)...
First, let me emphasize the importance of safety goggles. No, they don't particularly work when you have them on your head! Yes friends, I had them holding back my hair that was hanging in my eyes blocking my view of properly "STRIPPING" my stairs. As you can imagine, I flung some of the paint stripper in my eye and had to flush for 15 (3) minutes and throw away my brand new pair of disposable contacts. Oh, I was fine! It was just a little and I still have my eyesight 2 weeks later. So, I know, right, the stairs are still crappy, but my toenails look pretty in the picture! Daddy was still hanging on to the whole "I'll refinish them" thing. I'm thinking that would require a professional, which we are not! Sorry Daddy, you're a pro at a lot of stuff, but...
Next, I primed, and even the primer made me so happy! I also primed the wall/paneling around each riser and tread where there was no primer or paint due to it being painted before the old carpet was pulled up 5 years earlier. Oh, and did I mention that I did all of this when my two crazy kids were at the beach with my Mommy (shout out to Mommy who loves it when her 30-something daughter calls her Mommy - and she is the greatest Mommy in the world - overboard? maybe a little). Anyway, she took my kids away so I could ACTUALLY complete a project, so I gotta give her what she wants, my Mommy that is:)! And, drum roll please, here are my steps primed...
Lovely, right. Once the primer was dry, I set out with my Valspar Porch and Floor paint in "something" black (can't remember the exact name and the paint is downstairs and I'm not getting up to walk down there now even though I would like to see my pretty stairs, what with all this talk about them). Please note that I do tend to get paintbrush happy whenever I am holding one in my hands. I had the bright idea, which came back to haunt me later, that the parquet entry floor should be black too. I just tested it out a little. I'd love to show you, but it might ruin the finished product picture I have saved up. Let me just say that Daddy didn't like it. As a matter of fact, he said, "Why'd you paint the foyer floor?" As in, you crazy, paint brush-holding woman, step away from the paint can and put DOWN the brush! That brush happy mistake only took an HOUR to SCRAPE off.So, after many (kidless) hours of working on my stairs, a little "stripper" in the eye, some scraping due to "brush-happy" hands, lots of primer and a little porch and floor paint from Lowe's, here is my finished product...
Oh, and I painted the end posts and railings too (told you I am brush happy), but left the spindles white. That small touch updated the entire area. I am telling you that my entry way is now a happy place to be! I also had a pedicure in the midst of all of this and picked out a fabulous purple called "Can You Dig It" by OPI.Let me also mention that I found the cutest, most precious half round table that is perfect for my foyer, along with a great iron candle stick and a green cross as accessories at The French Flea. And here is a picture of that...
Thanks for stopping by to see my stair redo that was totally inspired by Southern Hospitality!
I still have some molding to add and some paint touch up to do and maybe a poly top coat to add that will help with the crazy kids scuffing it all up, but for now, I am in my happy place!
That looks sooooo good!
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