Here’s a fun little before/after story from Jeremy’s and my renovation process! When we purchased our home the stairs looked like this…
Because of the homes age (it was built in 1885) we knew there probably would be hardwoods under most of the carpets, but we couldn’t know the condition of everything until after moving in.
On closing day we got our keys, did a little happy dance, and started ripping up carpet! It was exciting and a tiny bit scary.
We were pleasantly surprised that almost all of the wood floors were in decent condition and would be in great condition with just a little buffing and sealing! The stairs were already painted (a not-so-lovely shade of green). And after talking over options with our painter, we decided that the most practical choice was to paint them again.
First, we chose white base boards with black steps. It was a mistake. An expensive mistake… oops! But you know, in every renovation story there are one or two slightly expensive mistakes.
Our black stairs didn’t work for our lifestyle because they looked instantly dirty… even hours after being mopped. We have a fawn pug who sheds a lot and, it was just bad.
In addition, my grandmother came over and commented that it was hard for her to see the steps when walking down (yikes! and that was in the daylight) so we decided to bite the bullet and have them repainted.
After! We had them painted while were out of town for the weekend, because the heavy duty sealant needed a few days to cure. When we got home, late one night, we were shocked by how bright and beautiful they looked. SUCH an improvement! Yesssss!
After months of living with our white stairs, I am so happy with the choice. They are easy to clean, bright and cheerful.
I will warn, though, that painted stairs are notoriously slick, and we will probably consider adding a runner to them as our family grows. For now, we’re in love!At the top of the staircase there is a small landing with a closet. We painted this door mustard yellow, and I think it’s really fun. I want to add a cute knocker or a hook to this door soon.
Thanks so much for reading! Have you ever painted a staircase? I’d love to hear about your experiences. xo. Elsie
Hi, can you tell me what type of paint you used for the white stairs?
I agree with Carrie–what brand of paint/name is that mustard yellow?? It is absolutely gorgeous.
I have been loving your home renovations! Keeps me dreaming of the day that my hubby and I will own our own home! I know we will be revisiting these blog posts for inspiration! Thanks so much for sharing!
It looks beautiful! I’d love to have white floors in our house, but for now we’re only renting. One fine day…
we have the same problem with our new house. beautiful hardwoods everywhere, but horribly painted wood stairs underneath even worse carpet.
i’m not sure we could get away with white, since it’s a very high traffic, straight from outside stairwell and i’ve got two young kids, but it is great inspiration!
i just wonder how labor intensive this would be to do it ourselves.
I lobe the white with the accent wall and the mustard door, it all pulls together really well!
xo
www.linenandtulle.com
I LOVE your stained glass window!! Absolutely gorgeous.
xo, Victoria
victoriagatespoetry.wordpress.com
I love the white stairs! I don’t think you can have too much white especially when you have amazing features like the stained glass window and post. Door also fabulous!
I like the white staircase! 🙂 And though I’m not typically a fan of the yellow mustard-y color, it looks great on the closet door surrounded by all the white! 🙂
I have a fawn pug too (his name is Otis) and I started giving him 1/2 a tsp twice a day of apple cider vinegar to help with another issue he was having and it ended up really improving his skin and coat and now he sheds less than half as much as he used too. Google it, it works wonders!
Last fall, my girlfriend and I bought a house in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago and have been slowly but surely renovating it ever since. (A little old lady lived in it for the past 50 years–and quite possibly died in it–and, while in good shape, it *looks* like an old lady lived in it for the past 50 years. Hence… a lot of work, almost entirely done DIY and with our four lil hands.
One of the most satisfying things we’ve done recently (after finally finishing demolishing, reframing, insulating, drywalling, and painting the upstairs) is to paint the stairs, which were brown-painted wood in bad cosmetic shape, covered with reddish brown rag carpet. ICK! They are now glossy pencil-lead grey with a bright teal racing stripe running along the outer corner. AND I LOVE THEM.
So glad to see other folks making homes their own!
Love just how clean this looks!
x Sara from tinysugarbee.blogspot.com
Woa! You guys did an amazing job! That looks so cool!
I love love all white as a base. It’s perfect for growing into.
Amazingly bright and beautiful! I love the idea of adding a knocker to the mustard door. Accent walls are something that I don’t think I’d even thought of… I do accent nails when I paint my nails, so why not have an accent wall as well?! Now I just need to buy a house…
xox
Bailey
http://akabailey.blogspot.com
What an improvement! I love the moldings around your windows, too. I’m assuming that was original with the house? Can’t wait to see more pics!
http://www.sincerelysammie.com/
Such an amazing difference, the whole space looks so bright and the mustard door… good shout!
xxx
Lovely update..you cant go wrong with white color..
http://lovelybusybee.blogspot.com/
It looks much better and very welcoming 😉
The white looks wonderful! And the mustard door? Perfection!