My stairs were originally carpeted, a look I was not fond of. I was especially dismayed with the way the carpet wrapped around the sides of the steps by the railing. Not a pretty look.
When I had the carpet replaced upstairs I decided to have the carpet on the stairs removed. After the initial shock of discovering the cost of having new wood stairs installed, I decided it was time for a major DIY project. I do love to paint. After all, I painted every square inch of the house already, so why not add the stairs in the mix. I researched and found many beautiful painted stairway ideas, but decided to go simple for my project with cream and khaki.
After all carpet staples were removed and dabbing on tons of wood putty, the makeover was well underway. Phew, I need a break!
It was totally worth investing in a power sander for this mess I created, although I could have used the exercise to build my arm muscles.
I caulked and caulked and added more caulk and was then finally ready to prime. After priming I was able to see that I needed yet more caulk for the stairs and some dark chocolate for me.
I then painted two coats of the cream semi gloss floor paint.
I decided to create a faux runner for my stairs with khaki paint. I snapped and downloaded a photo of my freshly painted cream stairs and designed the runner by creating a digital rendering in Photoshop. I figured this step would save me many headaches later and more overindulging of dark chocolate.
I measured and penciled in guide marks and the began my taping bonanza. Wow, that was a lot of tape. Come to find out after completing the entire project, I had started painting on the wrong side of the tape on the left, making my runner slightly off center. Oh well, now it has more character and I think I'm the only one who noticed!
Time to paint the khaki color. This was probably the easiest part.
The big reveal after removing the tape and admittedly doing lots of little touch ups.
This project was pretty time consuming, but very rewarding and I loved the fresh new look it gave my home. After thirteen years living in my house I was finally happy every time I walked by my stairway. Alas, a few months after my project was done, I decided to move out of town, back to Indianapolis to be near my family. My new home has no stairs, which was by design in order to be kinder to my arthritic knees, but I must say I miss my painted stairs.
I hope the new owners love my stairs too, although I think they may have carpeted over them.
Ces't la vie!
