Saturday, September 06, 2008

Stairs Before and After

Almost every bit of wood in this house was stained when we moved in.  Oh MY what a job it was to paint it.  These stairs (and all the doors to the bedrooms and closets) took three coats of primer, and three to four coats of paint to cover.  Helllooooo!  (I spent 12 straight days just painting before we came over for real.)  How 'bout those pink hall walls with burgundy trim?  Eeeew!

I found these scary before pictures on my computer today, and then I discovered that Picasa has upgraded to Picasa 3.0...lol...so of course I downloaded it, and looky there--new collages!  It does all sorts of other good stuff too, so do check it out and download it.  You don't even have to uninstall your old Picasa.  Boo ya!  Have I mentioned lately that I heart Google?  :)

Oh, and the floors upstairs were (are) all rubber tile, which I painted with dark brown deck paint.  Two coats on those, and I couldn't believe how great they came out!
Linda (from Lime in the Coconut) had suggested that I stencil numbers on the risers in black.  This was, of course, to dissuade me from putting zebra carpeting on them.  I'm mulling the numbers idea over, because I think it would be just quirky enough for me, and easy to undo if I hated it.  What do you think?
This last shot shows the brown floors really well, and also the final wall color, which is sort of a creamy yellow.  I could use a pretty window treatment here, as it's all quite boring.  I'm also mulling around the idea of what art to put on the walls.  Hmmmm.....

11 comments:

Rose - Watching Waves said...

Your stairs turned out GAWJUS! Tons and tons better than the original. They're sleek, crisp, clean-lined. If you wanted to try the numbering thing (cool idea and yup, quirky enuff for you, and I mean that in the most complimentary way), get some stick-on numbers and see how you like it. Easy on, easy off.

Picasa photo collages - I don't know why, but I have such a hard time seeing the individual photos in collages. Something fails to translate properly from my eyes to my brain and I can't teel where one ends and another begins and then I just feel confused. I know it's just me and my brain; wish I could enjoy collages!

Kat said...

WOW! Thats alota painting of trim! It looks fabulous! What a change, very fresh. Love it! Im so glad that you changed the wall color too. I like the numbered stair tread idea. FUN!
Since your such a pro now maybe you could come help me. Im tired of painting baseboard.

Jen Kershner said...

Oh, I totally love it! I'm planning on painting my bannister black and Sweet Hubby just can't imagine it. I will have to share your pics with him.

Linda@ Lime in the Coconut said...

Ok...I have to say, 'm with Rose on the collage thing...that, and my eyes are going south and I refuse to recognize it!

Your paint work is just amazing. It all looks so crisp and fresh and updated...man I would love to get my hands on your blank slate (for artwork!!) You could go in so many ways...Oh my head is just spinning!

Perfect stairs for the numbers...and like rose says, you may find peel off decals.

Julia @ Hooked on Houses said...

I can't imagine the amount of work that went into painting all of those! Wow. I'm impressed. Everything looks so bright and fresh with the white. I have a friend who is contemplating painting her woodwork. I'll have to send her over here to see yours. -Julia

Amber Cargile said...

WOW! What a transformation! They are so elegant! I love that color.

The numbers would be fun. I could also see you doing something quirky with just one "somethin'" stenciled on one step.

Sheri @ www.careergirlinterrupted.com said...

i have no idea how i've missed all of these beautiful posts of your house - god, these stairs turned out beautifully. Did you decide to do this numbers - i hope so - i think it would 'funk it up' really fun.

Anonymous said...

Great looking stairs!

I downloaded the new Picasa version, too. I love the new collage options.

Fifi Flowers said...

LOOKS GREAT!
Can't wait to see what you come up with for art work on walls.. I have a staircase with NO art... can't figure out what to do... hopefully you will give me some inspiration!

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a difference in the staircase. Now it looks up-to-date and fresh. It is amazing what paint can accomplish.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful paint job/s!!!
How about the words to a poem on the risers instead of numbers???

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