Fixing up the Stairs

When we first moved into the farmhouse, the stairs were in pretty bad shape. And by bad shape, I mean they were really ugly. There clearly had been a runner on the stairs that was pulled up, and the remaining white paint left something to be desired.

So, painting the stairs was actually the first thing on our to-do list. We got started pretty much the day we closed on the house - we figured it would be better to paint the stairs before tons of critters (namely our 4 cats and 1 dog) were in the place. We started painting despite the fact that we didn't even have power in the house... fortunately it was the beginning of summer. Still not too hot but very bright!

We spent a ton of time sanding down the stairs a bit and then cleaning them up. We discussed filling in the divets and dents and nail holes from the historic runner with wood putty to make the stairs perfect and flat before painting them, but then we said SCREW IT!  We didn't buy a 101 year old house so it would look brand new! These dents have charm!  (this could also be interpreted as: we were just too lazy).

We meticulously taped all of the stairs. Then I just had to slather the brown paint on.  Again, we used the Behr Ultra Paint + Primer in 1.  No particular reason.  I just like it.

After painting the stairs, we took some time to get the bannister and the top rail, to complete the look.  We also painted the stair faces and crown molding white, to make them look clean and pop.

the final product

from the top of the stairs

The stairs actually got a little knicked and banged up when we moved in and hiked furniture up this squeaky set of old (and surprisingly narrow) stairs.  In that respect, it would have been better to wait until post furniture move-in to paint, but we plan on getting a carpet runner, so we weren't too worried about it!

Living room - pre move in

When we moved in, we didn't get power for 2 days. Apparently the previous owner did a hard shut off of the electricity instead of a transfer, so that was a shame. It cut back on what we could do for the first couple of days, and how much we wanted to be in the house. It was hot!

Nonetheless, MOST of the house gets amazing natural light (except for the living room, which is dark as a cave because of the roof over the front patio that blocks incoming light from the windows into the living room). So I took some pictures while the house was still empty.

Here is the living room - there is a really pretty archway going into the kitchen:

Here is the rest of the living room. The inset is a chimney, which I believe was used in the past with a wood stove. Someday I'd like to take down the drywall and expose the chimney.

I'd like to do the same with the fireplace in the guest bedroom... There is also a window, but I didn't take a picture of it.

We have a pretty bannister on the stairs too:

The stairs, however, could use a little bit of cosmetic help. There used to be a runner... the paint is dingy... but one day they'll be amazing: