At least that’s how I feel about them. I know some people hate stairs, but after seeing about a million gorgeous staircases on Pinterest and a whole bunch of awesome DIY stair upgrades, I was all “I waaaant stairs.” A la that girl in Charlie & The Chocolate Factory who sings about wanting a bean feast (?!). And then, as luck would have it, after seven years of owning one-level houses we fell in love with a house that has stairs. Half of me feared I’d live to regret the change, and half of me couldn’t wait to go on a blind spree, pinning ten million staircases per minute. I was like Ariel singing about being “part of that world” but instead of daydreaming about strolling around on that – what’s the word again? street! – I was daydreaming about stairs and runners with a shell bra on.
Well, after three and a half months of living in a house with stairs, I’m certain about two things:
- We actually like stairs! It’s nice to have some division between the living areas of the house and the private/sleeping/getting ready areas that are tucked away on the second floor. We’ll always have a soft spot for a cool mid-century ranch, but now when we have people over we don’t have to clean every last room – we just tend to the first floor and it’s all good if there’s a pair of underwear or seven million toe-murdering legos on the floor upstairs.
- We have woefully ignored our stairs this entire time – even after being intensely excited to make them over. Yup, between the blue baseboards and balusters to the old carpet, it’s looking pretty bleak.
Why is that stair runner still there? Well, we were going to pull it out before moving day, but John mentioned that it might be nice to keep it there to protect the wood stairs from any moving-day beatings they might have been subjected to as we dragged half of our worldly possessions up there. We also thought Burger and Clara might benefit from us keeping the stairs covered with some sort of a runner, so we didn’t want to rip it up until we had something new to put down. So we gave it a thorough cleaning, moved in, and figured we’d get to it within a few weeks.
A few weeks turned into a few months (oops) but I’m finally ready to pull the trigger on a new runner thanks to seeing a few pictures of black and white stair runners on (where else?) Pinterest.
- Let’s see, there’s this one (this runner was my favorite, but there’s no ebony rail with white balusters here, which I’d like to add)
- Then there’s this one (the rug pattern isn’t my favorite, but we’re aiming for a dark ebony railing with white balusters like this)
- There’s also this one (the rug’s a little boldly striped for me, but of course I love the dark rails with the white balusters)
- And this one (once again I fell for the high contrast striped runner, paired with a dark railing and white balusters)
*Spontaneous drinking game (the secret word is balusters).
Anyway, I showed John those links (he’s a visual creature, so it’s nearly impossible to get him on board with anything using words alone) and it was enough to spur both of us into “let’s really do this” action. So I did some googling in the hopes of finding a runner that was well rated to stand up to lots of wear and tear (no sense putting in something that’ll look terrible in six months) and also in the hopes of finding something that we liked when it came to the look of it (without spending 1K on a new stair update). My BFF swears by Dash & Albert (she has two crazy active kids who each have ten of their friends over and beat up on all of her rugs, but they still look great years later thanks to being well made) so it was nice to have that lead to pursue. And after clicking around over there, I found it. Almost the exact same (if not THE exact same) rug from my initial inspiration pic – the one I liked best of all:
It was nice to see it used on a staircase in the photo, since that suggested to me that they thought it would be good for that application (guess I’m a visual creature too) and even though the stairs were all white with a modern black & white railing, I had this original inspiration photo to remind me what it could look like on wood stairs, and this one to remind me what adding a dark railing and some white balusters might do to the whole shebang.
When I showed John what I had found, he was sold (I even earned a highly coveted hubby-high-five) but before entering our credit card number I searched for other Dash & Albert vendors, just in the off chance that someone was running a sale. Bingo.
A site called rugstudio.com came up, and I was psyched to score a discounted runner price (we’d need two 2’5′ x 12′ runners, so we saved $32 through this sale) along with free shipping. On top of that they were also offering 20% off every order with the code CLEARANCE20, so it sort of felt like stacking three coupons. In the end it was under $199 (instead of $280!) for two extra long runners that we hope will last a crazy long time once we tear up the old carpeting and install them ourselves. They’re back-ordered for another week or so, but we hope they’ll show up soon so I can work on my rug-pulling muscles and send the old runner packing in lieu of our swanky new striped one.
So while we waited I thought it was time to start painting all of that blue baseboard and those blue balusters on the bottom half of the staircase.
Oh but we can’t forget about the two up here in the hallway now, can we?
First I broke out some primer and did two coats (I know the drill with this blue trim by now, it takes four coats – two of primer and two of paint).
This is it after two coats of primer and one of white paint. We chose BM Simply White paint (in semi-gloss) to match the rest of our trim, but here are some other designers’ favorite white paints you could choose instead. See those blue lines peeking through? Infuriating, I tell you.
No sirree, third time’s just not the charm in this case.
But something magical happens after coat #4 and everything dries and it’s white! Glorious not-blue-peeking-through white! So even though it took about five hours over two days to have at it with a short handled brush (that’s my secret to not having to tape off – it gives me a lot more control) it was WORTH IT.
There might have even been a mic drop in the middle of the foyer. And by mic drop I mean paintbrush drop. After it was clean and dry. Because $herdog’s no fool.
Boom. We’re one step closer to the whole striped runner + white balusters + dark railing equation than we were back when these stairs were blue city.
In fact I had a little fun with Photoshop on the railing. Are you picking up what I’m putting down?
Oh man, I still can’t believe we have stairs.
Ellen says
First, You are using my favorite paintbrush of all time! I swear by that thing.
Second, I recently did my railings and balusters and used Minwax gel stain to do the railing. You can just go right over the old stain, with just a light sanding. It’s a great way to go darker without having to strip first. I didn’t go as dark as your pins, but still went from light oak to a nice dark cherry in about 3 light coats.
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds gorgeous!
xo
s
Donna says
Oh, man that was a funny post for me! At the end, when $herdog says ” Are you picking up what I’m putting down? “I had to laugh out loud. My ultra-cool teenage daughter always says that, and I’ll sometimes try and say it back, and I always mess it up. She’ll just shake her head sadly at me, and say ” nope, Mom, that’s not how you say it ” and I will realize I am such a dork. But $herdog, you are too-cool-for-school!
YoungHouseLove says
My friend has tween kiddos so she keeps me in the loop. I’m hopeless otherwise.
xo
s
Lauren says
I would never have even thought to stain the railing but seeing your photoshop pic it looks really nice tying in with your light! Will you leave the slate floors as is and what about a front door rug? I need inspiration for our front door rug-it needs to be thin and durable, which is why we currently have one that meets those two requirements but isn’t very pretty :)
YoungHouseLove says
We’re trying to work with the floors but they’re damaged in a few areas so the jury is still out on whether we can save them. Love the idea of a rug for the front door though!
xo
s
Deanna says
Totally dig the no-more-blue awesomeness. Love the black railing option. Not quite as sure about the Little Mermaid “wig”.
Kate @ This Wandering Life says
Holy Moly. Is it time for another Blogiversary week??!?!! I feel like I just read the last one!!! (Good job on the stairs, by the way!)
YoungHouseLove says
Can you believe it?! Six years and counting!
xo
s
sara says
Love the runner. Would love to do the same but they suggest a rug pad underneath and it looks like it could be a little slippery. What are your thoughts on that?
YoungHouseLove says
We’re going to be attaching it to our stairs so it’s fixed in place (not sure how yet, but we’ll share all those details as we go!).
xo
s
charlotte m. says
I am so glad you are tackling the stairs. I have to admit they were starting to bug me. I will be happy when you have eliminated all that ugly blue in your house. About the little mermaid pic? A bit creepy. Just sayin’.
Emmaline says
I have super ugly carpet on my stairs in between two floors of hardwood- what prevents me from ripping it up is worry that the elephants I live with will be even noisier going up and down! Let us know whether the runner dampens the sound sufficiently, and maybe I will be brave enough to take the plunge.
Sylvia says
Lookin good! Btw, it’s completely amazing how much more neutral the slate floor reads after getting rid of all the blue! I really hope you guys are able to keep it – it’s grown on me lol
oh Holland says
Have you considered securing the runners with those metal rods used to snug rugs against each riser? Not sure what they are called. Usually I see brass ones with little end finals in traditional homes, but I bet you could do/find them in ORB or any finish (even a color pop if you’re feeling frisky.)
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip! I did look at some of those but I’m not sure we want that added detail/expense, so we might look into how we could invisibly secure them and go from there!
xo
s
Laura says
Wow, you’re totally inspiring me. I want to tear up the carpet on our stairs so badly and put a runner down. I painted the railings black about four years ago and still love them and their contrast with the white balusters. We are leaving our exposed wood on the steps the same as our hardwoods too. I feel like black on the steps is too harsh. Can’t wait to see the final project and then hopefully I’ll get in gear and get mine done!
Gray says
Not gonna lie…as good as those stairs are looking, all I really want to know is how long you sat at your desk snorting with laughter as you Photoshopped that Ariel pic?
YoungHouseLove says
The funniest part is I waited patiently for John to see it when I published the post. Took a little while, but I hear laughter from the other room. Bingo.
xo
s
MonW says
Interesting how the white spindles make the railing and stairs darker now. The blue spindles turned the stairs and railing a more light golden tone.
Off to sand.
Larissa says
Check out Harry Connick Jr.’s Songs I Heard album. There’s a version of Veruca Salt’s song and it’s awesome.
Love the changes!
Kristen says
Scariest picture award for sure! I love it!
Raven says
Holy improvement Batman! And I like the more mature sophisticated vibe your throwin!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks Raven. You’re the Robin to my Batman.
xo
s
Kathleen says
I nearly spit out my coffee when I saw the PhotoShop job….awesome-ness!
Have you seen this DIY treatment on stairs? I think it lovely and inspirational – food for thought.
http://loftandcottage.blogspot.com/2011/06/diy-nailhead-stair-runner.html
YoungHouseLove says
SO AWESOME!
xo
s
Crew mom says
How did you know I’d been dithering about a runner? Just pulled the trigger on the diamond pattern D&A at rug studio. Thanks so much for the coupon tips, and we need your tutorial ASAP! The one on the D &A site via rug studio looked pretty good, though. Thanks for the inspiration!
Lauren@FilingJointly says
I just posted about my stairs today too. Living in a four floor townhouse we have lots of them (46 to be exact). There’re so many stairs in our house that I’ve actually started to decide whether things I’d have to go up or down to get/do are “stair-worthy” or not.
Like the other day I was all, “OH I should download our new ultrasound pictures and send them to my grandmother!” But then I realized the CD I needed was 31 stairs down (and then 31 stairs back up) so I was just like, “Meh, She’ll just see the baby after the birthing.”
Anyway. Posts about stairs. Great minds think alike or something.
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha!
xo
s
Shannon [Our Home Notebook] says
It’s looking so much better! Can’t wait to see the runner in place – I love the one you guys picked out. Dash and Albert have the most beautiful rugs.
Heather says
I’ll be curious to hear how you two like hardwoods on the stairs and upper floor. Our colonial has both carpeted, but with lovely hardwood hiding beneath. I casually mentioned to the [70-yr-old, original] owners that we purchased from that I’d love to expose the wood, and the wife said that they put in carpet because the noise of three kids running around on hardwood above their heads could be a bit much. It was something I wouldn’t have thought of, and we’ve left the carpet for now – we have a toddler and one on the way – but I can’t help dreaming…
YoungHouseLove says
Thankfully our stairs upstairs are super quiet (there’s a sound deadening underlayment plus more of a different sound deadening underlayment that we added before we put the floors down- so it’s doubled up, which are really nice). We also have area rugs in almost every room, so those help. I still think if someone was clomping around in heels on the wooden parts of the floor it would be loud, but we don’t wear shoes in the house, so even when Clara’s running around or Burger’s jumping off the bed we hardly hear it from right below.
xo
s
Jasmin M says
Sherry,
Amazing job! Stair painting sucks. I know you have a lot more painting to go and you usually cut in while John rolls- however have you ever tried one of those edger paint things on wheels??? I know that is a ridiculous term but I actually stumbled across a pretty amazing method of letting my edger gently rest on top of the paint then wiping off a bit of the excess. After loading the edger with paint I of course did the edges and then proceeded to “wipe the walls down” with a back and forth motion. I got my entire living room done in 1/2 hour to 40 mins and it it only took one coat!!! I couldn’t believe it. At first I didn’t think it would dry even and I kept a brush handy in case it was too thick in a spot but it looks amazing. Just thought you might give it a try. Saved me a lot of sore muscles!!
YoungHouseLove says
Never tried it! I always heard they got paint on the wheels and just generally didn’t work. So cool if they do! Sounds like you had an awesome experience with it!
xo
s
MonW says
Stair runner hardware:
Check the hardware stores online for the old-fashioned method of runner securing.
“Stair rods” and “carpet holds”.
The dust corners look interesting too. Had not realized they were for stairs.
I see them at one place in your favorite finish……o.r.b. :)
Installing runners:
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/intro/0,,392360,00.html
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks MonW!
xo
s
Maggie says
Jenny on Little Green Notebook ripped out her old stair runner and put in a graphic stripe black and white, similar to yours, last fall at their Brooklyn house. She had a pretty good “this is how I did it” in that post
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, I loved that project of hers! I’m such a big fan of her blog, I’ll definitely be re-reading her tutorial!
xo
s
Sara says
The runner will look great, but I think it would look so much better if you paint the risers white! (Most of your inspiration pics have white risers too.) It just looks so pretty, bright, & fresh in person. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, I’m waiting for the runner to arrive before taking that plunge (I want to hold it up and maybe even photoshop the risers white first to be sure it all looks nice since it’s hard to unpaint raw wood if we don’t like it).
xo
s
Diana says
Amazing how much just getting rid of some blue helps! And I really like blue (although not that shade all over a house).
I’m curious about this no shoes or socks rule. Don’t your feet get cold??
YoungHouseLove says
Clara sleeps in socks in her crib but throws them off before we get her out so there’s never any worry of them on the stairs, but John and I don’t typically wear them- although I guess if our feet were cold we could get slippers with those grippy bottoms. We’re just barefoot people I think.
xo
s
Diana says
Maybe I just have exceptionally cold extremities. My feet are cold if the A/C is below 78.
Betsy says
I love this! It’s going to look so awesome, i can’t wait to see it with the runner and new railing color.. Rhoda from southern hospitality has great instruction on how to install runners as well as Jenny from little green notebook, too. Some folks over seen use a pad underneath for cushion.
We’ve got two staircases in our house and they’re in dire need of gloss ebony black paint on the handrails. It’s on the list, but we’ve only been here a year. In due time…
Love your new style and adobe!
Betsy
Betsy
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Betsy! I love both of those blogs so I’ll be sure to bookmark both tutorials for reference!
xo
s
Deedee says
We just moved into a house with all black shiny trim (yes go ahead and cry a little…or a lot). I just switched to 1 coat oil based primer and then 1 coat regular paint. TWO coats only!!! It’s like a miracle and makes me oh so happy. Can’t remember exactly what brand/color they are as I’m chilling at my kids soccer practice, but I could check if you get tired of those four coats:) I feel ya and think of you every time I paint those darn baseboards!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s amazing!
xo
s
Louise says
Looks great. I have just painted windows and spent the whole time wondering how you guys keep it all up with a kiddo. Quick question -do you not sand back gloss paint on trim, doors etc before priming? I thought primer couldn’t really stick to gloss paint but if you tell me otherwise I will never sand again!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, if it’s glossy or super slick we’ll sand and then wipe it down with a liquid deglosser. Our blue paint has one plus, which is that it’s chalky and matte, so it doesn’t need sanding or deglossing, just primer and paint.
xo
s
Leigh says
I have a love/hate relationship with stairs. I liked being able to just pick up the first floor and not have to worry about a toy fiasco upstairs when company came over. But our laundry was downstairs and that was a bit ol’ pain. The kicker for us was when our 21 month old started climbing the baby gates blocking the stairs. Scared us to death! We moved pronto!
Belinda says
I saw this pin this morning & thought of your stairs/entryway, then flicked over & see you’ve blogged about your stairs. Not sure what’s more bizarre, that coincidence, or that I think of you while I pin!
Obviously with the runner this doesn’t suit, but this look would be so beautiful in your entry (complete with grasscloth).
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/495184921499320885/
p.s You guys amaze me with the projects you continue to churn out!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh! That’s gorgeous!
xo
s
Megan Poletti says
FINALLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!! (said like Oprah)
I’m glad to see those blue balusters go.
Rebe says
So exciting your inspiration pictures are wonderful!
I grew up in a house with a spiral staircase that was all wood and never had a runner. During the holidays my mom would decorate the railing with a garland so on top of no runner, at that time of year, we also weren’t allowed to use the railing. Even at 3 years old I was used to using stairs without help (same with my siblings) and to this day I refuse to touch the railings (I’m sure that will change as I get older!) There was not a single trip or fall in the last 28 years my parents have lived in that house but lots of good memories! In fact the only staircase I ever fell down was at my friends house – and it was carpeted! I must not have been used to it. :-)
Angela says
Rebe, I’m so glad to hear this! I have 6 kids and want to have bare wood stairs–they are hard wood but only partially stained across. I’ve been afraid to take the plunge in case they were slippery.
Nikki says
This post is exactly why I love YHL. Funny (Ariel), decor (rug shopping), and hardwork (painting). Awesome.
Tricia | 724 South House says
Wow… just realized that it was not Ariel in that picture. haha. I can already see a big difference in the Before/After. The runner is going to be awesome.
Bonnie says
Did you ever think about doing a stain/varnish treatment on the stair treads, railings and banister? I recently remodeled my house and my painter color matched my oak wood staircase to my ebony wood floors. It is beautiful and modernized the whole entryway. If you would like photos, send me an email.
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds really gorgeous! We think we’ll need something on the stairs for grip/tread/softness for Burger and Clara, so that’s why we’re going for the runner – and as for staining the stairs a deeper tone too, we have hardwood flooring upstairs right off of the stairs that matches the same mid-tone, so we think just going darker with the rail will be a nice accent while the flooring remains cohesive.
xo
s
courtney says
Have this very rug in my living room and it has held up well to my two kids…and the stripes are so fun.
YoungHouseLove says
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that!
xo
s
katalina says
am I the only one that thinks you look like minnie driver in that ariel photo?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! That’s a new one!
xo
s
Koliti says
Hi! Have you heard of gel stain or tried it? Thought you might want to take a look at this link…she’s done her stairs/rail/balusters with gel stain. http://www.semidomesticatedmama.com/2013/09/updating-painted-banister-with-gel-stain.html
She’s also refinished her kitchen cabinets with gel stain.
http://www.semidomesticatedmama.com/2013/08/how-to-gel-stain-your-kitchen-cabinets.html
(Also check out her “He Said, She Said” posts – funny husband and wife conversations :) )
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much for the links Koliti! So helpful!
xo
s
Jenny says
It looks amazing!! It’s incredible what a little paint can do. Can’t wait to see the runner! xox
LeslieB says
That looks AMAZING!!!!! I actually went “daaaaaayum” when I saw the picture of how your foyer looks now. Really impressive!
agacz says
Haha, I love what you wrote about Pinterest making you love stairs! Recently basement in our apartment building was robbed. We didn’t lose any of our stuff, thank goodness, but there was no way I would keep our bikes in there anymore, so I had to move them to our apartment. I wasn’t really pleased with the idea, but then searched Pinterest for ideas how to mount them on the wall and went from “meh, I guess there’s no other choice and the bikes will have to stay in the apartment and bug me all the time” to “omg, wtf, why didn’t I keep bikes in the apartment before, they look amazing, it’s so awesome that our basement was robbed!” in 0.5 seconds.
Pinterest – making you love stuff you hate since 2010 :D
Luce says
Eh, the dark railing might clash with the stair wood colouring. And then you have the slate floor plus the busy runner…that’s a lot goin’ on!
Julia @ Cuckoo4Design says
Love that the blue is gone. So much better!
Sally says
The before and afters always amaze me!! Paint can make such a huge difference…and I REALLY want the light in your foyer…couldn’t stress that REALLY enough;)
Angela says
Looking awesome! We have a similar project on our to do list and I’m following your runner with interest. Our staircase is curved so I’m going to have to cut each stair piece separately…..Plain wood stairs are sounding good, but I’m worried they will be slippery. Right now we have 42 year old RED sculptured carpet that comes out in chunks when we vacuum….
Jean says
Please stop saying you live in a two story ranch because there is no such thing. You live in a center hall colonial, hence the colonial blue paint and traditional railings, corner cupboards and curtains. I love what you are doing with the decor, the color schemes and all the details. I am looking forward to seeing the stair runner installed.
YoungHouseLove says
Sorry for the confusion! We most definitely currently live in a colonial! Two glorious stories. Our first and second houses (which you can see here) were one story ranches – so we’re former ranch owners, not current ranch owners.
xo
s
Ashley says
Sherry, I apologize if my tone was snarky about the mention of Disney’s lawyers. I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. I have a legal background and always think about that sort of thing. :-)
YoungHouseLove says
Oh not at all! I’m thankful for the tip! If we weren’t aware of those edited/parodied guidelines we would be looking into them thanks to your warning!
xo
s
Debby says
OMG I am so glad those blue spindles are gone!!! So I can’t imagine how happy you are that they are gone. We are in the process of painting out our woodwork. I am actually working a half day at work today and my project at home is painting woodwork. You have inspired me!!! Just curious, do you sand your woodwork or just prime and paint Thanks
YoungHouseLove says
The one redeeming quality of the blue paint is that it’s chalky and matte, so it’s not glossy or too slick that we’d need to sand it. So we can happily go straight to primer/paint, but always sand/degloss something that’s super shiny or glossed up!
xo
s
Jody says
Love love your choices! I cant wait to see the install of the runner! Hopefully not too complicated as I might be able to get my hubby to go for it! haha