*This tutorial was originally published in 2013 & updated on the date seen above
Installing a stair runner may seem intimidating, and the good news is that adding ours was pretty darn easy and we love how it looks (and feels underfoot). So here’s a full tutorial for how to install one yourself, including how to join two runners if one isn’t long enough for your stairs, how to finish off the bottom cleanly, and how to give the stairs and railings a fresher look too.
Update: For anyone asking for the rug info, here’s an affiliate link to the exact one we used.
Project Step By Step
The whole project took us about 20 hours in total, but that included more than just installing the runner itself. We also gave the whole staircase a fresher look with painted risers and darker stained railings. So here are the total steps for the makeover, but we’ll be picking up around Step #5 today.
- Priming and painting the trim and railing
- Selected your runner (more on that and the previous bullet here)
- Remove the old carpet and rug pad
- Paint the stairwell walls and ceiling (more on that and the previous bullet here)
- Prim and Paint the risers
- Stain the railings
- Measure and mark your runner placement
- Cut and lay out the rug pads
- Install the runner (including where to staple and how to keep ends looking finished)
- High five like maniacs!
How Much Did This Project Cost?
Here’s a general cost breakdown of what it took us to complete this project:
- Two runners (here’s an affiliate link to the exact ones we used): $199
- Electric stapler & staples: $54
- Rug pad: $39
- PolyShades stain & brush for the railings: $11
- Primer & paint for the risers, posts, trim, walls, and the ceiling: $0 (we had it already, but a guess for what you’d spend might be $80)
- TOTAL: $283 (or $363 if you need to buy primer, trim paint, and wall paint)
We read here that it would typically cost about $318 for a similar installation job by a pro – which doesn’t include the cost of the runners or the padding themselves (or the staining/painting/priming that we squeezed into this makeover), so this could easily been twice as much if we had hired it out.
Preparing And Painting The Stairs
Wednesday, November 6th – LATE AFTERNOON: Time to paint those risers. Since we knew it would take lots of coats, Sherry taped off the bottoms to make things speedier than having to meticulously edge each time and I applied a coat of primer (since it’s low-VOC, but not no-VOC) to block any wood bleed.
Wednesday, November 6th – NIGHT: With the primer dry, Sherry applied the first coat of paint (it’s the same no-VOC Simply White in semi-gloss that we’ve used on trim everywhere else).
Thursday, November 7th – MORNING & AFTERNOON: Sherry applied coat #2 of paint and I went in for coat #3 later, just to be sure we get a good solid white tone on each tread.
Thursday, November 7th – NIGHT: Right before bed, I applied a coat of Rejuvenate to each tread to restore the wood finish (more on that here). I worked my way up the stairs right before bed so that it could cure overnight while we were all up there sleeping. In the morning we woke up to a much fresher looking staircase. We love the look of bare stairs like this, so we soaked up this pretty sight, and then pushed onward towards our goal of a fresh new runner (we’d just prefer some extra padding with young kids in the house to cushion the blow if anyone does fall).
Painting & Staining The Railing
Friday, November 8th – MORNING: Since we wanted to get as much messy stuff done before the runner was installed (stain drips on a new carpet = the stuff of nightmares) we dove into staining the railings a deeper tone so they’d pick up some of the black in the runner (more on what inspired us to do that here). We found this PolyShades stain + polyurethane that didn’t require any heavy sanding (just a light roughing up) in a nice deep color, so we grabbed it.
Unlike stain, you don’t wipe off the excess once it’s applied. The railing on the right side of the stairs is pictured here, but I also did this to the long rail that goes up the left side of the wall (we had removed that when we painted the walls and ceiling last week and decided to just keep it off so I could easily do that staining outside).
Friday, November 8th – AFTERNOON: The first coat didn’t quite dry as dark as we hoped, but we crossed our fingers that a second one would do the trick. The first should’ve been dry after 6 hours but it was still tacky, so rather than wait an unknown amount of time for it to cure, we switched gears and started painting the newel posts, which we decided would look best white like the other stair posts after seeing some Pinterest images like that and loving them. Like the risers, Sherry taped it off so I (the less perfect cutter-inner of the two of us) could apply the primer.
Friday, November 8th – NIGHT: Sherry applied the first coat of white paint (also Simply White) to the posts while I read weird Buzzfeed articles to her out loud to pass the time. Oh yeah, we know how to party on a Friday night.
Saturday, November 9th – MORNING: Sherry applied coats 2 and 3 of white paint to the posts about three hours apart.
Saturday, November 9th – AFTERNOON: With the post paint dry and the first coat of stain on the railing more than fully cured, I could go back to applying our second coat of stain. Beforehand, I had to rough it up slightly with some fine steel wool. Thankfully the second coat made it darker, just like we hoped. We were aiming for it to pick up on the black stripes in the runner as well as the dark espresso console table and the oil-rubbed bronze light fixture nearby in the foyer.
Planning And Marking The Runner Placement
Saturday, November 9th – LATE AFTERNOON: With all of the messy stuff done, we could finally turn our attention to the runner. Thanks to a couple of helpful tutorials (like Rhoda’s and Jenny’s) we had some goods tips to go off of – like when Jenny mentioned that she wished she had measured to keep hers centered so the stripes aligned all the way down. Thanks to her post, we decided to create some tape guides to follow so we could make sure the runner didn’t shift from side to side as we move down the staircase (which can be especially obvious when it has stripes). In order to be centered, our guides needed to be set 4″ from each side of the wall, so we marked that line with some tape.
We read that if your stairs widen on one side at the bottom like ours do, it’s recommended that you center them on the narrowest part of the staircase, which means the part up top (if we had centered the runner on those few wider steps at the base of the stairs, it would have rubbed against the right wall on all of the upper steps and looked a lot less balanced).
Adding Your Rug Pad
We also wanted to use some sort of padding to keep the runner from sliding and to add some extra cushioning, but we wanted to be sure to go with something that wouldn’t adhere to or damage the wood stairs, just in case we want to go runner-less again sometime when the kiddos are older, so we got a standard 5 x 8′ rug pad at Target and discovered that cutting it in half made it just about the perfect width.
We took the time to cut individual pads for each riser (long enough to wrap around the nose of them) so that we could get this all done for the cost of just one rug pad instead of needing to buy two. We didn’t adhere these at all, knowing that stapling through the runner on top of them would hold everything nice and firmly.
Starting Your Runner Installation
Sunday, November 10th – MORNING: We took Saturday night off to do something fun, so Sunday was crunch time. Less than 24 hours ’til posting time. Yikes! We started off by using an electric stapler like this one to set the edge of the runner right under the nose at the top. Our runner had a pattern all the way to the end and the rolled edge was barely noticeable, but had it been more distinct, we would’ve cut off the edge and rolled it under so the pattern would look seamless instead of having an obvious border at the top.
We noticed the first staple that we shot through the runner was more visible than we’d like (since it was a slice of silver on a black stripe), so we took a second to color the tops of a row of staples with a black Sharpie (a trick Sherry saw on Pinterest for making decorative gold staples). Then we were sure to staple only into the dark parts of the rug so they’d blend in. Worked like a charm.
With a row of staples in at the top, we then pulled it tight along the riser and Sherry stapled a row along the bottom into the riser, not the tread. We wanted to avoid stapling into the tread since that’s where people would be stepping and we didn’t want the staples to “surprise” any bare feet (even though they generally sink into the rug and aren’t pointy or anything).
Sherry had been firing a staple into each of the big stripes (the pink ones in the diagram below) but we found it wasn’t enough – at least at the top under the nose, where it seemed to sag a bit between staples. So she went back and did another row of staples up top (the blue ones that you see below). Here’s a sense of where we put staples and in what order:
How To Adjoin Two Runners Seamlessly
One runner wasn’t enough to get all the way down the stairs, so at some point we knew we’d have to join the second one as seamlessly as possible to the first one, so we wanted them to meet under a tread nose where the joint would be least visible. First we snipped off the end of the first one so it would wrap just below the nose.
Then we stapled that one under the nose, just like we had done on all the steps before it.
I didn’t get a good picture of the next part (picture us sweating bullets and using all available hands) but we just lined up the edge of the new runner as flush under the nose as possible. Our goal was for the edge to catch your eye as little as possible, so by tucking it under the nose of the stair, it seemed as hidden as we could get it. Can you see the seam in the photo below?
You really have to look for it, but it’s under the nose of the the step there on the bottom. The line where they meet is a little more defined than the underside of the other steps if you’re this close (Sherry was about a foot away when she snapped this photo) but if you’re standing up you really can’t detect it at all, which is a relief because during this “joining of the rugs” we were both really nervous that it would be bulky and obvious.
Finishing Off Your Stair Runner Installation
The other tricky part was the very end, where we also had to cut off some excess runner, leaving about an inch that could be rolled under.
By rolling it under and stapling it like this, it meant that our cut didn’t have to be perfect and the edge would look more finished (and would be protected from fraying).
I’ve kinda broken from the timeline structure that this post started with, but despite the many steps to installing the runner, it only took us about three hours. In fact it was the fastest step of the whole stairway makeover process (removing those old staples and painting the ceiling while balancing on a ladder were waaay more intense). So to anyone wondering if you can install a stair runner, we’d rank this task as simple and straightforward. Especially if you spring for an electric stapler, which really made things easy.
We’re both pleasantly surprised at how soft the runner is (since some flat weaves can be scratchy). As for the light color, we’re a no-shoes household, so that should cut down on lots of potential dirt or staining (we’ve had light colored rugs like this in rooms like our living room and kitchen for years without any issues). We also hear that Dash & Albert rugs hold up well (Sherry’s friend with two young kids has a white and brown one on her steps and is really happy with it) but we’ll keep you posted either way!
Oh and this photo shows why we opted not to stain the vertical newel posts on the railing that you see below on the left (and painted them white instead). Since we knew the railing on the right would just be a clean dark stripe on that side of the stairs (with nothing vertical going on) we thought something dark on the left going down to the floor might look unbalanced.
We’re really happy with how it turned out. The color scheme and pattern of the runner are still pretty classic and not too wacky, but the high contrast elements still make it interesting.
We especially like how the dark stripe in the runner and the new railing color ties into the light fixture and the console table. If only there weren’t all that blue trim winking at us from the dining room…
Oh yeah, and to complete my timeline…
Sunday, November 10th – EVENING: Finally finished sizing pictures and writing a super long post about the previous week of stair projects. Poor Sherry’s gotta proofread this sucker in the morning. Sorry honey! But the good news is, we made it!
What did you guys do this weekend? Any runners going in, or old carpet coming out? How about using dark stain on something to accent it? We’re really having fun with contrast these days, which is admittedly something that used to scare us. Change is good.
Update – Wanna know where we got something in our house or what paint colors we used? Just click on this button:
Note: this project was originally posted in November 2013
*This post contains affiliate links to products we have purchased and loved *
You guys always do an awesome job at turning a room around! This is an awesome transformation.
Love the runner, it reminds me of ribbon candy! Great job!
Perfection! I love the look of it all, especially the dark handrail with white posts. So clean!
And I still love that Samantha French you’ve got there. ;)
We’ve been thinking about a similar project, so thanks, this is great! Just wondering what colour you painted the under side of the railing where it meets the stair posts. Is it white like the posts, or dark like the railing? Thanks!
The whole railing (even the underside) is stained and the posts are white.
xo
s
It looks great guys. Very straight forward and doable and yet it has great impact. Very classy. I might have to send this to my husband as a hint. =)
Can you tell me more about the stain? I am inspired. I love the look of the dark wood banister! We have mahogany wood work that is a reddish brown from 1929 and we want to darken it (base trim, crown molding, divided light windows, and door trim and doors are solid mahogany). We love bold colors like orange and red and how they pop against very dark trim (and a common look in old houses in the Pacific NW where we live). DO you think this stain would work? We still want some of the wood grain to show through though ideally. Is the stain you used no VOC?
Yes, I think it would be great! It wasn’t no-VOC so John applied it (and did that one railing outside to keep the smell in the house to a minimum) but it wasn’t too stinky (and was odorless when it dried). I would run fans and open windows as well as using a respirator or getting someone else to apply it if you’re pregnant. Also, I can only vouch for this finish (satin) and color (espresso), so a different color or finish (like semi-gloss) might be stinkier due to the pigments or added poly.
xo
s
This looks SO GOOD! I have a short staircase (about 8 steps), up to my upper level, and at the top of the stairs it goes straight down a long hallway. Do you think a runner that is ONLY on the stairs would look good? Or should I continue a runner all the way down the hall?
Ooh that’s a good question. I bet people have done it gorgeously each way, so I’d check out pinterest or google images to see if there’s anything that catches your eye. I would say that continuing the runner down the hall could be awesome, but I could also see it being really pretty just on the steps.
xo
s
It looks fantastic you guys! Really good work. That project was very fiddly so it can be hard to keep your attention to the detail but the payoff is worth it!
I adore contrast almost too much. I have to force myself to blend a few elements so my favorite contrast areas pop out more.
I’m so impressed you can have dark and white striped rugs like that. I’m a barefoot household too with NO kids and I had a blue and white kitchen rug that always looked filthy. I guess I can’t blame anyone but me!
No way! It’s not you, I bet it’s the rug! We have just heard that D&A rugs hold up really well (even from people with young kids and dogs) but some other rugs like this might get dirty easier if they’re not as tight of a weave or as scrubbable/high quality. We’ll definitely keep you posted though – even though I hear good things I’m still nervous that this one could show dirt, so I’ll post an update with pics down the line either way!
xo
s
Wow…that last shot! Everything you’ve done has really helped to downplay that flooring! Before, it was the first thing I wanted to see go – and now, it kind of works! Amazeballs, guys!
Are you happy with the final finish the Polyshades product gave you? I’ve been looking for something to cover all the orangey oak trim in our 1960’s ranch with painting white a last resort – I’d much rather stain dark. The Amazon reviews for this stuff are a real mixed bag, and I’m sure some of it is user error, the most common are that it drips nonstop and that it develops little bubbles that dry in the finish. Did you have either of those issues? I’m so glad I read this post, never knew this stuff existed until you posted!!
Weird! We didn’t have any bubbles or issues with drips (we’re “thin and even coats” freaks, so we try not to load up our brush with anything from paint to stain). It also could be the color/finish, but the satin Espresso was really easy to use according to John. I’m the weirdo who was jealous that he got to try a new product.
xo
s
Wow, this is amazing! I love how sophisticated (but still fun and comfy!) your house looks. This is a silly question, but when you’re doing projects that involve tearing things up (like carpet), how do you get rid of the waste? Can you throw it in your normal trash can or do you have to find someone to haul it away?
We have heard that in different areas there are different options (sometimes trash will grab small sections of rug if they’re cut and rolled, sometimes there’s a recycling place to drop them off, sometimes they’ll take the whole pile on “big trash day”). We have been saving ours to see if we can freecycle it for someone who might want it (we hear gardeners sometimes like it as weed blocker or veterinary clinics use it somehow).
xo
s
Alright, kids. I don’t normally comment but this is my most favorite makeover you’ve done to the house yet!!! It’s so sophisticated and beautiful and light and classic and black and white and awesome all over!! Seriously, beautiful!!!!! Great work!!!!!!!
Aw thanks Lindsay! You’re so sweet!
xo
s
Couldn’t agree more!
It looks fabulous! You guys make a great team!! I am in the process of priming some woodwork to paint. What kind of paint did you use to prime the stairs?
Our favorite is Smart Prime by Zinsser (the low-VOC primer from Kilz is good too though!).
xo
s
What a stately Black & White exclamation point!
And I quite enjoyed your very informative step-by-step tutorial even though my house is without stairs.
(Didja notice how SKEERED that blue trim looks in the last pic? I bet it wishes it could jump off the trim and run outa the house!?
Hahaha! In my dreams.
xo
s
Looks AH-mazing! I was wondering if you were happy with the polyshades product you used? (Especially Sherry) I got the exact same thing to make a table top a couple of shades lighter – I was hoping it would go well so I could do my stair rail as well. But it is soooo stinky! I am also pregnant, so I wear a mask while putting it on but it also takes sooooo long to dry that it stinks for a long time! Hubby will come downstairs (where I am working, but in a back room) the next day and say it stinks. I’m worried that with the long dry time combined with the smell, it may not be the best idea. If you had a do-over, would you do the same thing again?
Hmm, John did that one big rail outside but I have a nose that can smell stuff a mile away and the one railing that he did in the house wasn’t bad at all. It did take longer to dry, but honestly didn’t even smell as much as our low-VOC primer. Were you using the satin finish? Maybe the semi-gloss is stinkier because it has more poly? Or perhaps certain colors are stinkier if the pigment is different? If I were you I wouldn’t apply it, and see if your husband or a friend relative would do it since you’re pregnant. Then just go for a walk or run errands for a few hours with fans going/windows open and I hope it won’t be fumey at all when you return.
xo
s
I checked and I have the espresso satin too. Maybe because it’s in an enclosed room it just isn’t airing out? Hmmm – unfortunately my hubs is completely anti-DIY so I am on my own with any and all projects! That stair rail may just end up being white :)
Thanks for the reply – it is totally awesome that you answer so many comments! Makes me feel like we’re totally friends! (But I’m kinda creepy like that I guess)
Haha, we’re totally friends. Oh and John had the front door open too, so that helps.
xo
s
Yowza, those are some sexy stairs! Hope you’re starting to feel better, Sherry.
Thanks Donna! I’m still sick, but I keep saying “next week will be the week” – gotta stay positive. Haha! Just very thankful to be carrying a healthy little bun.
xo
s
Some of the dates are wrong, Sat the 9th and Sat the 10th?
Sorry Steph, fried brains over here! All fixed!
xo
s
Thank you so much for breaking everything down. It is so helpful for someone like me, who has wanted stair runners in our split foyer home for many years, but have had absolutely no idea how to do it. Your staircase transformation is beautiful and so inspiring. I think I finally have a plan in place to update our tiny foyer. I’m so excited!
Good luck Kimberley!
xo
s
Wow, that looks fantastic! Is there a significant chunk of runner left from the second pass? If so, it’d be cool to use it as a small doormat!
There’s a little left over! I wondered about a door mat but also had another somewhat unusual project I thought it could work for. Will keep you posted…
xo
s
Wow! That looks amazing. Everything you do is pretty amazing though, so I’m not really surprised. You have made incredible progress with the whole house already!
So happy to see that you stained the railing a different color than the treads. I’ve been considering staining ours dark since they are really worn and I am not crazy about the orange-ish tone they are now but the thought of doing the treads too has kept me from changing anything. Yours looks awesome and I think I will go ahead and proceed with the staining of the rails and painting the spindles since you made it look easy enough.
Good luck Angel!
xo
s
It looks great! Nice and clean and homey! Much brighter and fresher than the previous look and at a reasonable price too. Love it!
Love it! So pretty!
It’s amazing how different the foyer wall and floor colors look now, with all the carpet and blue trim gone. Like a whole new house!
What a dramatic improvement. I am totally loving watching this transformation process. And I want to offer support for you both as you have to live with that faux brick on your kitchen floor for a while longer :/ I’m wondering about your handrail, did it have much of a finish? Will lightly sanding be enough for the new stain/urethane to adhere? I’d like to try this with my handrail but thought it had to be totally stripped.
We thought that too! There are some newer products that seem to work miracles, and this said it only needed to be scuffed up a bit and not sanded down to the base tone, and it was really easy and came out great. Maybe because it’s a dark color so it can layer over the other stuff (I can’t imagine you could get away with so little sanding if you were trying to go lighter instead of darker).
xo
s
Gorgeous! It’s really beautiful and looks like such a pro job.
This looks awesome! I have been wanting to rip the carpet off of our stairs and make ours look like that!! I love the minwax polyshades, I use on as much as I can since I am lazy and hate the prep work. Sorry if this is a repeat question but where is the runner from? Would love to price out the cost of that for our stairs, thanks so much! you guys rock!
If you click the link in the budget breakdown with the cost of the runners that post will tell you all about where we got them :)
xo
s
LOVE how this turned out! We’re thinking of doing a similar runner technique to some unfinished stairs going to the basement. Any advice for working with unfinished stairs?
I would check out Jenny’s post that we linked to in this post!
xo
s
You guys are awesome! What a dramatic change! You mentioned that you’re a shoes-off kinda house. I’ve been thinking about switching to the same, but I also have a dog. Doesn’t it seem futile to be shoes-off if your dog is tracking in dirt from the outside?
Also, I’d love for you guys to write a post about tissue boxes. (Is that totally nerdy?) We have a lot of allergies in our house and tissue boxes (and most tissue box holders) are such an eyesore.
Haha, that’s a good one! Will have to see if there are cool ones out there!
xo
s
Love it, love it, love it! I can’t imagine the pressure of getting this one done in time for today’s post, but goodness it came out amazing. I’m a big fan of the dark/light contrast, it looks so sophisticated! If this were my place I’d wanna eat all my meals on the floor of that foyer just to bask in the beauty of this room, lol. :))
Gorgeous! Way to get it done!
Petersicks…as usual, outdone yourselves !! :) ALMOST makes me want to run and do this to my stairs too… But, I have a landing and a 180 degree turn, not sure how I would pull off all that joining/matching of stripes/angles/turns. Scares me just to think about it !
Also – I would SO looking forward to seeing a BEFORE and AFTER picture of your whole space, just to help and slap me across the face with all the amazing changes you guys have made so far in your entryway.
You guys never cease to amaze me… xo <3
Aw thanks Danielle! We have to update the House Tour page soon with those!
xo
s
So probably I would have stained the baulster dark, so it would ground the floating railing…but that is quibbling, and personal preference.
Because THIS LOOKS AMAZING! I love the entire entry!
Wow! I have never been a fan of stair runners, but that looks really nice. It has a wonderful nautical feeling to with the light and dark stripes.
I can’t stop staring at the side-by-side before and after shots. I just want to sit on the bottom step and pet the runner.
Haha, come on over!
xo
s
Hey hey!
Congrats, the stairs look fantastic. I know they were a lot of work, but y’all really nailed it! ( Well i guess technically you really stapled it, but you get the point! haha)
We have Dash and Albert rugs all over our home and they hold up extremely well. We have a HUGE baby (150lbs English Mastiff named Big Steve) and even he can’t destroy them with muddy paws and slobber! Great choice. Cheers to your new stairs!
SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT LEIGH! Wahoo!
xo
s
What is it about stripes that are so appealing? Love the runner, and I love that you stained the railing dark, in the picture going down the stairs, it really is so much more visually appealing that you painted the posts white. LOVE this.
Wow! That is an amazing difference! Makes me want to re-do my stairs . . . but first I am applying your paint color tips. With your tips I have spent the weekend painting the 1,200 sq. feet of my upstairs. The last colors I chose ended up looking flat and washed out with the bright white trim and doors. I have the new color’s up in 2 bedrooms, the bathroom, hallway, dining room and kitchen now. I knew they were the right one’s when I looked back down that hall at what I had already painted and said, ‘Wow! I love this color!’ to my hubby who was watching the football game.
Thanks for tip on the rebates for paint at Lowe’s. As soon as I finish the simple online rebate submission I am off to paint an accent wall in the dining room, the living room and one last bedroom. The cherry on top will be installing my new living room light from your Shades of Light collection. Gosh, I hope that doesn’t sound stalker-ish. :-) I just really love the collection you created and equally hate the old 70’s ceiling fan with wicker blades. Thanks again!
I love you Stacia! Send us pics! We’d love to see it. Sounds awesome!
xo
s
As you may have guessed from my comment about my staple-pulling discovery on your other post, we spent Saturday pulling up carpet. It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but we’ve been waiting to be able to afford to have it professionally refinished. This week we were forced to do it when our carpet cleaning efforts went bad and the carpet stayed wet so long that it began to mildew. Despite it preempting all of my other plans, I am so happy we’ve done it!
Wahoo!
xo
s
Love it! This is one of my favorite updates you’ve done. We have a staircase with black treads, white risers and black railings/newel posts. I’m thinking at some point we might do a patterned runner, but we’re not there yet! (Bigger fish to fry and all.)
Among other things, we’re currently working on our master bathroom. 14 cases of subway tile are currently going up on the walls as I type this! (We DIY most things, but we hired a professional for this project because we’re on a super tight deadline to refinance and NOTHING in our 1800s house is remotely square.) I’m so excited about this tile… we’ve been doing so much structural/behind-the-scenes work that is essential but not that exciting in an aesthetic way. This will be a big boost to keep us motivated to keep going!
Stairs look wonderful!!!
What primer are you guys using now that you’re finding works against wood bleed but is still low voc?
We’ve had luck with Zinsser Smart Prime and the low-VOC Kilz stuff at Home Depot.
xo
s
Love the bannister. I’m a big fan of painted risers/stained tread and carpet runner. Two thumbs up. What’s the ETA on a new entry way floor. I hate the faux slate vicariously for you.
We love the idea of working with what we have, but there are some damaged areas and some stains I just can’t seem to conquer, so perhaps when we redo the kitchen and add heated tile in there we can carry it over into the foyer and the half bathroom so there’s just hardwood and tile on the main level (right now there are three different flooring types that all meet at the corner of the kitchen/living room so it looks a little chaotic).
xo
s
I love that runner! It all looks so good! Makes me want to install one at our house….
Looks awesome!
Can you refresh my memory on your wall colour? Also, will that stain work on a bathroom vanity? and last – where did you get the star light fixture? LOVE it!
Yes, it should work for a vanity (we’ve heard from someone who used it on furniture) and the wall color is Edgecomb Gray by BM. The light is from a local outlet called The Decorating Outlet here in Richmond, but I have seen them on ebay and stuff too!
xo
s
Looks fabulous! You make it look so easy…Lets hope that we can do this as beautifully as you.
Question, is that a Dash and Albert runner? We are thinking of one too and I am wondering how it is holding up on the stairs?
Thank you!
Trista
Yup, it’s D&A! We hear good things about them on stairs from people who have ’em!
xo
s
My apologies if this has been mentioned already, but your dates are a bit wonky in this post.
Sunday = Nov 10th
Monday = Nov 11th
Thanks Mel! Sorry about that – our brains are fried. I think they’re all fixed if you refresh :)
xo
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Great Job! The more I look at it, the more I love it. Initially, I too, had the thought of a darker tread to match the railing… but I think the lighter oak is a great compliment. It looks effortless and not overdone. Reads more coastal cool beach house vs fancy foyer trying too hard! :-)
My fingers are crossed for you with the PolyShades. I wanted to save some time and use it on an accent chair and the guy at H.D. did everything but grab the can out of my hand. Along with application problems, durability seems to be an issue. Looks like you guys had no problems applying it, so I hope the same is true for it holding up!
Thanks so much Megan!
xo
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I love your foyer so much. It’s such a great reflection of your style! Great job.
Love how it turned out! I’m going to check out the stain you used-we need to stain our stair railings as well and I wanted something darker!
I wanted to share our board and batten install with you, my husband and I had the confidence to take this on by following your tutorial and we are so happy with it.
http://www.sneakersandspatulas.com/2013/11/11/living-and-dining-room-before-and-after/
Amazing!
xo
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Painting risers are next on my to do list, and I love the way yours turned out! When you applied the Rejuvenate restorer, did you just wipe on one coat by hand (ie, with a rag instead of with a floor mop, which seems like it would be pretty tough to do on a narrow stair …)? And did you use the same high gloss restorer you used on your downstairs floors? THANKS! :)
Yup, it was the same high gloss stuff! John used the mop cover they sold with it (the same one we used for our floors) but instead of putting it on a mop, John stuck his hand in it and just wiped it on that way.
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