Monday, May 7, 2012

Banister Makeover ~ It's Time For Paint!



Now I don't know why it is, but I absolutely hate showing pictures of my house
when it is being worked on.  But to show the end result and to get to the
good stuff, you have to show the before and after right?  So I'll try not to be
so shy when it comes to this in the future...  (*_*)

So here it is...the banister and railing.  Isn't it beautiful...no, it is not!  This
is the only remaining area of the old blonde oak finish in our house.  It does
not match anything anymore and as you can see it looks really beautiful with
our new (well, 2 years old) flooring we installed.  It is time for it to go away!

I got inspiration a few months back from Amy Chalmers over at Maison Decor.
You can visit her by clicking here http://www.maisondecor8.blogspot.com/.  She is
always up to something and she is lightning quick at it.  Several months back
she did a post on redoing her banister and stairs and it looked amazing so I
thought I would give it a go!  Yes Amy, I know...it's only taken me two or
three months to get to my project.  I just can't keep up with you!






So here you can see the stairwell and when I took these pictures I had already
started painting.  There is an oak ledge along the back wall and this shows it
with one coat of paint on it.  You may not be able to tell, but our walls are
actually not white (they look white in the pictures don't they), but rather they
are a very pale yellow.  The color is called Lotus Blossom and it has a nice pale
contrast to the white trim.






I can't wait to see what this post is going to look like all painted up!  In case
you are wondering what I did to prep the railings...I just roughed them up with
sandpaper quite well so the paint would stick and then started straight in on
the painting.  Everyone has their favorite paint, but I absolutely love Behr paint
from Home Depot.  It is thick, covers beautifully and does not run.  I am just
using a white interior satin enamel.  I was thinking of using semi-gloss because
of the wear and tear, but I just don't like the way it shines.  If this wears in
certain spots, I'll just repaint the spots that need it.






Here is a view of the painted railing.  Now don't ask me why I did it this way,
but I am doing it in sections.  The edge against the wall is all done as well as
the railing and now I'm working on the actual banister.  Who knows!?

Now that you are looking at this picture...do you ever do something in your
decorating that is really really dumb?  Well this really takes the cake!
We used to have this berber carpet upstairs and now that we have the
wood floors look at what is still on the stairs...gasp!...berber!  Now take
a look at the downstairs...the carpet down there is berber, but it's a really
nice berber (if there is such a thing!) and it is in wonderful condition.  Now
why oh why did we not carpet the stairs with THAT carpet instead of
leaving this silly berber on that was upstairs.  There's kind of a no man's
land thing going on in the middle...good grief!  We need to fix that here
pretty quick!  And don't even pay attention to those walls going down the
stairs!  Yikes!  That cottage green color goes down the walls and down the
entire hall downstairs.  If that isn't horrific enough, that color was actually
upstairs throughout our large open plan kitchen and living room.  Not pretty!
What was I thinking?  I really can't answer that!  (*_*)

So now I have painted one coat on the actual railing and banister and it took
me THREE hours to do it...don't you just love painting spindles!  Not really...

I will post more pictures when I have the entire thing finished in a day or two.

Until then,

~Stacy~

6 comments:

Ali said...

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who appreciates light not-quite-white walls. I'll never understand why some people have walls of a variety of bold, dark colours all throughout their house. For me light walls are just so clean and simple and bright and cheery. Looks like the railing will fit in great when you're all finished it!

Janae said...

It's going to look amazing!! You are inspiring me, I need to paint mine too. Mine is not oak but it's painted, It's a light color but I think these kind of things always look best white. By the way that mirror is GORGEOUS!!!!

Shabby chic Sandy said...

I think your bannister is going to be gorgeous white! I am not a fan of wood tone anymore. I am also constantly inspired from Amy at MaisonDecor. So excited about her new shop! Janae (comment above) is my daughter. I looked through your blog and found so many things I love. Love the post about your Mom's house. I had that same gentlemens chair she has, at one point in my life. I am also excited to see you make faux cupcakes. Do you ever make them with a rose on top? I love the ones you have with the white icing, polka dot liners and the ballet girls but would prefer a rose if you ever do that. I have a cupcake little dome thing I found that I am itching to use! Let me know if you ever do that. Your cupcakes are available! They really look pretty and fluffy. Love the liners with the polka dots! I am going to go become a follower. You have a lovely blog...

Oh, and I love your tablecloth! Janae and I did the same thing. Mine looks more like yours because I have an oval table. Guests always go nuts about how pretty it looks! We don't have to tell them it is a bedskirt:) (though I usually do!) Have a nice evening--

The Polka Dot Closet said...

First, I had no idea you had an upstairs, isn't that crazy I thought you were all on one level...Now, why would I think that? My first thought was...Ton of work painting the spindles! It will look fabulous in the end, I'm a satin paint girl too. Hey, the stairs aren't wood are they...could you skip the carpeting??

CArol

Sissie's Shabby Cottage said...

If anyone can get you fired up for a project, it's Amy! Gotta love that girl!
Looks like you got a good start on painting your banisters. The white is looking good.

hugs
Sissie

Miss Gracie's House said...

That is a big project to take on...no wonder it took you awhile?! Have you tried using a mini roller for the spindles...and then smoothing with a brush (I prefer the brushed look to the roller look)...it is a way faster way to get your paint on...my husband is a painting contractor and he swears by those things:)
Have a great day, Stacy!
Rene'