Why A Painted Staircase?

A painted staircase was not our first intention… When we first saw the pictures of our future home online, the foyer shots definitely stood out. What looked to be a grand foyer (complete with a very Victorian newel post light), was probably the most formal of all the rooms!

And when we first toured our future home, we confirmed that the foyer was most definitely the most formal space. Even though the wallpaper was peeling, the flooring was in rough shape, and the room was very dark, we could see the potential of this grand space!

Looking Below the Surface

Once the home was ours and the renovation began, we often struggled with what we would eventually do with the foyer and specifically with the staircase. The original owner had completed all of the woodwork himself and we loved the character of the spindles, railings, and newel posts. If you look closely, each spindle is a little bit different given each one was hand-turned and we absolutely love what some may deem imperfection!

Not Everything is What it Seems!

What we thought was a lot of high-quality oak, turned out to be a bit of a facade. But the spindles were still cool and the staircase itself was still a big statement in the center of the house so we decided to move forward with the only option we really had. Cover all of the mismatched wood on the stairs, and not so solid oak paneling, with paint. Yep, a painted staircase would be our only option!

It wasn’t until after we were in the home for a bit that we took a closer look at the stairs. What we thought was a room full of solid oak structure, was not at all what it seemed. Alas, our fancy raised paneling on the staircase was merely stained plywood with trim attached. And once we pulled off the nasty stair runner, we found some very odd piecemealed treads. The runner was held down by what looked like solid brass runner rods but were in actuality, cheap brass-looking hollow cafe curtain rods (you know the ones) So now what?

Permission to Paint!

Being able to paint the staircase without any shame or regret, because hey, it wasn’t beautiful solid oak, actually allowed us a tremendous amount of freedom to make the foyer a lot less formal and serious! Because the room was so dark, we had already painted the walls in our bright blues and decided that a black and white staircase would not only brighten the space but give the entire room an updated and contemporary look!

A Secret For The Future!

I love this space now. It is still a big statement, but in a fun and unexpected way. We did keep the light on the newel post because who could fathom getting rid of it? The girl is just too quirky! She lights the foyer nightly now. Oh and fun fact: the daughter of the original owner told us that her parents put a time capsule in one of the newel posts when they built the house! We resisted the urge to peek though, since it had only been less than 20 years. We’ll let someone else make the discovery many years from now; what a sweet surprise that will be!

So that’s the story of our painted staircase and and honestly, we couldn’t be happier with the end result! Would we have painted it had it been solid oak? Probably not but I really can’t imagine the foyer looking so serious, dark, and stuffy now! I’m very thankful for that plywood paneling and those whack-a-doodle stair treads!

Thanks for reading; let’s talk about a much needed master closet window next time, shall we?

Blessings,
{Shelley}