Oh my, this has been a long time coming.
Previously, we had a thick carpet in a deep shade of salmon running up the staircase, and onto the landing.
I hated it so much. At that time it was way down on our list of things that needed sorting in the house. So we lived with it until I just snapped one day and pulled up all the carpet on the stairs. We then lived with that for a while too!
Fast forward four years later we’ve made over our stairs and the whole hallway. It’s now nearly unrecognisable from when we arrived.
I’ve mentioned before that this staircase makeover was one of the worst jobs we’ve ever done ourselves in the house.
The paint stripper, the dust from sanding, oh yes, then more paint stripper and more sanding.
It’s true that my other half did the lions share (actually all) of this job and I wouldn’t have blamed him if he’d wanted to give in and get the professionals to finish it off. He didn’t let it defeat him, plus he’s also way cheaper than any tradesmen. We’d been quoted over £1000 to have this job done and when you are saving up for a trip to Disney at some point, well I don’t need to spell it out do I?
We He used;
- Nitromors- an incredibly strong paint stripper. We’d tried other ones, and eco ones but sadly they just weren’t working for us. Use with extreme caution.
- A lot of sanding, using a handheld electric sander
- A chisel for chipping off of really thick (decades old paint, watch for lead paint, and wear a mask!)
- Wood filler to smooth the surface and fill any holes, of which there were many.
I then pitched in with the easier tasks of varnishing the treads with a few coats of Ronseal Clear Satin and helping paint the risers in Evening Coat by Valspar.
This job took forever, I’m not even joking. It’s because it’s so fiddly!
In this shot (seen below) you can see how our staircase looked for the majority of last year. We’d just had our Harvey Maria flooring fitted which is what led me to choose a charcoal colour on the risers. What you cant see here is all the sticky adhesive that had been used to help hold that awful carpet in place on top of each tread.
You are so lucky today, I’ve managed to dig out the photos of how this hallway looked when we first moved in.
Are you ready? This is pre staircase makeover, pre-kitchen, pre-hallway floor, pre-everything really!
Looking at these photos makes me realise how far we’ve come, and how much work we’ve done in our home.
I wrote a post about 2017 being the year of renovations for us. It was such a hectic time but it really makes it all worthwhile when every day my family and I get to wake up and live here. This house definitely has its quirks. It can be a real Pandora’s Box when it comes to DIY, but it is our home.
Have you made over your staircase?
susan earlam ~ horror author 
I would love your input