I have just spent 5 hours painting the stairs. Last week I started with the right-hand bannister and when I was finished I just thought it looked amazing.
Well, this afternoon I painted the left-hand bannister and snapped a quick shot while it was still daylight... looking good....
Then I spent the next 2 hours painting the risers, the internal stringers and every second tread, by which point the sun had gone down and I was left painting by lamplight. (We have no electrics in this bit of the Megaroom yet, we use extension cords to move around a few lamps)
Oh... they look really dark now.... and I am slightly freaking out. They look good in these photos though, so maybe it isn't all bad (only because I have messed with the exposure settings in iPhoto)
Of course they will look different when the paint has dried, they will look different when the stairwell walls are painted white and (probably most importantly) they will look different in full light. But that will have to wait till the morning to check.
My top tips for painting stairs.
- Work from top to bottom.
- Start with the handrail, then work round each baluster individually.
- When painting the actual stairs work backwards, from top to bottom
- On your first round, paint all the risers and stringer sides but only every second tread.
- Label the treads that are safe to walk on (you can check out my doodled post-it notes here)
"How are the other ladies getting on with their staircases?" I hear you cry out.
Well why don't you mosey on over to check them at at their blogs.
Micha @ Little Old House
Christine @ Little House on the Corner - Christine finished already, but you could still check out her blog if you like ;-)
Christine @ Little House on the Corner - Christine finished already, but you could still check out her blog if you like ;-)
LOVE the teal - what a great idea to paint your stairs an actual color! And yes, taking pictures at night sucks but sometimes it's just so hard to wait until the next morning because you just -have- to share your progress -now-!
ReplyDeleteI break into hives just thinking about my staircase so I'm procrastinating monkeying around in my laundry room - heh ;)
I was trying to get an update up on a Tuesday that's all... I'll need to take better photos today if I find the time.
DeleteI'm sure you'll get back to your staircase in good time.