One of my favourite things in our new house is our curved staircase. I just love it and have been thinking about painting and staining it to update and give it a makeover. Currently it is the original oak and I find it a little dated. It is also carpeted and I do plan to remove the carpet some day and add a runner. That would be my dream look for my staircase. This is what it looks like now.
I did revamp my staircase in our house in Calgary and it turned out great! Our staircase in Calgary was maple and was also very light. I painted the spindles white and the rail a dark brown. Here are some before, during and after pictures.
I told my mom about my staircase plan for our new house and also showed her some pictures of what I have in mind. She loved them and especially liked the look of white spindles and dark hand rails and treads. My mom’s staircase was maple. Lots of maple everywhere! She finally decided to be brave and asked me to help her paint it out. Here is a picture of what it looked like before we painted it out.
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You can barely see my mom hard at work painting the stairs with primer. I must tell you that I HATE sanding so therefore I don’t do it! Any painting I do, I don’t sand. You might think I am crazy but I have discovered a miracle product called TSP. First of all make sure you thoroughly wash down whatever you are painting with TSP and finally don’t forget to give it a good rinse. You want to make sure all of the TSP is off. The next important step is a good primer. Don’t scrimp on the primer. Pay a little more for the good stuff and you wont regret it! My favorite primer is Zinsser. Other supplies to grab are some painter’s tape, a small 1 inch paint brush and some small microfiber paint rollers. First step is to tape off the area to paint and then start painting!
Here are some pictures of the priming in progress.
My mom was unsure if she was going to paint or stain the handrail and treads so she didn’t prime them right away. Finally in the end she decided to paint the treads and the hand rails over staining. She chose a good quality porch and floor paint because the treads would get a lot of wear and tear. This is what the staircase looks like now. Much better! It is amazing what a little paint and a LOT of time and effort can do!
Just beautiful! I love it and my Mom and Dad both love their new updated staircase. I guess I better get to work and paint mine now. I’m probably going to stain the hand rail this time instead of paint. Which is scary for me because I’ve never stained a railing before! I hope it turns out. I’ll let you know either way. For some it is probably a scary thing to paint out wood but you can do it! Be brave…its only paint after all!
Karla
I love it !!! That’s what Iam wanting to do to our staircase railings & spindles. Can i ask why you used the porch paint and did you use it on the handrails to ?
Hi, it’s amazing what a little paint can do to update your staircase! And it really isn’t that hard to do. Just time consuming. We used porch paint on both the treads and the handrails. Porch paint because it is very durable and the stairs get a lot of use. After a couple years of wear and tear they still look great!
Can you share the brand and color of porch-floor paint that was used? Thanks.
Hi, I believe I used Behr porch and patio paint in the colour Timber Brown. Hope this helps! Paint is a great and inexpensive way to update almost anything. Good luck with your project!
Karla
After having painted half of our interior trim, I know how much work this must have been. I agree though, looks fantastic!
Thanks Heather! It’s a lot of work but a lot of fun to do. But I love painting!