For weeks I dreamed of a stellar staircase with dark stained treads, white risers and swirling teal stenciled leaves. Then reality happened and I found out there were some questions I should have answered first. Now that we have the answers, here is where we arrived. Those stairs needed padding and floor covering. Not wall to edge as it had been before, but at least the path up and down the stairs had to be covered for appearance, sound control and traction for our pet. At first I could not find stair runners anywhere, then the nearby home center restocked. Their runners were expensive and not what I wanted at all -- dark and/or busy patterns. I bought regular hallway rugs in a neutral gray beige and planned to install those. And then I found a stair runner at a discount home ... [Read More]
Staircases
Stellar Staircases – The Reality
For weeks, I had been collecting inspiration pictures for redoing our basement stairs. What I finally pictured was a beautiful staircase with gorgeous dark stained treads, gleaming white risers and lilting teal blue stenciled designs. Then reality happened. We started with this lovely carpet covering each stair. Classic Seventies. Original. Chosen by the previous owner. What can I say? Basement stairs have been low priority. Wheels ripped it off and I began unstapling the pads and prying up the old tack strips. This was what I found beneath the carpet. Not pretty. Not pretty at all. I know the wallpaper is ugly and really strange, too. Does it help if I tell you that the previous owner also chose it? I didn't think so. In fact, now you know we have been living ... [Read More]
Stellar Staircases – The vision
I love painted staircases. Dark treads, painted or stained a deep rich brown. Or may be black or a dark gray. Light colored risers -- preferably white to contrast with the dark tread. I finally narrowed my Staircase dreams to ten possibilities. Classic dark and white appealed to me: Bloomerism So did the dark and white combination with words: Lisa's Creative Designs Or numbers: Dixie Delights On the other hand, patterned risers were intriguing. In bright colors: Weekend Decor Or pattern in a nuetral: Small Changes Big Improvements Or maybe a monochromatic scheme: home and harmony Color on white seems fresh and ... [Read More]
