Stairway makeover reveal

My stairway makeover is finally complete. It only took three months, including some procrastination. (I'm really good at working on a project until it reaches about 95% completion, then the fire goes out.)

This project involved stripping ugly and peeling wallpaper, drywalling, painting stripes on the walls, painting the stairs and addressing a couple of egregious design dilemmas. But all is done now, and I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out!

This space is very tight and narrow. The door to the stairwell (shown in the first photo above) is a scant 23 inches wide and the stairs themselves are only three feet wide. Not a big deal if it's open on one side, but enclosed like this, it feels so much smaller than that. (Plus it makes it nearly impossible to take good photographs. Sorry, I tried.)

Despite the limitations, I did manage to squeak in a few decorative touches. I hung these two round mirrors in probably the only spot they wouldn't be in danger of getting knocked off the wall. Like I've mentioned before, I find it nearly impossible to go up the stairs without touching the walls. I'm sure everyone else does too.

I found this convex porthole mirror at an antique mall for $16. I'm not sure if it's old (probably not), but I thought that was a pretty great price. It's about 14 inches in diameter. The small mirror above it I pieced together from a round frame I found at the Goodwill Outlet and a mirror from the craft store. A little bit of E-6000 adhesive and all is good. I like how the wood tone corresponds to the banister and the door.

Speaking of the banister, it was the only existing piece that made it back into the space. It was in good condition. I liked the brass hardware. So I didn't see the need to replace it.

I also found a spot for these hanging brass monkeys I picked up a few months ago. I tucked them back in the corner behind the door frame as an extra touch. I kind of like how they are half hidden.

One major change was the lighting. The old sconce was pretty hideous and didn't adequately light the space. We actually installed two sconces replacing just the one, though I'm noticing now I don't have a photo of them both. (One is at the top of the stairs and the other about half way down.)

I scoured the entire internet for affordable (less than $100) sconces that would fit the space. I found this one for $57. There was one I liked slightly better, but at $99, the price difference was just too great, especially when multiplied by two.

Before I ordered, I did a final search on the name of this sconce and found it for $22 plus free shipping at a no-name online shop. The shop had good reviews and let me use Google checkout, so I took a chance. And they were at my house within four days. Two sconces for $44! Bargain accomplished! Lesson: Before you click "buy," always Google for a cheaper price.

The top of the banister used to be mounted to the wall with an unfinished piece of lumber. How chic! I decided that had to go and replaced it with this shield-shaped plaque I bought at Jo-Ann and painted the same color as the wall. (I'm kind of into shields for some reason.) I paid less than $1 after coupon. Cheap and better.

Elise talks about this space like she's annexed it as a part of her bedroom. Hopefully, I won't find her sleeping in there. I'm just glad she loves it as much as I do. It looks like it belongs with the rest of our house now, and it isn't the abrupt transition between her bedroom and the upstairs playroom it used to be.

See the before pictures >> 

See all the stairway updates >>

Stairway progress: Painted wall stripes

Are you ready for some stripey goodness? My stairway just got a whole lot more fun!

I envisioned bold, contrasting stripe, but instead of a pure black, I used the same dark gray-brown that I used on an accent wall in our bedroom (Olympic's Oswego Tea). (Which also means I didn't buy any extra paint for this project!)

There are probably a million tutorials on how to paint stripes out there, none of which I directly followed. Here's what I did.

After painting my main wall color, I drew pencil lines on the wall using a laser level (plus a regular level, a yardstick and smaller rulers) and then applied my tape to the pencil lines. Honestly, if I had a three or four foot level, I would have just used that instead of the laser level. Measuring and taping took a few hours, but it was the most tedious part of the process.

Before painting the stripes, I pressed down the edges of the tape with a plastic ruler to make sure they were completely adhered. I also put a little dab of tape in each of the white lines that weren't going to be painted. This might seem unnecessary, but believe me, when you are staring at tape lines six inches in front of your face, you need something to help you from going cross-eyed.

I painted the edges of the tape very lightly, almost dry-brushed them, with the base color. This is to prevent the second color from bleeding under the tape and creating jaggy lines. You can see in the photo above, I only painted the edges that face inward toward where my brown stripe would be painted.

I used a small foam roller to fill in the stripes. Again, I went really light on the paint. No thick globs or heavy coats. The stripes on the left are after one coat and the stripes on the right are after two coats.

After the first coat was dry, I painted the second coat, then ripped the tape off immediately before moving onto the next stripe. That is, I didn't let the second coat of paint dry on the tape. The lines came out crisp and clean. I never dreamed they would turn out so perfect. No jagged edges!

I did do a bit of touching up once the second coat of paint had dried. There were a few spots where the paint was thin, but I carefully fixed those areas without applying any more tape.

I LOVE the way they turned out. I don't always feel this strongly about the things I make/do, but in this case, I really do love them.

I asked Elise, "do you like my stripes?" And now every time she sees them, she asks me, "do you like my stripes?"

Next up for a paint job are the stairs themselves. This project is sucking all the free time out of me, so I probably won't have any more posts this week. Stay tuned! I (for one) can't wait to see how this thing turns out!

See all the stairway updates >>

Baby quilt: Summer stripes

As soon as I finished Elise's quilt, I started on another. The sure sign of addiction. This time, a baby quilt for a friend expecting a girl next month. (Hi Rita!)

I couldn't resist making something pink and colorful and summery, especially for a baby girl with a big brother.

This is (again) simply pieced and quilted, but it puts the focus on the patterns themselves. I wanted the front and back to relate to each other, so I made sure to incorporate most of the prints on the back on the front also.

It's a fairly large crib quilt at 40.5" x 50.5" and took me about 12 hours total (including finishing the binding by hand). I used a few of the same fabrics I used on Elise's quilt, but with a brighter color palette, they look totally different.

You'll also probably recognize that nesting doll/matryoshka fabric I used on the party favor coin purses. I love love the long strip of them all in a row.

p.s. In case you are worried, I promise this won't turn into a quilts-only blog. In fact, no more quilts in the pipeline for now! Well, until inspiration strikes again.