BEFORE & AFTER!!
This was my staircase-remodeling project this summer. I was inspired by Tracy from CleverlyInspired who transformed her staircase from a worn out carpet staircase to a beautiful brown/white painted staircase. Well, my challenge was a bit different because I had to transform my plywood stairs which took a little longer but they turned out so great! So my transformation was actually featured on Tracy’s CleverlyInspired Facebook page!
Before you start your project, take a look underneath the carpet to see what type of wood is there. In my case as you can see I found plywood. Well, at first I was a little discouraged, but in the end I just wanted this carpet gone!
Be aware that you need quite some power to rip out the carpet and do not forget to put on some gloves! It can be quite a mess and your hands are protected from all the nails and stables.
Now, once it is out and you removed most of the dirt, go ahead and pull out all the little nails, stables, etc... Then clean the staircase and surrounding firmly. Make sure you check again that you did not miss a nail etc… Next, I continued to fill all the holes with wood filler, even the uneven spots in the wood and build up corners if necessary. Once the filler is dried, I'll sanded all the stairs with a electric sander. I don’t know if you can see in the back of the picture but make sure you block all the ways to the other rooms with plastic sheets so the dust does not spread.
When you are done with sanding, clean the stairs and floors again and make sure there is no dust anywhere. I also bought thin wooden rails or moldings to cover up the gaps on the back corner of each stair and the sides. Then, I painted everything with a White Latex Primer from Valspar (1 Quart) and a synthetic paint brush. ( make sure you use a good quality of primer and later color, which will save you a lot of time)
After the primer was dry, I started to paint the brown color on the stairs ( Valspar Signature Paint 1 Quart). Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of it, but if you have small children or if you have to use your staircase, make sure to paint every other stair so you can still go upstairs and downstairs. And once the painted ones are dry you can continue with the other stairs.
After all the stairs have their new brown color I cut paper and taped it on the stairs with Duck tape so that I did not have to worry about the white color messing up the brown color and to protect the color from us walking on the stairs. What I found very helpful was a smaller brush ( you can buy them in draft stores like Michael’s or Hobby Lobby) for the corners that are hard to reach.
After I was absolutely sure that all the color is dry I applied Rust- Oleum Polyurethane Semi Gloss (needed amount 1 Quart) with a foam brush. I did this whole process 3x to ensure that the color is protected from scratches etc…
So there you go - my finished staircase! I think it is awesome!!
And as you can see I also changed the color of the wall to have a more open feel to it! I have to say since I was not able to work on it 24/7 because of my two small children and the drying time of the various coats and fillers, it took me approximately one week to completely finish the project. But it was so worth it and I would do it anytime all over again. And actually plywood can look really good!!
Don’t be scared just try it! If I could do it, then you can do it too!
Before you start your project, take a look underneath the carpet to see what type of wood is there. In my case as you can see I found plywood. Well, at first I was a little discouraged, but in the end I just wanted this carpet gone!
Be aware that you need quite some power to rip out the carpet and do not forget to put on some gloves! It can be quite a mess and your hands are protected from all the nails and stables.
Now, once it is out and you removed most of the dirt, go ahead and pull out all the little nails, stables, etc... Then clean the staircase and surrounding firmly. Make sure you check again that you did not miss a nail etc… Next, I continued to fill all the holes with wood filler, even the uneven spots in the wood and build up corners if necessary. Once the filler is dried, I'll sanded all the stairs with a electric sander. I don’t know if you can see in the back of the picture but make sure you block all the ways to the other rooms with plastic sheets so the dust does not spread.
When you are done with sanding, clean the stairs and floors again and make sure there is no dust anywhere. I also bought thin wooden rails or moldings to cover up the gaps on the back corner of each stair and the sides. Then, I painted everything with a White Latex Primer from Valspar (1 Quart) and a synthetic paint brush. ( make sure you use a good quality of primer and later color, which will save you a lot of time)
After the primer was dry, I started to paint the brown color on the stairs ( Valspar Signature Paint 1 Quart). Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of it, but if you have small children or if you have to use your staircase, make sure to paint every other stair so you can still go upstairs and downstairs. And once the painted ones are dry you can continue with the other stairs.
After all the stairs have their new brown color I cut paper and taped it on the stairs with Duck tape so that I did not have to worry about the white color messing up the brown color and to protect the color from us walking on the stairs. What I found very helpful was a smaller brush ( you can buy them in draft stores like Michael’s or Hobby Lobby) for the corners that are hard to reach.
After I was absolutely sure that all the color is dry I applied Rust- Oleum Polyurethane Semi Gloss (needed amount 1 Quart) with a foam brush. I did this whole process 3x to ensure that the color is protected from scratches etc…
So there you go - my finished staircase! I think it is awesome!!
And as you can see I also changed the color of the wall to have a more open feel to it! I have to say since I was not able to work on it 24/7 because of my two small children and the drying time of the various coats and fillers, it took me approximately one week to completely finish the project. But it was so worth it and I would do it anytime all over again. And actually plywood can look really good!!
Don’t be scared just try it! If I could do it, then you can do it too!
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