If you go slow and steady, you win, right?
It’s a joke. Because this is the opposite mindset I like to take when it comes to home projects that I’m not excited about or committed to completing. It’s been a busy winter and an even busier spring, but now that I’m used to this new pace of life, I’m starting to work on projects around the house again.
Due to the size of the project, we have split the basement and painted it. This month we worked on the stairs that connect the basement to the rest of the house.
I share the first pictures of the whitewashed staircase and the next plans for the basement design project.
Why I decided to paint the wooden part of the stairs
Honestly, this staircase was dark, sad and depressing! After painting the entire basement family room this winter, I wanted to paint the stairs and adjacent wine room as well. The goal is to brighten these areas and visually connect them with the rest of the basement.
Process content
We hired someone to remove the stair runners and paint the stair wood. The paint colors are the same used for the trim, wainscots and beams in the basement family room. White Dove by Benjamin Moore. The process required removing the adhesive under the stair runner using a large amount of Goo Gone, sanding, priming and painting.
A lesson learned from this is to hire someone who knows how to install things properly. It took about 4 days to get the stairs ready to be painted. This was mainly due to the time it took to clean the stairs after removing the runners. Wow! But we made it through, and I’m glad we took the time to make the stair treads look great.
thoughts on results
It looks like a completely different staircase! Just by changing the paint, the ceiling felt higher and the staircase felt wider. Overall it feels very fresh. I can’t wait to finish painting the rest of the basement.
The next step in your basement design project
More events are happening in the basement this spring and summer! Here is the list of upcoming updates:
- Attach the wallpaper to the top of the stairs (picture below). Stairs lead directly to the kitchen dining area, entry hallway from the garage, guest bathroom and Birdie’s room (formerly the guest room). The wallpaper I choose should complement all of these space design elements.
- Add a new light fixture above the stairs.
- Install new stair runners.
- Install a new railing.
- Bring new furniture and rugs into the basement family room.
- Update the wine room (more details on this room can be found in this post). Do a lime wash finish or paint the bricks, update the light fixtures and update the plumbing.
My overall vision for the design of the basement family room is decidedly more modern and minimal than the design of the rest of the house. We will be playing with fewer layers of decorative elements and more textures of furniture shapes and materials. Stay tuned for future updates!
Kate is currently learning to play the ukulele, but her husband, children and dog are very disappointed. follow her on her instagram @witanddelight_.
