I thought I'd pop in to show you what the stairs look like, currently. I wouldn't want to risk being accused of contributing to the false idea that bloggers' lives are all pretty pictures and flawlessly executed before & afters ;)

Excuse the iPhone pics - Adam was nice enough to snap a few for me while I was at work. The drywall guys have been in and out all week and should wrap up work today. The mud wasn't drying as quickly as they'd hoped, so we brought our dehumidifier up from the basement to speed things along. We're really pleased with how the walls are coming along, and despite the cost, I'm glad we decided to hire this step out. Not only have the pros done the job much faster than we ever could, they've done a much better job too.

Oh, and someone discovered that wet drywall compound makes for pretty good finger painting.

The house was suspiciously quiet, so I looked around the corner and spotted Hannah at work. When she noticed me watching her, she burst into laughter and ran down the hall into our bedroom. So naughty, and yet so cute!

So what's next? As soon as the drywall is finished, we'll prime and paint this entire area, including the upstairs hallway. Then we'll finally rip out the last strip of nasty carpet (in the hallway) and install hardwood to match the flooring in the bedrooms. We'll also install and paint new trim and door plinths. The long list looks like this:

-Finish drywall
-Prime and paint walls
-Rip out the last strip of nasty carpet (!!!)
-Install hardwood flooring in the hallway
-Install, caulk and paint new trim and door plinths in the hallway
-Install permanent stair treads and risers
-Paint treads and risers?
-Install stair runner
-Install new hardwood flooring on main floor
-Install, caulk and paint new trim on main floor

It will all be worth it in the end, right?

Happy weekend! xo

I spent my weekend polying the lower cabinets in our kitchen and we're no further along on the stair remodel. Drywall finishing is happening next week though, so I guess I should start mentally preparing for more dust. Lots of it. We've also invested in some important, but decidedly unglamourous, improvements lately - like new gutters and a new oil tank. Hardly what I want to be spending my money on, but the gutter guy was able to take the old ones off with one gentle tug, so it was time. As for the oil tank, when you need a new one, you need a new one.

The good news is that I have an active imagination, so there's been lots of daydreaming about eventually spending money on pretty things again. Like new floors on the main...floor. To jog your memory, these are the floors we installed in all three bedrooms upstairs (as seen in our guest room):

They were pretty dirty from the baseboard installation here, but you get the idea. The plan is to lay the same floors in the upstairs hallway (after the drywall guy does his thing, of course). We already own the flooring, it's just a matter of setting aside some time to install it.

And while I still love the hardwood upstairs, I definitely want to do something different downstairs. I know people are of different minds when it comes to mixing hardwood, but it seems like the general advice I've read is to choose your transition wisely and make sure you go different enough - if the flooring is too close in colour, it'll just look like you goofed. I'm 85 percent sure that I want to paint the stairs white (treads and risers) and add a runner. I think it'll make for a smooth transition between the medium-toned hardwood upstairs and the lighter-toned hardwood downstairs.

I have my heart set on a wide plank white oak for the main floor, but we still have to figure out what makes sense cost-wise, since we'll likely outgrow this house in a couple of years.

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These are pretty much my dream floors. And here are a few others I'm drawn to, via Pinterest of course.

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So tell me, if you could pick any floor you wanted, what would you choose?

Our contractor wraps up work on our stairs today, but we still have lots of work ahead of us (and you know we're not nearly as speedy as the pros - just cheaper). While we're still a long way from finished, I couldn't wait to share some shots of the incredible progress so far! 

 

 

Here's the view from the entry at the end of days 1 & 2. Obviously, some lighting changes will need to happen down the road, but we're not there yet. Now if only we could figure out a solution for that awkwardly-placed fridge (someone buy me a SMEG fridge, please).

 

And the view from the kitchen. We thought we might install a railing on top of the half wall (Day 1), but we decided to just make the wall higher instead (Day 2). The treads and risers are of course temporary until we figure out the flooring situation. You can see that they also knocked out the doorway to the upstairs hallway. That was a last-minute decision that I'm so happy with!

 

 

Removing the doorway helps the high ceilings really stand out (and yes, we've got some brick painting to do).

 

Downstairs, we'll need to install a handrail along the wall. Again, temporary treads, but you can see that our contractor was able to move the stairs back by more than a foot. Now Adam doesn't have to duck to avoid hitting his head when he walks downstairs.

 

 

 

One neat find: when our contractor enlarged the opening in the wall, he revealed the house's old siding. The main floor is actually an addition, although I can't believe this house was once smaller than it is now!

 

 

So, lots of taping, mudding and sanding in our future (although we may hire that out too for speed), and of course now we have to pick out new flooring and make a decision about permanent stair treads/risers. We're still debating whether we'll install the stair treads and risers ourselves, or hire our contractor back to finish the job. He's been awesome to work with - and fast - so we'd love to work with him again. Sean from Streamline Construction if anyone local is in need of a contractor.



 

I still can't believe I'm sharing these photos with the world. Gulp.

The first time we walked through this house, our real estate agent took one look at the stairs and said, "OK, I know why this house hasn't sold yet." The list of reasons why most buyers walked away from this house is miles long and, looking back, I'm shocked that we actually took the plunge. We've spent the last two and a half years tackling our home's flaws one by one, while keeping one very dirty secret: the stairs.

This is the view of the stairs from our living room. The stairs were so bad, we didn't even bother trying to pretty them up with paint (or maybe there were just too many other projects to get to first).

This is the view into the basement (utility room to the left, Adam's studio and our storage room to the right). I vacuum the carpet at least twice a week (and hate every moment of it), but it always looks dirty and is just generally stained and gross.

While the stairs are hideous, the worst part about them is actually that they don't work. To start, you have to step down onto the landing before stepping up to get to the second floor. Most people just step across the landing, which has led to more than a few stumbles.

The steps themselves are narrow and I've tripped on them in both directions, even once while holding Hannah.

Seriously, why didn't we at least make an attempt at painting?!

This is the view from the upstairs hallway, looking towards the stairs. We bought hardwood for the hallway when we replaced the floors in the bedrooms, but we've been waiting to install it until we replaced the stairs. I can't wait to see the last of the carpet go!

This is the view from the entry, looking into the kitchen. Guess what else we've been waiting to replace until we fixed the stairs? Yes, the ugly laminate in our living room/dining room and the beat-up linoleum in our kitchen. And of course we can't wait to update the baseboards like we did in the bedrooms, too.

Over the next few days, our contractor will be knocking out the entry between the living room and the kitchen (the one our dog is lying in above), and widening the entry to the stairs. The new entry will extend the entire width of the stairs and a new header will be installed at the height of the ceiling. The entry to the stairs is in a load-bearing wall, so this work is well beyond our DIY skills.

As for the stairs, both sets are being ripped out and replaced. The new stairs will be built to code and will head straight down to the basement and straight up to the second floor. They'll be separated by a half-wall, inspired by this photo:

We're thinking about painting the steps, since we're leaning towards a different tone of hardwood for the main floor (you can check out some of my painted stair inspiration here). For now, our contractor will install temporary treads, which will give us more time to choose hardwood for the main floor and figure out the best permanent look for the stairs.

The progress at the end of day one is incredible - pictures to come!

We've been thinking about it since the day we moved in, but a couple of weeks ago we finally started the quote process for our stair reno. It's a big job and a significant financial investment, but it has the potential to dramatically transform our living space. You see, I love the layout of our house - except for the stairs. They're narrow, awkwardly placed and a major tripping hazard. The plan is to open up the stairway and replace both sets of stairs (up and down). I think it will make our space feel much larger and - most importantly - the new stairs will be safer and easier to navigate.

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Oh, and I'm just a teeny bit excited that we'll finally be able to finish installing hardwood upstairs (the hardwood for the hallway is currently hanging out under the guest bed) and pick out and install hardwood downstairs.

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To come up with a plan for the new stairs, I've been pinning images of stairs that I like. No particular criteria - if I like it, I pin it. Once I had a pretty good board together, I looked through my pins to see what they had in common. It turns out I really like white stairs.



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Since we're planning to go with a slightly different look for the hardwood on the main floor, I think an all-white stair would tie both floors together nicely. That said, function is priority number one. We have a dog. And an almost-toddler. And there are kids - Adam's drum and guitar students - going up and down the basement steps every day. I don't want 'washing the stairs' to become a full-time job, you know?

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I'd love to install a runner, but I don't think it's practical, given that my biggest pet peeve about the steps right now (ignoring the design) is the carpet. It's impossible to keep clean and I hate vacuuming steps.

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A painted runner could help disguise dirt, but I have a feeling there's a fine line between it looking good and really awful, which makes me nervous, considering that we'll have just spent a whack of money having the stairs re-done. And yet, the more I see it, the more I love the look.

Pinterest via Domino Mag

What kind of stairs do you have in your house? Would you try a painted runner? Anyone with white steps (or floors) want to dish on the upkeep?