Stairway: Then and Now
When I bought my house in September 2007, the stairway up to the second floor was a hideous mess. The stairs were covered with worn out, filthy green carpeting and the wood paneling surrounding it made everything feel claustrophobic. The fact that a small wall mounted hurricane style light was the only illumination didn't help anything either. Not only did it look bad, but it was also not up to code with no hand rail and a head clearance issue. 
After moving in, the whole stairway was gutted. The wood paneling was saved and cut down for trim in the back bedrooms, but everything else ended up in the dumpster. There were wood treads under the carpet, but they had been notched when the wood paneling was installed so they needed to be replaced. The plaster behind wood paneling was crumbling so that was torn out and new drywall was installed. For fun I picked a tomato red color for the walls. Drywall also replaced the ceiling tiles and crown molding gave it another special touch.
Instead of the closed in look that the old walls of paneling made, using balusters along the stairs made everything more open and airy. Adding a handrail and angling the ceiling brought everything up to code. I found a pretty light fixture for a steal at the Pottery Barn Outlet and installed it over the stairs to brighten things up.
The top of the stairs has a great little space for some decorating. Currently, I have an easel that I bought at Ikea holding a black and white picture that I took of a woman preparing fish in Chuuk, Micronesia. I was on a set of stairs looking over the woman when I took the photo so I thought it subtly tied in. To the right of the picture I have three sets of vintage fishing buoys that I picked up at a flea market in Florida. I love their bright colors and how they have worn with age. A small wooden stool that I bought at a flea market in Japan and a chocolate and cream houndstooth check rug from Pier 1 finish off the top of my stairs.
I love how cheerful and bright my stairway is and the difference between now and when I bought my home is like night and day.
Monday, March 12, 2012 at 7:05AM | Posted by Lisa | 8 Comments | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article 
Reader Comments (8)
Lisa so happy to have found your blog. I have followed your scrapping for years - refer to your book often. Your house is so reflective of you.
You definitely opened up the stairway. It looks lovely! My favorite part is the old fishing buoys. It takes me back to growing up in Florida.
Thank you for sharing your home with us. I do so enjoy reading your posts!!
Wow! I am very impressed. Now I wonder if I could do renovations like this. You make the scary, "don't wanna touch with a ten-foot pole" challenges not only possible, but easy. You are Awesome!
I meant "look possible"
Wow wow wow! This is an amazing renovation! Nice job, I so don't have the vision to be able to do that. You found the beauty in an ugly duckling.
Mary-Lou- Thank you so much! I put a lot of work into my book and it always makes me so happy to hear when people have enjoyed it.
Rene- Thank you! I love those buoys as well. I got them when I was in Florida to take my open water certification for scuba diving so seeing them always reminds me of that trip. I saw a nurse shark descending on my very first dive and the water was so rough it was the only time in my life I've been sea sick.
Ethylene- Thank you! In full disclosure I do want to say that when I first bought my house and it was in "gut it to the studs" mode I didn't do everything by myself because I would still be working on it! I came up with the designs and did a ton of work myself (demo, drywalling, tiling, running electrical, laying sub-flooring, etc.) but I hired out the plumbing and HVAC as well as hired guys from Craigslist to get some of the big manual labor tasks done faster. The guy that I was dating at the time also helped me out a ton and taught me a lot about building. Since I've come back from Japan most of the things I have tackled (with the exception of my back patio) have been a one woman show. Anyway, things have definitely been challenging but worth it and I encourage you to try it as well!
Hilary- Thank you so much! I think a lot of people who saw my house when I first bought it thought I was a bit crazy, but I knew with a little (or more truthfully a lot!) of TLC it could be something pretty wonderful.
What a beautiful transformation!
Sandy- Thank you so much! You are very sweet!