At least that’s how I feel about them. I know some people hate stairs, but after seeing about a million gorgeous staircases on Pinterest and a whole bunch of awesome DIY stair upgrades, I was all “I waaaant stairs.” A la that girl in Charlie & The Chocolate Factory who sings about wanting a bean feast (?!). And then, as luck would have it, after seven years of owning one-level houses we fell in love with a house that has stairs. Half of me feared I’d live to regret the change, and half of me couldn’t wait to go on a blind spree, pinning ten million staircases per minute. I was like Ariel singing about being “part of that world” but instead of daydreaming about strolling around on that – what’s the word again? street! – I was daydreaming about stairs and runners with a shell bra on.
Well, after three and a half months of living in a house with stairs, I’m certain about two things:
- We actually like stairs! It’s nice to have some division between the living areas of the house and the private/sleeping/getting ready areas that are tucked away on the second floor. We’ll always have a soft spot for a cool mid-century ranch, but now when we have people over we don’t have to clean every last room – we just tend to the first floor and it’s all good if there’s a pair of underwear or seven million toe-murdering legos on the floor upstairs.
- We have woefully ignored our stairs this entire time – even after being intensely excited to make them over. Yup, between the blue baseboards and balusters to the old carpet, it’s looking pretty bleak.
Why is that stair runner still there? Well, we were going to pull it out before moving day, but John mentioned that it might be nice to keep it there to protect the wood stairs from any moving-day beatings they might have been subjected to as we dragged half of our worldly possessions up there. We also thought Burger and Clara might benefit from us keeping the stairs covered with some sort of a runner, so we didn’t want to rip it up until we had something new to put down. So we gave it a thorough cleaning, moved in, and figured we’d get to it within a few weeks.
A few weeks turned into a few months (oops) but I’m finally ready to pull the trigger on a new runner thanks to seeing a few pictures of black and white stair runners on (where else?) Pinterest.
- Let’s see, there’s this one (this runner was my favorite, but there’s no ebony rail with white balusters here, which I’d like to add)
- Then there’s this one (the rug pattern isn’t my favorite, but we’re aiming for a dark ebony railing with white balusters like this)
- There’s also this one (the rug’s a little boldly striped for me, but of course I love the dark rails with the white balusters)
- And this one (once again I fell for the high contrast striped runner, paired with a dark railing and white balusters)
*Spontaneous drinking game (the secret word is balusters).
Anyway, I showed John those links (he’s a visual creature, so it’s nearly impossible to get him on board with anything using words alone) and it was enough to spur both of us into “let’s really do this” action. So I did some googling in the hopes of finding a runner that was well rated to stand up to lots of wear and tear (no sense putting in something that’ll look terrible in six months) and also in the hopes of finding something that we liked when it came to the look of it (without spending 1K on a new stair update). My BFF swears by Dash & Albert (she has two crazy active kids who each have ten of their friends over and beat up on all of her rugs, but they still look great years later thanks to being well made) so it was nice to have that lead to pursue. And after clicking around over there, I found it. Almost the exact same (if not THE exact same) rug from my initial inspiration pic – the one I liked best of all:
It was nice to see it used on a staircase in the photo, since that suggested to me that they thought it would be good for that application (guess I’m a visual creature too) and even though the stairs were all white with a modern black & white railing, I had this original inspiration photo to remind me what it could look like on wood stairs, and this one to remind me what adding a dark railing and some white balusters might do to the whole shebang.
When I showed John what I had found, he was sold (I even earned a highly coveted hubby-high-five) but before entering our credit card number I searched for other Dash & Albert vendors, just in the off chance that someone was running a sale. Bingo.
A site called rugstudio.com came up, and I was psyched to score a discounted runner price (we’d need two 2’5′ x 12′ runners, so we saved $32 through this sale) along with free shipping. On top of that they were also offering 20% off every order with the code CLEARANCE20, so it sort of felt like stacking three coupons. In the end it was under $199 (instead of $280!) for two extra long runners that we hope will last a crazy long time once we tear up the old carpeting and install them ourselves. They’re back-ordered for another week or so, but we hope they’ll show up soon so I can work on my rug-pulling muscles and send the old runner packing in lieu of our swanky new striped one.
So while we waited I thought it was time to start painting all of that blue baseboard and those blue balusters on the bottom half of the staircase.
Oh but we can’t forget about the two up here in the hallway now, can we?
First I broke out some primer and did two coats (I know the drill with this blue trim by now, it takes four coats – two of primer and two of paint).
This is it after two coats of primer and one of white paint. We chose BM Simply White paint (in semi-gloss) to match the rest of our trim, but here are some other designers’ favorite white paints you could choose instead. See those blue lines peeking through? Infuriating, I tell you.
No sirree, third time’s just not the charm in this case.
But something magical happens after coat #4 and everything dries and it’s white! Glorious not-blue-peeking-through white! So even though it took about five hours over two days to have at it with a short handled brush (that’s my secret to not having to tape off – it gives me a lot more control) it was WORTH IT.
There might have even been a mic drop in the middle of the foyer. And by mic drop I mean paintbrush drop. After it was clean and dry. Because $herdog’s no fool.
Boom. We’re one step closer to the whole striped runner + white balusters + dark railing equation than we were back when these stairs were blue city.
In fact I had a little fun with Photoshop on the railing. Are you picking up what I’m putting down?
Oh man, I still can’t believe we have stairs.
Ellen says
I’ve been after some D&A runners for our upstairs hallway for a while now, so thanks for the tip about other D&A vendors. (Though, I’m really sad that the site you mentioned doesn’t have that extra clearance sale going on right now…) :-(
YoungHouseLove says
I hope it goes back on again soon! It seemed like it might pop up every few weeks to inspired sales, so I hope that’s the case!
xo
s
Mary | Lemon Grove Blog says
Yep – I think you can safely say that white trumps blue! :)
Jane says
One day I would love for our stairs to sport that two toned look..One day!
Completely random food related stuff that i had to share the recipe with you guys. Its so simple and mindblowing.
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2010/01/tomato-sauce-with-butter-and-onions/
I dont why i thought of you guys , when I was making this..Maybe because you have mentioned that somedays you just make sapghetti with Tomato sauce? Haha..But I hope you will try it..Its rocking our socks now!
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds awesome!
xo
s
Liz says
LOVE! Are you going to paint the stair risers white like in most of the inspiration photos? Can’t wait to see the final product.
YoungHouseLove says
We’re going to wait to get the runner and lay it on the steps and take a picture and photoshop the white risers just to be sure we like them before committing (since it’s hard to unpaint wood!).
xo
s
Cut N Crown says
It already looks loads better! I wouldn’t have looked twice at the websites photo of the runner…but LOVE it in your inspiration photo!
Nicki says
Wow, it looks better already! I have plans to do the same exact thing to my stairs, but I keep putting it on the back burner cause it is so tedious. I actually have had 1/4 of them taped off for two months now. People who come over look at the tape funny. who knows what they are thinking! LOL
Stacey says
I always love seeing your before and after pictures. It’s amazing to me what just a few coats of primer/paint will do! Stairs look great! And I can’t wait to see the runner!
Brenda says
First of all, Sherry makes a beautiful mermaid. Second of all, I’m glad you’re sticking with carpet on the stairs. I used to nanny for a family that had wooden stairs with no runner, and it was crazy slippery in socks.
Emily @ Life on Food says
We love our stairs sans carpet. I need to paint our trim badly though. Its not scary blue but an old coat of cream. Still yuck but hopefully not 4 coats of yuck.
DianeG says
That is so funny about the stairs. After I got married, we lived in a one-floor condo for a couple of years. When we bought our current house, I used to just sit and admire the stairs. Somehow those stairs really signaled to me that I owned a real house. I still get that feeling sometimes when I walk up or down them four years later.
CC says
I adore the look of Dash and Albert rugs, but honestly they get so dirty! The light colors in the cotton attract every molecule of dirt. One problem you won’t have that we did with their floor rugs is that they are impossible to vacuum because they are so thin, they get sucked up inside the vacuum. Tacking it to the stairs would solve this, but be prepared to clean it often or replace it :-(. Definitely make a no shoes on the stair policy!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip, CC! That’s the first I’ve heard about them getting dirty! My friends with kiddos and dogs swear by them! They (as well as us) have a shoes off policy, so that must help! The other cotton/wool rugs that we have are great with getting spot cleaned (just with soapy water) since natural materials seem to do well with that, so hopefully when they’re tacked into place they’ll be easy to enough vacuum and spot clean if we need to! We’ll definitely keep you guys posted if it’s a big ol’ bust!
xo
s
Hilary says
This is my experience, too. I had to replace mine when the colors ran after I washed it with soap and water, and the stains still didn’t come out. We have a shoes-off household, too. I’d love to know how your friends wash them, because my second one is looking very dirty and I was considering giving up on D&A cotton rugs (I’m sure the outdoor ones are much easier to keep clean).
YoungHouseLove says
My one friend has never washed hers (it’s a multicolored striped rug in her living room, about 3 years old) she just vacuums regularly. My other friend has a bunch of them and she puts the runners in industrial sized washing machines (at public laundry places) along with of course vacuuming for maintenance. Sounds like a total defect that your colors ran with soap and water! I’d call them and ask them what they can do for you!
xo
s
Katherine Victoria says
That picture of Sherry will haunt my dreams :)
Melanie says
It is amazing to me how the blue makes everything look so freaking DATED!
White is beauuuutifuuuuuuuuuuulllllll! :)
Haley says
So glad to hear someone singing the praises of D&A rugs, we’re thinking of going with one for our stair runner as well! Our stairs are bare at present, but they need some grip help and we hope to have little ones in our future.
I feel your pain with the all the blue, our house is covered in flesh-tone/peach semi gloss (ceiling, walls, every single room, ugh – at least the trim is white). The few rooms we’ve painted so far make me feel so much better about this house but man is it a pain. And we need multiple coats as well, so tedious. The days we cover the last splotch of flesh-tone we’re having a party to celebrate flaying our house.
Sara says
We have that same Builder Beige/fleshtone all over our house, too! I’ve already redone the kitchen, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. Just need to finalize the living room/dining room and it’ll all be gone!!
Jen says
Hi! I’m so excited that you are all updating a center hall colonial, because that is what we have and I love seeing what you are doing! And this post was timely because I have been wanting to do the same thing with our stairs. I had a question – did you sand the spindles or the trim (including the “scroll” trim on the outside of the staircase that faces your foyer)? The task seems so daunting right now because I was dreading the sanding part, so I was curious if this was necessary? Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Ours was already painted (blue of course, hah!) so we didn’t need to sand since it wasn’t drippy or glossy – we just primed and painted. Hope it helps!
xo
s
Megan says
I love the new look…. It is amazing what paint will do and sometimes a lot of it. I did our stairs (still working on the railing) and they are a lot of work but makes everything look so much better. Your house looks so inviting now! Just love it!!!
Andi says
Sherry, you are drop-dead gorgeous. But that picture of Sherriel is….more than a little creepy! I laughed out loud when I saw it!
Michelle (aka mybelle101) says
Bean-feast: A bean-feast is primarily an annual dinner given by an employer to his or her employees. By extension, colloquially, it describes any jollification. The word, and its shorter form “beano,” are fairly common in Britain, less known in the United States. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the beanfeast often took the form of a trip to some beauty spot, where the meal was provided.
The term bean feast was spoken by Veruca Salt during her rant at Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Tempers flared as she demanded numerous, unobtainable items… most notably, said bean feast. She went on to demand that her bean feast be filled with “Cream buns and donuts and fruitcake with no nuts,”.
(Thank you, WikiPedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bean-feast) …I’d always wondered about that, too, so I finally looked it up one day after my kiddos watched the movie ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Good to know!
xo
s
Theresa says
I LOVE the runner you bought! It’s perfect! I can’t wait to see it all come together. The style of this house, and how you are decorating (colors, etc.) is so me! I can’t wait to watch it unfold and get new ideas and be inspired to decorate our little SF apartment!
jeannette says
DASH AND ALBERT ON SALE!!!!!!!!!
i knew i liked you.
the stripes and the black and white balusters and railing — i am SO picking up what you’re putting down. you’ve persuaded me of your awesome good taste one more time.
still pondering what the people who painted your LR lox orange and all that trim all over the house blue were thinking. golly.
Dianna says
LOVE the black banister idea, you should definitely do it! We painted our banister a black/brown color (to match our front door and shutters) and what a gorgeous and modern pop it makes. It brings out some of the dark brown we have in our front living room (chair pegs and wooden table legs). It’s a REALLY great idea! Cheers.
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds so pretty Dianna!
xo
s
Megan Wahl says
Let’s talk about that slate floor at the bottom of the steps. I have the exact same one (in a 1964 rancher- totally feeling your stairs emotions). What will you do with the slate- mine needs some kind of repair work or a total rip up but not sure where to start- what are your plans? Love your new house!
YoungHouseLove says
We’re in the same place! It needs some repair/help so it remains to be seen whether we can work with it or we have to redo the floors down the line. Will keep you posted for sure!
xo
s
Pat S says
Looking good and I’m happy for you that you are so thrilled to have stairs. Check back with us in about 35 years, let’s see how you like them then. :) But I agree the division of living areas would be wonderful.
Steph says
I hate to be negative- womp womp! But we have/had that same rug in our kitchen (its on my porch one day might make it into a pouf) and I hate it!!!!! Just wish I had something with more color and substantiality (sp?/right word?) – oh well hope you all love it on your stairs!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no! I hope it makes it onto a pouf! I think some folks prefer thicker rugs so the thin flat weave D&A ones might not fit the bill, but most stair runners are flat weaves, and once they’re fixed in place they tend to feel more substantial. Here’s hoping!
xo
s
Jessika says
Are you going to strip and stain the railing/bottom baluster darker? If so, I recommend the spray on stripper that Home Depot carries. It’s phenomenal! Spray on, wait 15 minutes, and then use a gritty towel.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Jessika! I’ll have to check that out!
xo
s
Sara says
This is my pull for keeping carpet on the stairs forever (for Clara): As kids, we would take a slick sleeping bag, stuff 2 couch cushions in, end to end. Then climb inside with the cushions and have a sibling or cousin shove us down the stairs. We’d jettison down and land in the immense pile of pillows and blankets collected from every room. Best. Time. Ever. My kiddos do it now and it freaks me out every time.
YoungHouseLove says
We took a sled down once a la Home Alone. It didn’t end well.
xo
s
Laura C says
We did the sleeping bag runs on stairs with no carpeting and it worked just fine. We stuffed throw pillows down the back of our pants before climbing into the sleeping bag. So much fun.
YoungHouseLove says
Very inventive!
xo
s
Kristin F says
Did you consider removing the curlicue molding under each tread (the side that shows to foyer)? Just curious as y’all are very clean-lined and those seem to be rather, let’s just say, not your style.
YoungHouseLove says
I wish I could just pop that off! It’s hard to explain, but the molding was put on before the stair risers, so if I pop that off the stair risers will all hang over an awkward amount since they’re meant to meet that trim to form the corner. I still want to cover them or pop them off and replace them with something, but John’s cool with them so we’ll have to see where we end up. Stalemate thus far. Haha!
xo
s
Melanie says
Wondering how you painted the spindles without leaving brush marks. Any secrets??
Thanks
YoungHouseLove says
Thin and even coats. Nothing thick or drippy. And waiting fully for each coat to dry. Hope it helps!
xo
s
Rae says
The paint looks great! I love the direction its headed.
I really just had to comment though, in Willy Wonka I think she was singing about wanting a “big feast”.
Rae says
never mind…haha. I had to google it. Apparently a bean-feast used to be a big picnic.
YoungHouseLove says
Isn’t that funny?!
xo
s
whalegirlx says
Looks great! Been a loyal follower for years but never commented before. A word of caution on the Birmingham cotton. It has lots of white and can’t be bleached because not indoor-outdoor. And stair runners get funky. Did that colorway come in indoor-outdoor? Just a thought….I’m a big lover of D&A. Good luck and can’t wait to see how it turns out!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Whalegirl! It didn’t come in the indoor-outdoor option, but I figure since we have had luck with other light colored cotton flat weaves already (two in our kitchen, one in our living room, etc) we just seem to do ok with them, even with a kid and a dog. Here’s hoping I don’t live to eat those words! But I’ll definitely keep you posted, even if it’s the worst choice ever in hindsight!
xo
s
Sara says
Will you paint the risers white? That seems to be a trened in your inspiration photos and its been on my wish-to-do-list. Would love to see how you guys tackle it, if so! I wish I had spindles on my stairs- we just have a half-wall of drywall. Boring!
YoungHouseLove says
I am holding out to get the runner and then I’ll lay it down and photoshop the risers white to be sure before we paint them- just because it’s hard to unpaint wood once you paint it, so we want to be sure!
xo
s
-alex says
Two quick things.
First, I have the same short-handled paint brush and I’m doing baseboards right now. I have to tape off everything. How are you managing to keep the paint off the wall and the floor? Can you post a tutorial with tips? I just can’t seem to get the knack.
Second, one of your inspirations shows the newel post white with a black top, and you show a photoshopped version of an all black newel post. Have you thought of keeping the post white?
YoungHouseLove says
I did consider that but those posts are different (they have a swirly top rail, no big spindle thing that pops up on the top and bottom like ours) so we’re not sure how it would look. We’ll have to play around in photoshop! As for how I cut in without tape, it’s just 7 years of painting regularly. I definitely have a steadier hand, so practice is 90% the key, and a good brush with good paint helps. Here’s a video I did about it too in case that helps: https://www.younghouselove.com/2011/02/holy-buckets/
xo
s
Lori says
I didn’t read all of the comments so not sure if I’m repeating what someone else has already said . . .it’s amazing how getting rid of all the blue trim and lightening the walls up, has changed the look of the tiled floors in the foyer! Looks fab!
Joseph says
I love Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but never understood those crazy Brits and their bean feasts. Then my wife told me that’s apparently a coloquialism for a festive banquet. I still don’t understand the name, but at least that makes more sense that the image that used to pop into my head when I heard it.
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, someone else sent a wikipedia link! So interesting. Definitely a weird name!
xo
s
Tina says
That picture was SO STINKING Funny, I had to break out of the feed reader to comment that I loved it! Stairs look good too! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks Tina! I love that my mermaid charms drew you over from a feed reader.
xo
s
Susan in Colorado says
How do you do it? See I would have seen that carpet runner and say ewwwwwww… but then I see what you are going to do with it and I fall in love. It happens in every single picture. I guess it is good I didn’t go into Interior Decorating. So when you are done with your home.. I’ll be standing by for a home make-over!! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, you’re so sweet Susan! I’d like to thank google and Pinterest as well as tons of magazines and decorating shows. I just look at everything and when I finally see something I love I say “dude, I could do that… right?” and I try!
xo
s
Morgan says
Your Ariel picture cracks me up.
Liz M says
We have white balusters & black hand railing with med tone steps with a colorful runner and I love it. We used Glidden High gloss gel paint in Black on the railing and love the results. It has held up very well with all the use it gets.
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds really pretty Liz!
xo
s
Sam says
Are you absolutely sure about staining the rail? I don’t know if it’s because I prefer the stairs and everything to be the same but I’m not seeing the two tone wood look if I’m honest. The white looks gorgeous and that runner will be amazing but I really think all or nothing would be better with the stain.
I also would love to see that tile go, that staircase needs a beautiful wood floor to open onto!
I’ll stop bossing you around now!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha thanks Sam! We promise not to do a thing until we’re totally sure!
xo
s
Amyq says
best line of the entire post….
“Are you picking up what I’m putting down?”
I spit out lunch on my Macbook.
#awesome..
Thanks for doing this now. My steps are totally carpeted, and I’m hoping to remove the lovely (read awful) sea foam green carpet and do something like this.
Elaine - visual meringue says
Love it! What a difference already!
Karlie Brand says
Oh man. Just thinking about painting all that blue trim makes me ill. You guys are doing an amazing job with the house!
Melody says
I was waiting to paint my honey-oak staircase until I saw your ideas! I tried sanding/staining one little section ebony and the stain didn’t adhere well at all. It looked like green-gray and yellow. Ugh! I’m thinking dark paint is my next option. Love your great ideas!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no! We might have the same issue with our railing, so we’ll keep you posted!
xo
s
Barbara says
Two words:
Veruca Salt.
AnnM says
I feel shamed how quickly you’ve gotten to this stage!!Please show us how you ‘install’ the runner!
I spent 6 months (after ripping up my stairs’ runner) stripping 7 layers of paint off of the bannisters (3) and newel posts (4) and stripping the old poly’d stairs down to barebottom wood. Stained the bannisters and steps and painted the risers white… and then felt the burnout! I’ve now been living with my runner-less stairs for an entire year and not wanting to pay for having a pre-fab runner installed, I’m stuck trying to find out how to DIY (or, well to DIM!) Y’all are my heroes!! :D
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so much work!! Don’t you dare feel any shame. I’m in awe!
xo
s
AnnM says
Oh and by the way – if you want to stain after getting whatever wax or poly is on them, use a Sealer first!! Otherwise it just goes on too streaky, because the wood will absorb at different rates.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip AnnM!
xo
s
mary says
We just moved OUT of a 2-story into a ranch after 8 years there and I DO NOT MISS stairs!
I had a decorator pick my stair carpet and she picked a wild-ish commercial print. It was cool. I like the wild ovals one from your picks. Stairs are already so full of squares; I like the contrast of ovals.
I like the black rail. I don’t think it has to match the wood.
Someone probably mentioned it but that initial pick of the rug print isn’t really it, you know that, right? ; )
mary says
Oh never mind that last comment about the material. I see now that that pic is of TWO rugs and you were referring only to the stair runner. Duh. I thought you joined two pics there.
Heidi P. says
Your face on Ariel’s body = priceless. Some things money can’t buy. :) This is gonna make me happy for the rest of the day. :)
Sarah says
Looks fantastic and I’m sure feels so, so satisfying! Did you sand before you painted? I can’t imagine having to go through and sand each one of those balusters. My hands start cramping up at the thought.
YoungHouseLove says
Thankfully the blue paint is all chalky and matte, so we just use primer and paint (without needing to sand it since it’s not slick/glossy). So that’s the one upside to the blue! Haha!
xo
s