DIY stair makeover

Who loves Beige carpet on stairs? I know there are some people out there who love it. It's great for kids and pets and definitely cuts down on sound going up and down stairs.  But I was eager to know what was underneath them. So I began to pull up the carpet and to our wonderful surprise there were half decent steps made from pine wood but the risers were a bit iffy.  In my head I thought I could paint at least paint the steps and risers and get a wonderful look when complete.  Then a friend steered me in the direction of adding at least a runner to the stairs because it really prevents bad injuries if someone falls.  So here is a post on how DIY your stair case. 

                                    

                                        

                                      

First get some plyers and begin to pull up the carpet and pieces of nails used to hold down the carpet. You'll need a garbage bag to hold everything. Once everything is removed it's recommended to fill in the holes with wood putty. We then used a belt sander to smooth down each step. We taped up plastic sheeting on the top and bottom of stairs to cut down on the dust. 

                          

Even with sanding you can see these were in no condition to use a wood stain. I chose to paint them with Benjamin Moore's indoor/outdoor floor paint. The color I originally chose was Black Fox, but it looked too brown. So I switched to Wrought Iron. It's more of a Charcoal Gray. Afterwards I also applied 2 coats of Minwax Polycrylic. You can see the pressed board risers are not great looking. Here's where I got an idea to apply vinyl strips of wallpaper. I also decided that railing needed paint too.

After spending too much money on these vinyl strips from Etsy and applying them as directed, the finished look was bumpy and wrinkled.  Boo.  I loved the pattern, but I couldn't fathom leaving them as is. 

So I headed to Lowes where I found beadboard wood pieces. We were able to cut them to size with a saw and installed them using a nail gun. We caulked around the edges and painted them with a glossy white interior/exterior paint in a high gloss finish. Then we cut out a carpet pad into individual sections and used carpet tape to stick to each step.

With a electric staple gun we began to staple down these beautiful runners called Caro from Anthropologie. I had to order three total. Make sure to measure each step including over the lip to determine how much carpet you will need. This rug was 30" wide which I liked because our stairs are 44" total and it gave me 7" of free space on either side.  We stapled the rug up under each lip and at the base to secure it. When I was to the very bottom and had to make a cut of the rug, we used a carpet binder and hot glue to finish off the edge. 

I sprayed each runner with Scotch Guard to improve performance of the rug. It's made of 100" wool so has some abilities to repel moisture.  I am very happy with the way it turned out. My kids think it looks old fashioned. I told them I'll put a bowl of hard candies at the bottom of the stairs to complete the feeling. 😂 

Hope this inspires you to remove your old carpet from the stairs. Hope everyone is staying sane and looking forward to Halloween! 

xo

Cathleen