Now, here is a project that has been slowly coming together. It all started back when we moved into the house. Upon first glance, our stairs were like everyone's...just plain-jane stairs. Definitely nothing special. I knew that I wanted to do something to them, but wanted to wait until we were predominately done with the upstairs.

No need to make them look pretty only to have carpenter boots destroy them again :)

Once that was done, it was time to tackle those dang stairs. They were making a horrible first impression of our haven above. Instead of welcoming us to a relaxing night of sleep, they were saying, "Let's go to the creepy attic." or "Let's climb up the garage stairs to the scary loft." They were everything but impressive. 

At this point you may be asking yourself why I'm writing a post about stairs. Well, in my opinion, they are important. As I said, they are the first impression of our second story. I believe that no space in a home is insignificant. If you create beauty around you, you will feel beautiful and enjoy the space you live in so much more. The stairs did not make me feel beautiful nor enjoy our little space.

Um I have to say that I never thought I would be associating stairs with my feeling beautiful.

I have officially joined the crazy train.

An all new low for me.

My parents would be so proud.

And moving on...

Here are a few "before" pictures of what the stairs used to look like.

Can you see the horrible stair treads? They were rubber...really meant for stairs that are outside or are leading outside. Definitely not meant for a romantic first impression, inside. Practical for an older lady who needs to be careful, but so not attractive.

Have I made my point clear?? 

They were U-G-L-Y and had no alibi reason to be. 

So, we got to work. Well, for this first stage, I got to work. Yay for something that I can contribute to! Just call me a carpenter in training--well maybe a professional painter in training?--yea I got nothin'. 

Either way, my paint brush and some leftover paint were put to good use a few weeks ago. First I primed and painted the risers and stringers--the vertical pieces on the stairs. Here is a picture that outlines the technical terms that I'm referring to. 

(source)

This took me one whole day to accomplish. I would paint a coat, block off the stairs and let it sit for a couple of hours, then paint another coat. 

Don't you love how I blocked off the stairs? I don't have a doggy gate and I had to keep the little puppers away from the stairs. She was way too inquisitive for her own good, hence the pile-o-junk. 

Once all three coats were done, I was getting really excited to see what the end result would be. Look at the fresh coat of white on the risers and stringers. It is such a transformation already!

The next day, I grabbed the rest of the paint from the previous day and primed and painted the treads. Oh! I almost forgot! It it isn't already obvious, we removed the rubber treads that were on the stairs when we purchased the house. You may have noticed that in the pictures above. When I began painting, I was just working with the actual wood treads themselves. :)

Oh and another thing...we decided to paint the stairs white because it was the most neutral thing to do. I went back and forth between doing brown or red on the treads (brown matching the floor in the living room and red matching our bedroom), but ultimately decided that it would look weird to have them match only one part of the house. White just seemed to be the most pleasing color.

So, as I was saying, the next day I used up the rest of the primer and then the rest of the semi-gloss paint, putting the first coat (primer) and second coat (first coat of semi-gloss) on the stairs.

They were looking phenomenal, but I knew that putting on one last coat of semi-gloss would just kick them into "perfection." Oh and adding the rest of the trim would really be the icing on the cake. 

This is where the project starts to take forever. There has been about a month between the first coat of semi-gloss and the last coat. Busy lives and the need to get more paint have put the project on hold. I put the pro at procrastination--just like I have procrastinated on writing this post ;)

So, after a visit to our friendly, local hardware store, we were all set to go again! In the meantime, Jonathan used some caulk to hide a few cracks that were forming between the stringers and the treads. That combined with another coat of paint left the stairs looking flawless. 

And here is a little before and after action for ya. 

Well, that concludes the end of a way-too-long post about stairs. And as you can see, this is just part one. Part two will be shared once all of the trim is installed. But, alas, that is another job that the carpenter has to take care of. 

Fixing the Lack of Storage: Bookcase Style

When we purchased the house, we also inherited a lovely hole-in-the-wall.

No, I'm not talking about the state of our house.

Shame on you!

Our house is beautiful! (Yes, I'm aware that we are clinically crazy.)

The hole in the wall that I'm talking about is a literal one. Take a look:

See that white paneled door at the top of the stairs in these horrible pictures? That hole, led out to the crawlspace above the back part of our house. Since our second story only goes over half of the house, they put this door in as an access point for the electrical and other stuff that runs through the ceiling.

The way that they had covered it was nice enough, but I thought that my carpenter could do better. Together, we dreamed up a design that would make the opening more practical and not such an eyesore. I wanted something that looked pretty intentional and didn't scream, "LOOK AT ME I'M AN ACCESS POINT!"

While we were working on the space, it was left "open" and temporarily covered with plastic to keep out dust. And that is how it stayed until two weeks ago.

As we saved for the materials, we became used to the plastic.It was a good temporary solution.  Keyword: temporary.  With our air conditioner blowing, the plastic would make noise throughout the night. Plus, the crawl space wasn't insulated and the plastic wasn't thick enough to keep out the hot air. Needless to say, we were anxious to get the hole covered before it became too hot this summer and definitely before the cold chill of winter.

So two weeks ago, a day or two after Jonathan did the closet, he also built a bookcase for our wonderful hole. A bookcase that can be pulled in and out when we need it to be, but will provide a bit of function in an otherwise nonfunctional space. First, he insulated the crawlspace with insulation (duh!) that can be used when we add on the rest of the second story. A bit more on those plans here and  here.

That morning, this is what we started off with...well after Jonathan accomplished the insulating side of things.

The puppers was just so curious. She would stand outside the hole while Jonathan as inside spreading the insulation and just whine. We tried to coax her in, but it was a no-go.

Finally, the shelving was done! We decided to see if it was puppers approved. Yea, that was a no-go too.

A horrible picture, but look how unhappy she was. Ears down = get me out of here!

Finally, after two coats of paint, the bookcase was ready for some accessorizing. 

Since the bookcase is one of the first impressions that you get of our bedroom, I wanted to use things that would sort of define our space. I decided on pictures of Jonathan and I and a basket of leftover yarn, from crochet projects, to go on the top shelf. Then a bunch of blankets topped with some random accessories, for the bottom shelf.

I have to tell you, I contemplated putting a really cool moonshine bottle that we have, on one of the shelves. But I was afraid that it would be taken too literally and may catch people by surprise. Something along the lines of, "Oh my goodness the baptists drink!" instead of "Oh what a cool vintage piece, I wonder what other vintage things they used to decorate their room?" So, I nixed it.

Oh and for the record...I'm a baptist, a Christian, and yes I have a drink on occasion.

Cue the oo's and aaahhh's.

I'm a spectacle. I know :)

And for your viewing pleasure, and to hopefully distract you from me, a bit of side-by-side-before-and-after action.

 And the best thing about this little renovation is that it freed up a bit of space next to my side of the bed. Time to add some books and more accessories! :)