Our staircase has finally been stripped. After pulling up the carpet, it looked like this:
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I love a worn and weathered look, but this is a bit too much, no? So my plan was to sand down the treads a little bit (just enough to get the paint splatters and who-knows-what off), and just strip and paint the risers. That way the worn and weathered look would be toned down and look intentional, instead looking like they should be condemned.
So, I applied the stripper. (Hate these chemicals, but I had no choice here…Citristrip is the lease offensive I’ve found if you must use one.)
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As I waited for the stripper to work it’s magic, I caught up on a few blogs. And Santa at Homestilo had just posted about raw wood, with a gorgeous picture of raw wood stairs.
Of course, mine don’t look anything like this. But now I’m wondering if I want to leave the treads worn and paint the risers or if I want to just strip the whole staircase and leave it at that.
I thought a lot about it as I finished scraping the risers. So. Much. Goop. (The wood is showing much more orange in the photo than it actually is.)
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I’ve already purchased the paint for the risers (of course), it’s Martha Stewart’s Cavern in semi-gloss:
I have to clean up the excess stripper and then go back to a few stubborn spots. But what do you think? Strip the whole staircase? Or stick to my original plan and just strip and paint the risers?
I think the wood is beautiful. I prefer it to the Homestilo photo. The contrast with the white paint is just great! Love the color though!
Thank you, I’m liking that contrast too.
Christina it looks great! I am loving it as is- although I do really like the MS colour you’ve chosen as well.
PS- Thanks for the link love!
Thanks, Santa! It really is a tough choice.
I like wood, but maybe here I would paint all of it. Unless you decide to sand all the old finish from the wood, but then you would have to treat them somehow anyway. I don’t think bare wood would age well in a such a place. Any finishing will protect the surface.
I suggest you paint the risers and sand the steps and then treat them with some similar colour as it is now. Maybe… 🙂
Yes, I should have specified that, I would seal at least the treads, but it would be a flat finish, so it would still have the raw look.
Hopefully we’ll decide what to do this weekend. 🙂
What an exciting project. I never know what to do with stairs. I love painted stairs, but then everybody tells me it’s a shame to paint old stairs… I haven’t made any decision about mine and I can’t wait to see what you’ll do!
Hi Christina! I love to see some of the life an old staircase has lived too! I think the painted rise will be that perfect little touch. I love the colour you chose! Mel x
Thank you so much, Mel!
Did you ever finish the stairs? I’m in the process of doing mine and would love some inspiration 🙂
So funny you should ask Sue, I was just starting working on them today! The last update I had on the blog was here. After that, I had stripped them, but they were still too worn (in a bad way). So I am sanding them own to match the hallway.