When we bought our house, we fell in love with the open concept of the kitchen and living room, the large bedroom sizes, and generally the overall size of the house itself. It has a huge unfinished basement that I know we want to finish, but for now the cozy playroom I created for J down there will have to suffice.
We moved in with only a few months left before the birth of our second son, so I made it a point to tackle the things that required the least amount of cash (if not work) first. That meant painting, mostly. I updated our powder room, laundry room, and nursery first.
What I wanted to tackle super early and didn’t was our foyer – and the boring oak stairs.
The realtor photo of our foyer when we bought the house.
I knew that updating the staircase would be a HUGE undertaking, and at eight months pregnant, I wasn’t feeling it.
Which is funny, since I was painting our front room two days before H was born. Go figure.
Before I was willing to tackle a DIY on the stairs, I was willing to forego DIY and hire a professional. I knew that I wanted to do a board and batten on the walls/up the stairs, but I had no desire to try it myself.
I don’t math.
Precise measurements for wainscoting? No thank you.
When we priced out having the foyer repainted to get rid of the yellow vs having the board and batten installed, we decided to go with the board and batten first.
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The blank canvas.
A sneak peek of the contractor’s addition to the space:
How much prettier does this look??
Now, this was all finished a year ago.
As much as I loved the board and batten addition, those damn oak stairs have been bugging me the entire time. With the advent of summer this year, I wanted a fresh update, and I was finally ready to tackle the stairs.
I knew exactly what I wanted for the new look, a contrast of dark rails and white spindles. I knew I could get the white done with chalk paint, so that was no big deal. For the dark, I was unsure of what to do, until I remembered my favorite stain, Java Gel Stain.
I like using foam brushes, which give you a little more control, a little more coverage, and less of a need to wear those big rubber gloves. There were a lot of late nights involved in the multiple coats required to bring these rails to life.
Goodbye blonde!!#dreamhome #staircase #stained #diy post to come!! A photo posted by Megan – C’mon Get Crafty (@cmongetcrafty) on
Once I’d managed the stain the rails and baseboard to my desired shade, it was time to go back, tape off all my dark wood and get moving on the chalk paint. I used DecoArt Chalk Paint in Everlasting.
A photo posted by Megan – C’mon Get Crafty (@cmongetcrafty) on
It was weeks of work, since I could only really work on it in the evening after the boys had gone to bed and I was finished with the day job. I realized belatedly that we were creeping up fast on H’s first birthday party, so I held off on the final poly in order to have time to simply finish the paint. When it was all done?
I’m in love.
Seriously, I still can’t believe this transformation.
The contrast of the dark rails against the white spindles and board and batten just makes me super happy.
This look is fresh, light, and the perfect project for me to have finished while there’s still a few weeks left of summer.
This post is part of the Pinterest Party Summer Fun Blog Hop. The Pinterest Party is a group that helps people grow their Pinterest following. Find other posts in this blog hop below:
- How to Hunt for and Find Antiques – Tips by Paula Atwell
- From Sea To Shore Collection by Vinn Wong
- Huckleberry Ice Cream by Corrinna Johnson
- Summer Garden Salad with Lemon Dill Dressing by Kristen Carrasco
- Campfire Skillet Apples by Ann-Marie Baker Rohe
- Summer Staircase Refresh by Megan Chamberlin (that’s me!)
What projects have you been working on this summer?
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Hi! Looks beautiful! I plan on taking on the same project.
Question: Did you sand everything down prior to painting?
By hand or with sander?
Hi there! I actually did not sand much at all, a very light rub down with sandpaper sheets here and there, that is all! I used the chalk paint as the primer for the spindles, and LOTS of coats of the gel stain on the handrails.
Nice, it almost looks black in the picture. I’m impressed that you didn’t do any sanding.
Hi !
I’m impressed with the chalk paint. Could you detail more on how many coats you used ? How did you finish it? Do you have to wax over top? I want to do mine all white but I’m worried about hands being all over the rail. In time will I have to do this all again? I have dirty polyurethane showing now. Do I need to sand it off?
Your pics are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you!! I did not do any sanding, the chalk paint takes that step out of the process. I did have to do several coats to get a nice cover of white. If you are doing all white, you will definitely want to seal with a poly on top. Wax is a possibility but a railing is touched often and the wax I feel like would not hold up over time. If you seal it with several coats of poly I would think it would last! Thanks for visiting and good luck!
I’m looking to do the same project. Luckily I only have to update the handrail. Did sand the handrail at all before staining – you mention LOTS of coats. Does that mean 5-6 or are we talking over 10? Did you research painting vs. staining?
Hi Alicia,
I did no sanding at all on this project. And I while I didn’t count specifically, I would say definitely over ten. It was time consuming for sure, but I got exactly the dark finish I wanted, and I didn’t want to paint. You could definitely chalk paint it faster and still skips the sanding if you wanted to go that route!
Hi. This looks great and almost exactly what I would like to do. I hate sanding so I like the idea of chalk paint and the stain. I am wondering, how well did the gel stain take to the wood? Did you sand lightly? Also, How did you tape off the top of the spindles beneath the hand rail? I was going to do the white spindles first, then tape them and then do the stain, but sounds like you did it the opposite. How did you tape it so it was so clean looking? Thanks.
Thanks! I did the lightest of sanding by hand, and then it was just multiple layers of the gel stain. Honestly though, I’ve used the same stain on things I HAVE sanded, and I think it works just as well either way.
Does having the rails a dark stain not annoy you with your light colored hardwood floors ? Or do you intend to replace those to match? We have the opposite . Light railings and dark flooring and it’s driving me insane hence my search for tips on repainting and staining !
It did annoy for a bit, but we just had our floors redone to a darker, wider plank, and now it is gorgeous! I knew we would eventually, so it was just all about stages!
How much Java stain did you need to do this entire project? You show 1/2 pint but with 10 coats did you need more than that 1/2 pint?
I believe I went through 2-3 cans in all, BUT that included retouching because I (stupidly) did not poly right away.
LOVE THIS!! I am planning to attempt the same on my oak handrail. Luckily, my spindles are already white. How long did you let the stain dry in between coats? And could you show me a pic of the type of brush you used? Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi! I used foam brushes. They worked the best for me without the issue of leaving bristles behind. Be warned, you will use a LOT of them! I don’t recall how long I let dry, unfortunately. But you should be able to tell by smearing if it is too tacky or wet.
Hi Megan. I am wanting to do this to my oak stained stairs and they have clear on top of it. Are you saying that you didn’t sand yours at all? I can’t find your Instagram post