The Staircase Reveal: Part One
July 14, 2009
Whew! After 30+ hours of intense labor, it is done. Ladies and gentlemen, friends and fans, we are proud to announce the rebirth of our foyer.
Where to begin? First, I must explain the problem. The staircase was natural blonde oak. Dated and dreadful. NOT the first impression I ever wanted to give my guests. What was a girl to do? Replacing it with European style iron railing was the cost of an automobile. Fixing it seemed too daunting. Then I saw Rhoda at Southern Hospitality blog stained her entire oak staircase a lovely dark shade, from top to bottom, and it planted a big seed in my inquisitive brain. If Rhoda could do it, surely I could too.
That same week I was watching one of my favorite classics ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ with Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor. If you can take your eyes off either of them, which is almost impossible since they’re both practically perfect physical specimens, you notice that they frequently descend the incredibly beautiful staircase of Big Daddy’s plantation home. When I saw it’s espresso dark railing, white balusters and base, it was true love. I had to have it. So yet another seed was planted. After Rhoda, Paul and Liz, I was completely inspired. Off to the home improvement store I went, daring myself to do the impossible: transform the oak monstrosity into something sophisticated and stylish.
That said, let’s begin. Here is the before and after:
Update: the wallpaper was later changed to full white picture frame wainscotting after we added wood steps a year later - full reveal here:
How We Went From Ordinary Oak to an Espresso Finish:
Step One: After all the prep work, taping off the balusters and laying down carpet protection, I stripped the existing varnish off the staircase with Klean-Strip. It was nasty, smelly full-of-chemicals stuff. I had to ask Mr. CG to keep the kids away for an entire day. I wore a mask, and the fumes gave me a bad headache. And I still had to sand afterwards. (See this follow up post on why I now use Citrustrip instead).
Step Two: Sand, sand, sand, then sand again. I spent about 4 hours just sanding until my fingers cramped and refused another stroke.
Step Three: I cleaned off the sanding residue with wet wipes, then stained the upper hand rail with Minwax Gel Stain in Walnut. This is a wonderful product which I had used before to redo the highboy dresser in the entry. It’s not Minwax’s fault that I wasn’t satisfied. It’s just the nature of oak. It’s such a grainy wood. When the stain was applied to the oak, it gave me too much of a stripe-like effect. Darker was much better, but the product only took me half way to the look I desired.
Step Four: I did something unconventional – I glazed the wood with two coats of semi-opaque Burnt Umber acrylic craft paint. Yes, you heard me right. Craft paint. I know purist wood refinishers are absolutely appalled, but I’m telling you, the semi-opaque craft paint filled in the gaps and gave me just the espresso finish I wanted. See the difference after one coat?
Yessir. These were the three products that gave me the look I desired. Minwax Gel Stain in Walnut, Burnt Umber semi opaque craft paint, and Minwax Wipe On Poly.
They gave me this finish:
Hello gorgeous !
Using the glazing effect with the semi-opaque watered down craft paint (about 1 drop of water to 1 tsp of paint) helped to preserve the visible grain of the wood.
Step Five: With the help of a dear friend, and professional painter, we primed the bottom of the stairs with oil based primer, then finished it with two coats of ‘Swiss Coffee’ oil based white paint for durability. Thanks Mike !
Here’s another peek at the staircase up close before and after it was stained and glazed: 
Step Six: To the upper railing only, I applied one coat of Minwax Wipe On Polyurethane. This took maybe 20 minutes total. Pour a few drops on a sponge, wipe on, and you’re done. It was dry overnight, apply two coats!
Before:
After:
I hope you’re all encouraged to take action, and transform your oak into something classic and wonderful. Yes you can!
For the full story on how we ripped out the carpet and installed hardwood, look here.
Update March 2012: The staircase railing has held up all these years even with two kids and their friends up and down those stairs, it works!
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Tags: oak transformed, staircase, wallpaper
Everything looks beautiful!! You all did an amazing job. Love & blessings from NC!
OH MY GOD! I was blown away when I scrolled down for the "after". My mouth (very literally) dropped. I can not believe this is the same house. WOW. I LOOOOVE it, especially what you did when the detail inside the molding on the wall. WOW
I have to feature this some day soon!
That before was ho-hum, but livable. That after? Absolutely breathtaking fantastic. This is hands down my favorite of your re-dos. Absolutely stunning. I admire your guts for being willing to take it on. But take it on you did. Gorgeous.
Such a beautiful result on the bannister. The white balusters with the dark railings is very dramatic and elegant.
Tina
Oh wow, what a marvelous change! Your 'new' staircase looks absolutely stunning, and I have to say you're one of the most talented people I know!
Ah, who says blondes have more fun?!? This looks fab, makes me want to re-do mine – but where oh where do I stop!
Absolutely gorgeous!! Looks amazing! You've done a great job! Professional!
Love the change. I restained my blonde FLOORS last year, and have LOVED the results… stairs were way over budget. You may have just given me the inspiration to DIY!!!!
Oh my word! That is absolutely stunning! Hats off to you for 30+ hours of work!
Breathtaking!!! Your hard work definately paid off! (-:
Kate…wow!!!! That needs to be featured in a magazine! It looks absolutely fabulous. And I can totally agree with how Paul would keep you from noticing the woodwork at first. ;)
Whoa!!!! That is so gorgeous!!! You did a terrific job! Love the wallpaper treatment and the dark stained railing. It looks fantastic!
Its incredible, as usual. Can't wait to see part 2!
Such a great update and so creative. Beautiful, thank you for sharing!
Now THAT is awesome! Doesn't look remotely close to being the same house! Love it…
Spectacular makeover!
Absolutely gorgeous!
WOW is all I can say- that is amazing!!! It looks so beautiful and I can't believe you did it all. You truly are an inspiration- can't wait to hear about the wallpaper! :)
It's fabulous! What a lovely affect it's had on your foyer. Hmm … perhaps I should give this idea a try.
Thanks for sharing ~
Jo
Kate, it's truly gorgeous!! I love how you did all those steps. I cheated with mine & took the easy route, but WOW, oh WOW, yours is just magnificent. Thanks for letting me share with my readers too. You're the best!
Oh, and the wallpaper, love that too. Can't wait to see the new grasscloth either. I'd love to use that somewhere.
OH MY GOSH….my stairs look JUST LIKE that, even the same little u=shaped landing thingy. I LOVE it. thanks to you, Paul, Liz and Rhoda, I have a new dream!! I want mine to look just like that! Oh my goodness I cannot believe it. FABULOUS!!
Suzanne
I am IN LOVE with what you did with your stairs, and already showed my husband one of our fall projects for the stairway. Thanks for always being an inspiration.
I saw your reveal over at Rhoda's blog this morning and it made my jaw literally drop!
It's absolutely unbelievable what you've done to transform your staircase and entry!
Just beautiful!!!
This may be my fave CG project. I love it! Now I want to find a staircase to makeover. Darn the apartment living. Do you think the owners will mind if I do something to the outdoor staircase? Probably so.
Very beautiful!! I love how you did the wallpaper and moulding on the sides. Can't wait to read more about that!
This is just the kick in the pants that I need to redo our foyer. I have a similar project in front of me, but our whole staircase is original wood (and very, very dark). I want to paint the trim white just like your staircase, and I think it will make my foyer look so much brighter and open (just like your's). Thank you so much for the inspiration, it is just gorgeous!
wow wow wow. so GORGEOUS! Congratulations!
Good morning Kate, I came over from Rhoda's blog (love her blog too) and the transformation is stunning that you made. It is one of those OMG moments… LOVE it.
Cheri
Love, love, love it!!! Worth all the blood, sweat and tears!
Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous!!!!!!
Could you explain what you mean with glazing? Did you just apply the craft paint over the stained wood or did you dilute it with something?
Did you sand the base before painting it white?
Bland to grand is right! Insanely wonderful!!
Amy
Came over from Rhoda at Southern Hospitality's blog and I wanted to tell you what a great job you did on her banister and stairway. It is just beautiful!
I'm curious though if you could get a similar look just by painting it (rather than stripping, sanding and staining).
She's a beauty! Love it!
WOW! my jaw is hanging open! it is beautiful! you should be so proud!!! you deserve to brag about this FOREVER!
Just beautiful!!! I am over from Southern Hospitality. My entryway is going on my to-do project list. Thanks for sharing how you got your deep espresso finish! Abbie
Wow, congratulations! It looks so beautiful!
"But it's oak!"…If I hear that one more time!Yeesh! Like it's sacred or something! If it's gold…I'll still want to paint it! ;) LOVE the dark wood!!!! I was quite "Victorian" in my younger days and I still love the dark wood!! AMAZING job!!!
m ^..^
one word……… "STUNNING"
The transformation is totally incredible. It is just stunning. You did a fabulous job and I just love it. I can't wait to learn about the wallpaper. Just beautiful. Hugs, Marty
I live just south of Rhoda in Prattville, Alabama and came here via her post this morning! I've just added you to my list of Favorite Sites and will encourage my readers to visit here as well!
Your staircase rocks!!! And yes, it looked horrid haha BUT very typical. You've given it such an awesome makeover and I cannot wait to come back and take time to read each and every post on this blog!!
Have a beautiful week!
AMAZING!!!! Wow, that looks so good! Such a difference! Nice work! -Kelsee
OMGOODNESS!!! I LOVE it!! You are the makeover queen! Can't wait to hear about the wallpaper treatments, too, those really give it a nice finish!!
U R CENTSATIONAL! i love the way you used the wallpaper. that is def something i wouldn't be afraid of doing with wallpaper. http://anhesty.blogspot.com
Truly stunning. I recently acquired an oak pedestal table and four chairs. I'm definitely doing the table in that deep espresso stain, but what do you suggest for the chairs? I've thought about a white/espresso combo, but I'm not sure. Thoughts?
You did an awesome job!! You make anything seem possible!!!! Faaaubulous transformation! What a difference it made!!!!!!! Congrats :0) I know you are thrilled!
that is ABSOLUTELY gorgeous!! I'm now wishing I had a staircase to transform!! lovely:D
STUNNING. wow.
Be still my heart!! Gorgeous! I have been wanting to do something with my blonde oak trestle table and I think I just got my marching orders …
That is really, really pretty! I would be absolutely thrilled to have that in my home. It looks elegant without being over the top. Most of our walls are very similar in color to the top half of your staircase – I'm going to have to check out that Swiss Coffee color. I would love to have a kitchen that looked like your staircase! LOL
What a transformation! My hubby and I are renovating a 1908 house and the staircase has the same dark bannister and stair treads with white spindles and trim. We get the fun job of removing 7 layers of LEAD paint without being able to remove the spindles! Hopefully our bannister will shine likes yours someday! Love your blog…just found it a month or so ago :)