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.
Welcome to the first of two articles about how we transformed our dated oak stairwell into a dramatic entryway. Now I make it a general policy not to bore you with too much yada yada, but please forgive the longwinded prelude. When you put over 30 hours into a DIY project, you milk it for all it’s worth.
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. Enter Rhoda. I love Rhoda! Rhoda at Southern Hospitality blog stained her entire oak staircase a lovely dark shade, from top to bottom, and planted a big seed in my inquisitive brain. Why if Rhoda could do it, then perhaps 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.
I’m almost embarrassed to show you, but here is the before:
But darlings, look ! Here is the dramatic after:
Transformed from bland to grand:
How I Gave My Ordinary Oak 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.
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 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, and a bit daring. 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 craft paint, rather than latex 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 before the base was painted.
And after it was painted:
Step Six: To the upper railing only, I applied one coat of Minwax Wipe On Polyurethane. This took maybe 10 minutes. No joke. Pour a few drops on a sponge, wipe on, and you’re done. It was dry overnight.
Here’s just one more look at the dramatic change. We plan to upgrade the carpet to wood steps when the children are a bit older.
The dark railing now coordinates with my refinished highboy in the entry.
I am loving the dramatic deep finish of the railing up against the white balustrade.
Tomorrow, in part two, I’ll share with you all about the wallpaper treatment I added to the staircase. You’ll be surprised to learn I used absolutely NO wallpaper paste.
But for today, I hope you’re all encouraged to take action, and transform your oak into something classic and wonderful. Yes you can.
Tags: oak transformed, staircase, wallpaper
Well, since I'm the 101st commenter (!!!!), I'll assume that everyone else LOVES this as much as I do. I, too, have ugly orangey oak bannisters on my stairs, and I WANT THIS! Now, must convince hubby…
Fabulous! Love the wall treatment too. Definitely worth the 30 hours!
Hi! I gasped when I saw the transformation! Absolutely stunng! I check in with your blog every day, thank you for sharing your projects in great detail and those beautiful pictures too!
Just gorgeous! (More words wouldn't have done it justice. No lie, it is beautiful.)
Stunning. You are amazing! It's absolutely gorgeous! You are an inspiration and star, my friend. :)
OH MY GOODNESS! Talk about fabulous! Great job!
Absolutely stunning and wasn't what I expected at all – you went all out and your 30+ hours of work was totally worth it.
That is incredible!! Your hard work definitely paid off!
What can I say that has not been said..it is beautiful
It's absolutely gorgeous! I wouldn't even think that it was the same house in the before and after shots…
Holy cow that is freakin fantastic…I can't believe how amazing it looks. That was a daring project. I LOVE THE TIP ABOUT OAK WOOD. I hate refinishing anything oak.
um… I have no words! Amazing!
Absolutely gorgeous. I've been playing with the idea of refinishing my blah staircase and you've just given me more inspiration.
I LOVE what you did. It looks amazing. Can you please come to my house now and work your magic??
I can't say much of anything that hasn't been said but that's rockin' cool.
I am looking for a house right now so if I find a house with stairs, this page is book marked for future reference but now I can see possibilities rather than "ugh".
Great work and awesome idea!
Gorgeous…absolutely stunning!
I want stairs…LOL…so I can do that too!
AWESOME! You are so talented! I love love love it!
FANTABULOUS!!!
hey, sorry if this ?? was already asked (i can't seem to read thru 119 comments 2 find it): what is in your 'highboy' in the entry? that space, w/ window and mirror, looks EXACTLY like mine, altho my entire entryway floor is TINY. it's always caused problems but i'm always looking for the perfect pc of furn to go there. wondering what PURPOSE it serves so maybe it would work for us. ? thanks! bee you tee full work!
kt=)
Oh my word. Gorgeous. Love it. I am going to send this link on to a couple peole I know who would love it.
On the other hand, I want to shoot myself thinking about all that work! Way to stick with a project.
[...] Read the entire article about our staircase transformation here. [...]
i just used regular old black paint on mine – rustoleum and they look great, i didn’t have to go through all the trouble of sanding and stripping. no problems here.
[...] used Klean-Strip chemical stripper before on my staircase to remove layers of varnish. Chemical strippers are nasty to say the least. The old [...]
Great Job , it is very rich looking amazing job the hard work and hours are well worth it. My stairs are prettty much like your old look. My husband & I are going to tackle this project thanks for all your pictures and detailed steps.
I hope I can get all the same supplies in Canada.
your staircase looks amazing!! would you recommend the same treatment on ugly oak cabinets?
[...] and ribbons to hide the ordinary oak railing that I was never crazy about. Ever since we refinished the staircase in this dark espresso color, I have no desire to hide its new finish, so I swaged simple greenery [...]
Amazing! Simply Amazing!
[...] Staircase Transformation, Part One and Part [...]
Absolutly Beautiful. What a difference!
OK… i saw your post the day you posted it, and have been looking for it EVER SINCE! the second i got out of the site, i couldn’t find it again.. and i bet i have thought about it EVERY. DAY. I am SO HAPPY to have found it.. and i showed my husband.. i THINK he is almost on board..
thanks SO MUCH for the detailed instructions.. i will definitely send you a link with my pics once the project is done.. (since i’m preggo, i might have to wait til after the baby comes, so i can strip the wood..)
[...] Victoria completely transformed the look of her staircase just like we did by priming and painting her spindles, and by staining her upper railing, all for under $100 [...]
Your stairwell is nearly identical to mine in style! You did a beautiful job!
I absolutely love this transformation. I plan on doing this with my dated oak banister. Couple of questions. Did you use wipe on poly is Satin or Gloss finish? Also, what kind of finish did the glazing give you, and why did you only use poly wipe on the top of the banister? Thanks so much. I am super excited to start this project. It will completely transform our foyer just as it did yours.
[...] refinished natural oak before – I restained and glazed my oak staircase banister last year to give it an espresso finish, and I’ve also primed and painted oak [...]
[...] 2010 benefiting Habitat for Humanity. Last year, I was one of the weekly winners for our staircase redo. This contest is a fantastic opportunity to show off your best Before and After, win a [...]
Gosh. Absolutely love the transformation. I have staircase exactly like yours before the makeover. I wish I can pull this off. Is there anything else other than the Klean strip that I can use?
I’m sold! I want to do this right away to my staircase.
Question: Do you know if the gel stain/varnish remover from Home Depot will work just as well to strip the varnish?
Has any of your “bloggers” tried another product to strip the varnish successfully?
Thanks
Sharon in Rocklin, CA
Wow, love the dark stain-it could be in the movies!LOL You’ve given me alot of inspiration to try the picture frame molding up my stairs- Can’t wait for the finished project!
[...] I mentioned in part two of last year’s banister revamp, the carpet was there mostly for the safety of our little tykes, but I’ve never been a fan. [...]
Looks great, did you ever use the ebony wood stain? Do you think that would work instead of using the acrylic burnt umber? thanks
I am about to do the same to my railing…this is exactly what I am trying to achieve!!! I had hardwoods put in on 1st floor and carpet on stairs removed, wood stair treads finished same color as floors but didn’t have them put my railing back in so I could finish it. It is in the garage, stripped and sanded and ready for stain. I bought the Burnt Umber acrylic paint & wipe-on poly minwax (oil-based). However I keep reading online that if applying poly over acrylic, I should use water-based poly because water & oil don’t mix…..**Have you seen any peeling over time/durability issues? **If none, did you lightly sand acrylic before applying the one coat oil poly?
[...] last year? The blonde oak banister and the carpet? Last year, you’ll recall we redid the banister and primed and painted the oak base white as a first step. This year, we finally have wood [...]
Hi-doing my rail this week–how did you glaze with the paint. Did you brush on like paint or did you wipe with a rag while it was wet so not so thick? Did you mix with anything? Thanks
I just finished staining our baby cradle with a walnut stain. I hate it. It is blotchy and awful. So I was thinking of doing what you did with your acrylic paint. I was just wondering if you add stain on top of the acrylic paint or if you just put on the wipe-on poly…thanks? Could you clarify? I want to do it right.
Abby
This is the best diy stair makeover i have seen! I was truely inspired by this, so much that when I saw it, I decided I would redo mine too right then and there. My staircase is stripped, sanded, and stained (2 coats). Now I just need to apply the Burnt Umber and the Wipe-on poly. How did you apply the acrilyc paint? Wipe, sponge, brush? And did you mix it with anything or just applied it straight from the bottle? And how long did you wait to apply the poly? I need you’re help, I have my huge project on pause!
WOW. I saw this and immediately started the project of the railings. (actually I hired someone) but had them do exactly what you did. WE are almost finished and it is amazing. I am soooo glad you shared your entire process. Looks great.
This is very inspiring and I have been looking to do something like this since I moved into my home. I did a google search and found your fab site. This is now my next project to tackle in my home. I did want to know what you used to protect your carpet. As I have nearly the same stairs I’m concerned when painting the white that might ruin my carpet. Any suggestions?
I’m having so much fun checking out your site.
Hi Kate,
And thank you for sharing all your amazing projects. I found your blog about a month ago and I love it! I am having new hardwood floors installed on Monday, and I am in the process of sanding and staining the railing and newel post along my stairs. I love how your finished project turned out and I want to obtain the same finish you achieved. I have a question I hope you can answer. Do I apply the Burnt Umber semi-opaque paint first, or the Minwax walnut gel stain first? I admire how fearless you are, and I hope after this project I gain more confidence, and a little less fear. Thanks again, Kim
Hi CG! This is great, I actually found your webstie after viewing starterhometodreamhome, where she did something similar to her staircase. My staircase design is like yours, but I had to paint the banister AND the spindles…68 total. After sanding and applying two coats of walnut gel stain, I applied the acrylic, burnt umber semi-opaque paint, but it dried funny…kind of ashy. So before I applied the poly, I applied 2 coats of Rustoleum’s Painter’s Touch gloss paint in kona brown, (like starterhometodreamhome) and now my banister looks like yours! Now I’m painting the spindles and will do the wipe-on poly last. Thanks again, I would have never tried this if it wasn’t for you! Sincerely, Chris
Hi CG! First I just want to say I stumbled upon your blog and am now completely hooked. I have been dabbling in refinishing old pieces using paints and stains and it is starting to become quite a passion for me. You have given me some great ideas!
We are suffering from the same blond oak banister that you had. My first fall/winter project is going to be painting the spindles white and staining the handrail. I just wondered if you have any tips for painting the spindles and also for keeping the paint and stain off of the carpet. Eventually I would like to have wood stairs too but it’s not in the financial cards right now.
Any help you can give would be great! Thanks for all of the inspiring ideas and keep up the great work!