The Stairs
I tend to get focused on one thing and then obsess about it non-stop. It’s all I can think about all day and night until I finally tackle whatever it is I’m obsessing about.
Right now, it’s THE STAIRS.
I know I won’t get around to this HUGE project any time soon, but it’s fun to dream! Here’s my big dream that one day I’ll get around to doing…
Here are the stairs at my new house:
(They are nice and have absolutely nothing wrong with them. I just like other stairs better.)
And here is what I want to do to my stairs…
Absah-freaking-lootly beautiful.
I found these stairs at a model home in the area that I fell head-over-heels in love with. The decor and upgrades are just amazing and I plan to copy as much of this house as humanly possible.
(I already took my trusty Sherwin Williams paint chip thing-a-ma-bobby with me and color-matched all the paint colors in the house so I can paint my house the same way.)
Now honestly, this little project won’t cost much. I just need to change out the railings….
…It’s the other stuff I want to do that’s going to add up quickly.
Upstairs off the game room there are 2 half-walls that I want to tear down and add the iron railing to…
Here’s a current picture of the staircase looking from the ground floor up the staircase:
And here’s a picture of the game room and the two sections of half-wall I want to tear out…
My goal is to have it look like this:
I love this!
From this:
To this:
When you are upstairs I want to be able to see the front door through the rails.
It just makes it feel so much more open. Plus, I’ve got two monkeys for children and I’m kind of afraid they are going to try to climb that half wall to see over it. If I’ve got a railing there then they can see through the railing instead of needing to look over it.
Here’s a current view of the foyer looking up:
I want it to look like this:
I need to price it out still, but for now there are things far more important in our budget than replacing railings and half-walls (like, oh, lets say… a fridge, washer, and dryer!)
Also, I’d LOVE to go from this:
To THIS:
Sarah over at Thrifty Decor Chick ripped her carpet off her stairs and stained them. Gorgeous.)
As if my STAIRS list isn’t ambitious enough, I’d absolutely LURVE to rip out the little side wall at the bottom that the railing attaches to…
And then have it stair-step with the stairs like this:
And a nice thick scroll railing wouldn’t be too bad either.
But I’m afraid we are probably talking mucho $$$$ to do that (though I’m no expert I’m assuming we’d have to rip out those stairs and insert new planks that are longer).
And while I’m on a fantasy roll here, let’s just remove that little miniature wall on the bottom completely and go from this
To completely flush with the ground level like so…
Yes, obviously I have some serious issues. We still haven’t closed on this new house (we close this Friday HOPEFULLY!) and I’m already day-dreaming about a very expensive renovation.
But honestly, I really do love this house just as it is, and if I never get to redo these stairs and half-walls, I’ll still love this house regardless.
But in a perfect world, I’d change the railing to iron, tear out two half-walls and change them to iron, rip out the carpet on the stairs and stain it, make the railing on the stairs stair-step instead of a little angled wall, and make the bottom railing flush with the ground.
I’m adding this to my list, and maybe with next years tax return I’ll redo the staircase. Or we’ll add the hand-scraped hardwood floor to the downstairs that I’ve been oogling over…
Sssshhhhh, don’t tell my hubby. I see dreams and daydreaming, he sees dollar signs flying through the air. $$$$$$$$$$
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Hey! I'm Allison Hepworth. Welcome to my blog. I love showing tutorials for cool crafts, DIY projects, renovations, and decorating. My family and I live in Austin, Texas. To find out more or to contact me click 
I like to obsess, too. I have the same iron railings and it IS more open to have that than the half wall. That is so great that you got the model home view to help you visualize exactly what you want. Good luck–is your hubby on board?
So funny…read the first paragraph and saw the stairs and thought…cute stairs. Scrolled down some more and saw the iron and kept scrolling back and forth to compare and decide if I liked the iron. Then decided to read the rest of the post…decided I DID love the iron!! The more I read the more I loved it! Hopefully your hubby will feel the same way after seeing your comparison pics!
Gorgeous! Okay, where is that model home because I am pretty sure I have been inside of it. Or at least one by the same builder!!
Ohhhh love those rails. what a difference it makes!!
The before pics look just like my stairs! You have such a great eye for upgrades……..UGH! Now I must obsess over how to convince my hubs to change ours up….
I’m with you, I like the openness that the rod iron gives. I also like the dark wood with it.
~Makalani
http://www.MakazHome.com
Congrats on the new house! It looks lovely! Hope closing goes smoothly!!
Dreaming is free! Enjoy : )
Good luck and I hope you close Friday too!
Hugs
SueAnn
It is amazing what a difference it will make with the railing rather than the wall. Your house will be gorgeous!
great ideas!!! we kind of did the same thing, only we bought our house in the middle of building, and so we were able to make some great upgrades, copying a model – I’m hoping to see your transformation some day!!!
I love your ideas! Can’t wait to see what you decide to do.
WELL…my first htought is this..
paint the white ballisters black to make sure you like it. my friends did that. and they painted their hand hand rail. they liked it so much, they kept it.
Alison, maybe you can haunt the Habitat for Humanity Restore and find your iron railings on the cheap sometime after you move. As for the stairs, remember carpeted steps absorb a lot of noise from kids running up and down. There are pros and cons to both surfaces. Good luck with your move.
PS Did you get the list of thrifts in Austin?
The railing looks awesome……great job! I also have the problem of obsessing about one thing until it gets done…and my husband see’s $$ flying also….down the toilet! Happy Thursday!
That’ll look so much more spacious.
The railings look great! It would be a great project!
THAT does look absolutely AWESOME! My sister had iron rails in her last house and I loved them!
Which model home is that?? We are planning on replacing our wood spindles with iron as well but we are going to keep the carpet for now.
It all sounds like a great plan!!
Now I’m wishing we had stair like that just so I could do that to them.
That is gorgeous!
Love your inspirations! I hope you get to do them to your new house. Its going to look fabulous!
I love the paint color of the model home that you showed. What Sherwin williams color is it? (if you don’t mind my asking?). I have sherwin williams favorite tan through out my house and I love it, but that tan is also gorgeous!!
That would be fun to watch… the stair re-do….looks like a beautiful house though.
SOoooo what Sherwin Williams color is that?? I am about to paint & that looks just about right : )
Love every single one of your stair ideas. I want them as well! I hope you get to do this. It would be awesome!