Monday, September 12, 2011

The Staircase Makeover Part 4...The Grand Finale!!

Yahoo!!  I can't believe we are finally here.....ready for the big reveal of the "new" staircase!!  I have been thinking about this post all day, because I AM SO EXCITED to show you guys the finished staircase and find out what you think about it.....be honest.....well......be honest if you LOVE it and be nice if you don't :)

If you didn't catch the first couple of posts on the staircase makeover, then you can find Part 1 Here, Part 2 Here, and Part 3 Here.

AND.....SO......Without further delay.....below is my favorite shot of the "new" staircase:


 
And just in case you need a little reminder.....below are a few "before" pictures, showing what we started with....

AND.....for your viewing pleasure.....below are some more "after" pics of the (now) FABULOUS staircase:


 
And a few more from up top.....





And a few looking up:



I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how the espresso stain on the stairs contrasts against the white!  At one time we had discussed replacing the white wood balusters with black iron and I'm so glad that we didn't!!  Everything looks so crisp and clean now.....ahh......how I love a good clean line!! 

And yes...we used bead board for the risers!!  Cool huh?  I haven't seen anyone else do that before.....but we thought it looked cool....and gave the risers a little more texture and some personality of their own! 

SO.....what do you think?  I hope you love it!  We are SO HAPPY with how it all turned out!!  And I promise the stairs/banisters are just as gorgeous up close!!

This was a HARD project for us!  Mainly because we had NO IDEA what we were doing....and we had to learn EVERYTHING along the way.  If we had to do this same project again.....it would be SO MUCH EASIER!!  SO......I hope that any of you that might want to tackle a similar project can learn from what we did....and if you have questions about our project, then please leave me a comment and I'll answer if I can :)

So a few more details.....

Materials:
Oak Wood Treads:  Purchased from Lowe's
Bead Board Panels (purchased as a package of long/thin strips to minimize cutting) from Lowe's
*I forgot to mention this in my previous post....all of your treads, risers, and banister should be top coated with some type of polycrylic or polyurethane for protection!!

Cost:
Ugh!  Gag!!  Remember in my first post when I said I wanted this project to be cheap....well.....hmmmm.....yeah.....that sort of went out the window when we decided that we would need to buy new treads.  SO.....well.....it is what it is......and we LOVE how it turned out.....and we figure we still came out way ahead by doing the work ourselves.......so it's all good.....but I did want to share the cost with you, so if you want to tackle this project you'll know what your getting into.....so hear are the ugly details.......
New Oak Treads [~$300] (Ouch!)
Bead Board [~$45]
Stain [~$40] (the stain we actually used)
Stain (testers) [~$50] (stain we tested out, but didn't use)
Gen Finishes Poly [~$20]
Minwax Polycrylic [~$15]
Trim [~$45]
Working materials [~$60] (brushes, tape, sandpaper, tape, sharpies, liquid nails, etc)
Total [~$575]

Plus we also invested in a few tools to make the job easier.  My hubs bought himself a present purchased a sliding mitre saw (which he absolutely loves), nailgun, and a Dremel sander.  I bought myself a Skil Octo Sander.  We didn't include these items in the cost for the project, since we will be using them for many more projects in the future!!

And with that....I think I've just about covered it all....at least I hope so......

SO....one more time....what do you think?  I SO WANT TO HEAR YOUR COMMENTS (and questions if you have some)!! 

Until next time....

XOXO,
Kristal

P.S.  Did you see the floor in the entryway??  That's new too....so....get ready.....a post will be coming on that beauty very soon :)

I'm linking up here.....

21 comments:

Jason Clark said...

Nice job. I have a new project for you. My kitchen... No really your house looks great and working with wood and stain definitely has a learning curve. Looks like you mastered it. Not surprised.

Mike said...

Nice job guys! They look fantastic (and even better in person I am sure). I love the dark color accented in the tile. Great work!

Kelly said...

Love it Kristal! You're right, I've never seen beadboard on the risers, but it does give it personality & contrast. I love the espresso color too. At some point, we need to refinish all our floors & stairs, so I may try out what you used. We've used Minwax Dark Walnut (3 coats), but it's still more dark brown than espresso. Can't wait to see more of the tile (and wood floor? looks like carpet is gone!)

Mike Nutt said...

We do love it and there are some parts of the job that didn't get highlighted like trim work on the outside of the stairs that we matched to the wood. Looks really good. It was a tough project but worth the final results. Good job honey!

Kristal @ Engineering Life and Style said...

Jason - Ohhh....a kitchen project....sounds like fun!!

Kristal @ Engineering Life and Style said...

Mike - Thanks!!!

Kristal @ Engineering Life and Style said...

Kelly - Thanks!! We love the stain that we used....I think you would really like it too!! A floor project is a big one....but hardwood floors are SO worth it!!! Can't wait to see what y'all end up with....and you're right the carpet is GONE (more on that soon)!!

Kristal @ Engineering Life and Style said...

Mike Nutt - Love you!! I couldn't do any of it without you!!

manda said...

They look fabulous! And I think coming in under $600 is very inexpesive!!!! I'm sure Doug is going to charge me much more when we finally do it!!!! But I don't see us tackling this! Great Job!!!

Kristal @ Engineering Life and Style said...

Manda - Thank you girl!! I was thinking about your stairs...you guys could totally do this project...I think yours would be WAY easier than ours....BUT....I can also understand how nice it is to turn the details over to someone else sometimes :)

Lou Cinda @ Tattered Hydrangeas said...

It is GORGEOUS!! The staircase
AND the floor below! It looks rich and warm and inviting and the staircase ties in beautifully with the floor!

You did a fabulous job!! It looks custom!!

Lou Cinda :)

Chrissy said...

I found your blog through ThriftyDecor Chick. Your stairs look amazing!! What great work!!

Kristal @ Engineering Life and Style said...

Lou Cinda-
Thanks SO much!! It was a lot of work, but SO worth it....

Hopefully you got my email :)

Kristal @ Engineering Life and Style said...

Chrissy-
Thank you for your sweet comment!

Jenny said...

It looks fantastic! I am swooning over stairs like yours as this is one of my projects for 2012! I'm afraid we're going to have to buy new treads as well. I don't think the ones we have are stain-ready. I'm totally digging on the stain color you chose as well. So classic and timeless!

Kristal @ Engineering Life and Style said...

Jenny-
Thanks SO much!! The stair makeover was a BIG project, but the result was totally worth it! It literally transformed the feel of our house!! I wish we would have done it sooner.....when you start working on your stairs if you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me an email....if I can help, then I will

I just checked out your blog....loved it!!

Kristal

MichelleB said...

AWESOME!!!!!! I will do the same in my new home and will se this blog as a reference. It looks amazing!!!!!!

Kristal @ Engineering Life and Style said...

MichelleB-
Thanks SO much! We really love how everything turned out :) I would love to see pics of your stairs when you are finished!! Good luck!

Kristal

cami said...

This looks fabulous. I'm thinking of trying the same...might be better if I just do it rather than think more about it! Nice job!!!
~cami
www.fourjokersandaqueen.com

Kristal @ Engineering Life and Style said...

Cami-
It was a lot of work, but it made a huge difference in the feel of our home! Go for it!! It is SO worth it!!

Kristal

Fabrik ETC said...

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