I am a sucker for a good staircase. When we moved into our house, I was so excited about the potential that the staircase had. It’s the first thing you see when you walk in our front door, and I wanted it to make a good impression. The existing stairs were very basic, with the same handrails that every other house built in the early 90s had.
It was obvious that the previous owner had already done some updating of the railings, newel posts and balusters by painting them black and white (and I am so thankful for that), but I wanted to totally change it up.
After scouring Instagram, Pinterest and my favorite design blogs for different styles of staircases, I decided on a very clean, timeless option. Generally, I am up for tackling home projects by myself, but with two small children in the house, I thought I should leave this up to the professionals. I needed these railings to be safe and sturdy enough to handle the inevitable swinging and pulling that will be happening on them over the years.
I went with simple box newel posts with a little bit of detail on the top, iron balusters with shoes and a square railing, all in red oak to match our flooring. We also were removing the carpet runner so needed to put hardwoods on the landing where the stairs turn. While we were at it, we removed the carpet on the upstairs landing/hallway and put hardwoods there as well. I am SO SO happy with the results, and still pinch myself every time I look at these stairs. I may decide to add a new stair runner, mostly for my pup who always seems to be slipping on the stairs, but TBD on that one.
The next phase of this project will be adding a board and batten wall treatment and painting the whole foyer! I can’t wait to share updates along the way!
