Over Christmas we demo'd some walls to make an opening for new columns for our staircase.  Well, after finishing the wood upstairs, painting the stairway, and painting the upstairs and entry, we finally are making progress on the columns.

We drew up some plans, and went to work covering the two by fours with MDF and backerboard.  Both products paint up nicely.

We measured how big we want the recessed panel to be, and ripped some MDF strips on the table saw. We brought them in, put them together, and then nailed them when we were happy with how the seams looked.

We decided to build out the bottom with wainscoting and leave the top plain.  I liked the way it still kept the entry open, but adds a lot of character and detail.  I need to fill the holes in with spackle, we need to caulk, then I can paint them a lovely shade of white.

We are also busy putting the backer board up for the rest of the wainscoting on the main level.  It is a lot of work, but it is also  fun watching it come together. Pin It

How I re finished my stair railings

We've been busy around here lately. After we got the downstairs wall demo'd we started working on the stair railings. I knew the look I wanted, and knew it would take a lot of work. The original railings were a light oak and white. We are putting a dark acacia wood on the floor, so I wanted the top of my railings to match.  We decided that instead of just painting the whole railing, we would try stripping off the varnish and stain and try re staining the wood. We used a citris stripper we found at Home Depot.

We painted it on the wood top, waited the recommended time, and scraped the finish right off. It took a lot of elbow grease, but it worked great.

Here is a picture of the stripped wood. Between the citristrip and a lot of sanding, everything came off and the wood was ready to stain. I only stripped the hand rail. We decided to paint the rest white.

Here's how it looks after we got the darker stain on it. I used a minwax stain and finished it with a rub on semi gloss polyurethane. That was the easiest part of the project. Next I got to work painting everything else.

I just painted everything else with my ultra pure white wall trim I use on all the trim in my house. I did do a first coat of zinsser primer just to guarantee the paint stayed on and did not chip. All in all with the primer, the railings got three coats of paint.

It was a lot of work, but so worth it.  I love how just by staining and painting, the railings got such a great update. Pin It

Some more demo

Yep it wouldn't be home around here without a little demo. Over the Christmas break we spent a day taking out part of a wall. It was a milestone for us...it was on the main level...the last level to finish. I did not think we would ever get to this point. So it has started and I am so very excited to show our little demo project...the start of my vision for the main living space.

I really hated how the walls closed in the stairs, and that I couldn't see the stairs from the front door. We decided to fix that by tearing out a section of the wall on both sides to open up the space to make it feel more open. It totally did the trick.  We are going to build columns on both sides and add some banisters to match what we have upstairs.  I am so excited to see how it comes together. Pin It

Throw back Thursday

My twelve year old daughter went to school today wearing leg warmers, ratted hair, purple eyeshadow, and everything else that entails dressing in the eighties.  It was throw back Thursday at her school today.  She was so excited, and it got me thinking about all the fun things I have worked on in all the other houses I have lived in.  Some of my favorite things to do when I move into a house is to add color.  As I am re doing this house, I love to see all the different rooms and color that I added to other places I have lived in.

This was one of my favorite views  in the entry as you walked into our home.  The whole main level was open and I painted it a yellow color.  I wanted to add some interest by adding a red accent wall.  I also painted my living room a soft green color on the walls, and almost a blue green on the ceiling.  Yes, I love painting ceilings a color, and often times a different color then the rooms.  I think it adds so much interest to a room. We added a lot of wainscotting in that house  I love how the white popped against the color. 

Here is just the yellow color looking down from our second floor.  I took the red and added a touch of it in my decor.  I also painted the stair rail.  It was oak, along with every piece of trim in that house.  It was very easy to paint, and stayed nice.  I always use a liquid sand product on my wood before I paint it and it helps it not to chip.

I love looking at all my pictures and seeing the projects I have done and the personality we have added to a home. I love color.  I haven't chosen as much color for this home, and I am thinking that I want to maybe add a little more touch of color to it.  It really is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to add your style and fun to any home.

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A touch of brick

Life has been crazy around here. It has been a while since my last post. We have been busy adding a little bit of exposed brick to our home. There is a landing in my stairs between my middle level and my basement level that I wanted to dress up for a long time.

There was this shelf that came out from the wall. I wanted to put brick on the top and wainscoting on the bottom.

We started by putting up some backer board, and went to work adding the brick. It is the thin brick perfect for walls.

We were nervous about bricking a wall, but it actually was so easy. A lot easier than tile in fact.

I was excited to get the brick done, and move on to the wainscoting.

We nailed on 1/4 inch plywood and a piece of wood for the shelf and went to work on the detail.

We measured and ripped MDF on the table saw to create the detail of the wainscoting.

Then I went to work painting it white.

And adding some fall decorations to it.

I love the way it turned out. Just enough detail to really add some personality to the stairway. Finally, my whole lower level of my home is finished. Now moving on to another room! Pin It