Storybook Staircase

That feeling of coming down the stairs Christmas morning (I grew up in a one-story home, so that’s kind of why I wanted a two-story house!) Danny didn’t even want to buy this house because he would have to duck🦆 his head on the landing’s ceiling, so we raised the header by building a platform in his closet floor above. While my dad was cutting into the ceiling, he found the original construction of how the house was built like a peg-in-a-hole, so for Christmas I had the wood knot made into a plaque that says “Major Award” inspired by his favorite movie A Christmas Story🦵

Next, we removed the dark & dingy 70s wood paneling, to uncover original wallpaper damaged by a leaking roof. We patched the roof and added a sun tunnel for natural light in the staircase. We also added moulding returns to give it a finished look. We painted the risers and stringers gray to hide any scuff marks. This staircase was a step-by-step process (we didn’t have a banister for a year and a half because we were too busy renovating the kitchen!)

Finally, the original newel posts were made of molding glued together and the spindles were plain wood, so we bought poplar wood posts and handrails because it takes paint well. We chose black square spindles and decorative covers to give it a modern yet vintage look.

The original stained glass window is another reason I wanted to buy this house, but unfortunately one of the panes was missing, and two of the panes were cracked, so I put a pretty fan from Japan in front of it to cover it up and for it to sparkle in the sunlight. I plan to fix the window in the summer, and get a carpet runner on the treads next winter. This winter, I wanted to showcase the staircase by putting glowing snow down it🌨️