Stairwell Before and Afters

This blog is about the stairwell, which we did last summer, so we are looking back at the project.  And, remember, last summer we were still wedding planning, so we were quite busy, and exhausted.

Here is a Before picture of the Stairwell, nothing really terrible to report here, just those beige walls that were everywhere in the house!  Peachy beige is a no-no.

So, I got started painting... here's just a warning, this is a pretty gross picture of me, I can't believe we were getting married only a few weeks out when this picture was take, I was not feeling like a beautiful bride to be at all!  But hey, I don't have the most glamorous moments when I'm painting, especially this day, it look over 8 hours to paint the stairwell, the hardest part was the wall over the lower staircase to the left, it was IMPOSSIBLE to reach!  But we got it done.

The color we chose was Behr's Sandstone Cove for the walls, I wanted a very neutral color for the stairwell, hallways and entryways so that the color would not clash with each room.  I wanted a white-ish color, but our trim is white, so we needed one that would contrast to the white (our trim is Behr's Polar Bear) trim.  So Sandstone Cove turned out perfect, it was white, but with a touch of ivory so the contrast was perfect.

Here is the stairwell from the first floor after.

And here is the after from the landing on the stairwell, on the largest wall to the left we framed some vintage maps we scored on Ebay, they look classic, I love them!  We also had some wall scones from our old condo that needed a home, the stairwell was perfect.

Here is the left wall from the landing, the two other sconces went here.

And then here is from the 2nd floor by the bathroom, you can see the railing and maps here.  Isn't the original woodwork on our railing beautiful?  I love it!  I did have to sand and repaint those too though, which took a while, but totally worth it!

Here is another Before view from the angle the After was take, check out the light fixture, that had to be changed as well, in a staircase with higher ceilings, we needed something bigger that looked more elegant, and that brass had to go!

Here is the new light fixture we put up, which also was a pain, anything electrical in the house is a pain since our wiring is so old, but I love the new light.

So that covers the decor, lighting and paint, however we are NOT done with this space.  I am still DYING to put up a stainglass window or a window like the one I blogged about here instead of the fogged glass that is there, but that will have wait because it is a bigger investment, but someday!  And we still need to paint the ceiling, something we have been putting off for quite sometime, because we know it won't be much fun at all.