Between the ages of 0-18, I lived in 9 different homes, most of which were gorgeous. Around my preteen years, my older sister and I began to form a staircase fetish. Each move to a new home, area, neighborhood would be judged by the “prom staircase” criteria. If the home had a crappy staircase that would not appropriately accommodate a glamour-shot-worthy-prom-gown-entrance, forget it. We would vote that house down. What can I say? We were vain. But somehow, those early staircase judging years seemed to have formed a life-long love of staircases. My current home wouldn’t have gotten a second glance from my 13 year old self. I would have hated it. And honestly, my 35 year old self sort of hates it too. So, I’m on a mission to remedy that.
Let’s take a little picture walk through some staircase inspiration, shall we?
Painted options:
Image Martha Stewart
This is a colorful and fun option from A Charmed Life.
Stenciled options:
Wallpaper or mod podge option?
Ooooo, I like this idea of stenciling words up the stairs.
And of course, my favorite so far, stenciled numbers….
And gorgeous mix and match stencils. These are stunning! You can learn more about the artist and the stencils here.
Depending how much paint I have on hand in my basement (budget freeze, remember?), I will soon begin a staircase makeover. Which one of the ideas above is your favorite? Do you have a gorgeous staircase that would pass the “prom staircase” test? Talk to me.
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Oooh! These rock. I completely love painted stairs. I love ideas that don't occur to me!
how fun! the last one is my favorite!! it's beautiful.
oh my goodness gracious!!!
what fun anyone of these would be to have. love them all in their own way!
I like the idea of words & phrases. That's my vote. You could come up with a scripture for family to memorize as they went up the steps. Change it to the next year "Verse for the Year"
Such fun ideas! I can't wait to see what you do! Hurry, hurry… 🙂
love love love this post Thanks!!!
How cool! I like the yellow and blue painted stairs!
The wallpaper and the painted run runner are fantastic! Thanks for the inspiration.
I LOVE the red. I just found a great staircase on canadian house and home. I'll email you 🙂
Love the mix and match stencils followed by the numbers.
If you like those stairs (some people are truly talented!!)
…you'll LOVE these! The trouble some people will go through to make things fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw
wHAT A greAT post! I love the damask wall paper one and the numbers ones! ITs great to know that stair cases have a purpose other then getting us from top to bottom.. HE HE!
I think I might know how to do that last one. Did you ever hear of Real Wood Veneer Self Adhesive Covering (SAC)?
You can see some here:
http://www.refacedepot.com/esupport/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=319&nav=0
It comes in different woods like in the photo. I bed you could stencil stain patterns on them then stick them to the staircase.
I am planning to do the numbers on our basement steps. They are already black, so it is just a matter of cleaning off the cat fur and painting! Good luck!
I do like the risers painted white and a dark step. In these pics I like the one with the white risers and the stencil. Kim at Twice Remembered blog just has a few steps in her studio {not a whole staircase} and she did words on white risers and the steps are a chocolate brown. Gorgeous. I would like to redo ours and maybe if we decide to stay here, I'll do something with it ~ they are just pine right now. Can't wait to see what you come up with! Don't forget to take "before" pictures!
Once again, I know we're destined to be friends. For as long as I can remember, I have also been in love with staircases. My family teases me about it all the time. That being said, you should see my parents' staircase. We moved my senior year in high school (horrible for me at the time), but the first thing my mom said to me was, "But you HAVE to see the staircase! You'll just love it!" She was right. It was SOOOO prom worthy, and my mom took tons of pictures of me as I came down it for my senior prom. Too funny!
After all that…my vote is definitely for the numbers! They are my absolute favorite.
LOVE this mix and match stencils, and I really like the idea of the words on the steps.
Unfortunately a 2 story wasn't in our building budget so I have no stairs.
and yea, my 13 year old self would despise that too! 😉