Breathing new life into an old set of stairs in collaboration with Wayfair.
This Spring I had the pleasure of traveling the length of breadth of my Shetland Islands home for a magazine feature I was researching for 60 North, a quarterly magazine celebrating all that is Shetland.
I was on the Shetland Craft Trail, a collection of artists and craft makers around the islands. You can download the magazine, for free, from the Shetland.org website when the Autumn issue comes out (that’s my name there on the front cover!), or, if you can’t wait you could buy a print copy.
While on the Shetland Craft Trail I was constantly amazed and inspired by who I met and what I saw. Visiting knitwear artist Mati Ventrillon on Fair Isle was one of the highlights of the trip. You can read all about my adventures in Fair Isle in my blog post here.
When I returned home after my traveling I realised my house was in need of major redecoration. I like to think I’m a bit of a crafty person, and my home wasn’t reflecting this craftiness. Something needed to be done.
Inspired by a visit to local painter James B. Thomason while on the Craft Trail and observing his gorgeous collection of Persian carpets, I tore up my old living room carpet and found a bargain antique Persian rug off eBay. The living room walls were given a fresh coat of paint, and my husband hung a feature paper wall for me using a Navigator Neutral wallpaper by Art House.
The stairs and hallway in my house were a disgrace. Our cat, Izzy (a feral cat’s protection rescue we’ve had since she was three weeks old!) had shredded the carpet on the bottom step, and the kids had missed the toilet one too many times when it came to seasonal spewwy bugs (how is it that they can run all the way through the house and then throw up just outside the bathroom?). The carpet had to go, but I wasn’t wanting to lay down another carpet to suffer the same fate.
I stripped the stairs down, sanded, and pondered ideas.
It was around this point that Wayfair, the online destination for all things home, contacted me. They really liked my ice lolly recipe. Could they use it in a round up and link back to me? Fill yer boots! said I.
They sent me the link to the summer ice lolly round up and said: “Please let me know if you might be interested in future collaborations and if there is anything I can do for you.” A light bulb went on. Well – I just happened to be redecorating, and they were a homewares site. How could we make this a mutually beneficial relationship?
So the next thing I know I’m working on a DIY tutorial for the Wayfair website in exchange for credit to spend on their website. Win-win!
When I was a child, stencilling was all the rage. My mother loved it and many walls and floors in her house were covered in some sort of floral stencilled decoration. It was a little bit like living in a gingerbread house, but that was her thing.
I reckoned that I could apply this stencilling theory to my stairs. My initial plan was to go freestyle in a Picasso/abstract sort of fashion, but you know what – I’m not that creative. I like patterns. Organization. The idea of using Fair Isle knitwear patterns sprang to mind, so I let Mati know my idea. She loved it and sent over a file filled with images of her designs, which I sifted through and transferred to graph paper, picking out acrylic paints to match her colourwork.
Hand painting these stairs was a time-consuming, painstaking process. I had no idea when I started how just how long it would take, but I think the effort was worth it.
It took me about a month, painting on and off. If I did nothing else I could get the first coat of one step done per day, but life doesn’t really allow you to do one thing at a time, so juggling family, work and freelance commitments meant I painted when I got the chance (or I was procrastinating something else!). There was a whole lot of dead arm going on too – trying to keep my painting hand steady by balancing it on my other arm or the edge of the step meant I had to stop painting every few minutes and shake it off!
That bottom step – that was painted while lying on my stomach!
A couple of coats of matt varnish and a few licks of white floor paint later and we have a new, crafty, set of stairs! I sanded down and painted the floorboards white too and I’m looking for a hallway runner carpet to fill the area. Something like this one from Wayfair, when they get it back in stock again.
I also made a custom fitted shoe rack. There are five of us in our family – that’s a lot of shoes. Our old shoe rack was broken, so I built a new one made from bits of scrap wood discarded by the builders which have been working on our house since mid-January (regular readers will remember the occasional post about them – they’re still here!). I painted it with the same white gloss I’ve used to paint my doors and skirting boards, and it fits perfectly into the space available.
If you’re in the London area and you’re looking for custom fitted storage solutions like this, Urban Wardrobes provide a bespoke service. It’s well worth checking out their services if you don’t have a supply of discarded wood on its way to the skip to sift through yourself! Check out their Pinterest boards for inspiration!
So what did I buy with my credit on the Wayfair website? It took me a long time to settle on something as there was so much to choose from! I initially debated getting some of this gorgeous Navigator Newton Wallpaper for my living room, but it was a bit too dark for my colour scheme. I’m going to do something with the sample I was sent though as it’s so lovely!
I thought about getting some wall hangings for the living room, or some cushion covers, or even one of these really nifty wooden playhouses for the kids.
I ended up buying a set of six Corona solid pine dining room chairs because – kids and cat! Our cat had used all of the fabric coverings on our old chairs as claw sharpeners, and kids – they just trash everything, don’t they.
These chairs are fantastic! They are very solid, so I don’t think even the kids will be able to break them. They each took about 45 minutes to assemble as my lovely husband was very thorough and used wood glue on all the joins to reinforce them. We didn’t add the optional studs on the back either, as we liked them without. They’re very rustic which means the more the kids trash them the more rustic they’ll look. Win-win!
So yes, now I have new lovely chairs to match our solid wood kitchen table (kitchen is needing to be renovated too – hence no photo!), and a lovely new set of steps. These are the first thing you see when you enter our house, and they’re quite the talking point!
There is another set of stairs leading to the bedrooms upstairs, and the kids and I are working on a different theme for that set. Watch this space!
For a step-by-step tutorial on how I renovated my stairs, visit the Wayfair website!
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Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary received payment for this post from Urban Wardrobes and goods as payment in kind from Wayfair. All thoughts and opinions expressed are our own.
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I would have gone crazy painting the stairs on my own!
aah, that’ll explain things then! 😉
Nice design.I love the way you design.I will try to follow your step.
Those colour additions to the stairs are a great idea.
That’s amazing – great job!
Your stairs look so lovely, really light and airy. The stencil idea is so creative and it’s such a great effect.
Jordanne || Thelifeofaglasgowgirl.co.uk
The stairs look amazing but there’s no way I would have the patience to do that. Good on you!
These are beautiful, I can’t believe you painted it all by hand! That’s dedication <3
You are great, dear! A month for the stairs and each step looks stunning. You deserve a praise for your patience and creativity. 🙂
You’re an artist, a craftsman, and a poet! Those stairs sing with creativity and beauty. This is the best, most artful, creative DIY project I have EVER seen.
I LOVE your stairs! Your hard work has really paid off. I’ve often debated sanding and varnishing my stairs but have always worried they would be really noisy?
The stairs look amazing. Such a unique and beautiful result. New reader but loving looking around.
Oh wow -well done to you, the stairs look amazing. I wouldn’t have the patience (I am terrible) but I love how they look. Kaz x
I love your stairs I can see the hardwork and effort has produced amazing finished product.
That is one of the neatest design ideas I’ve seen in a long time! I just love how it came out. Now if I just had a steady hand like you!
wow! just wow!
These are incredible. The hard work has clearly paid off!
I also like the stairs that double up as bookshelves… but I live in a flat :'( x
I love this! Also love the pictures where the cat is getting in on the action.
this is super super cute, I’m in loce
Those stairs are amazing!!
Those stars are just WOW how, what a focal point they make of something normally so dull. x
WOW!!! I’m amazed. Those stairs are beautiful, truly stunning! And I bet it DID take you a while to hand paint those but they’re really lovely. The white really enhances the colours. It’s a really worth while project, unique and cosy! I love it. I also like that table 🙂 xx
This is ridiculously beautiful, Elizabeth. I am in awe. I don’t have the patience for this type of task (and I am not crafty) but I really admire your obvious skill and talent. I can’t believe I missed this earlier. 🙂
That looks amazing guys! We love doing some DIY to disconnect from our paella catering events around London, but I think that level is to high for us yet.. It’s really impresive! Thank you for the info!
All the best 🙂
I can’t believe you hand painted all of that! Looks amazing, I have seen when people put wallpaper on which I love but never hand painted, well don!
I can not believe that you had the patience to do these stairs yourself they look amazing x
A really cool effect on those stairs. A proper work of art. 🙂
Oh wow, I love this! The stairs look amazing.
These look amazing. I can’t belive you hand painted them at first I thought they were tiles!
Wow! This is absolutely gorgeous! I love the Fairisle patterns, the colours are beautiful and the finished product is so impressive. What a great idea, and the amount of work that went into it is amazing. x
Really cool trend I’m seeing at the moment, I’d love to do this.
I am in love with your stars. Like in LOVE. I need to try this out, wonder if the other half would let me rip the carpet off and practice stencilling 😉
Oh wow. you are so talented! These look gorgeous!!
This is such a cute idea! Looks so easy and good too xx
Wow, I love these stairs – so cool! That last step must have been difficult to paint!
I love this, they look absolutely fantastic! Great job 🙂
oh my these are totally amazing can you come and give my house a make over pretty please
Wow they look absolutely amazing and so much better than with carpet x
I removed all the carpets from my stairs too a while ago (2 years!) and the stairs look very bare at the moment. I would love to give this a go as think it looks amazing. Thank you for the inspiration
I absolutely love your retro stairs they remind me of a mixture of Grecian mosaics and 70’s carpet prints.
Oh my God, those stairs look incredible. I would be so proud to have those in my home. I bet all visitors comment on them. They look fantastic.
This is stunning! I just absolutely love it so much, i never would’ve had the patience.
Wow these look amazing and so much hard work has clearly gone into them. I think we often ignore staircases but they can be a real focal point. I’ve got a few ideas when I finally own my own house I’m thinking maybe book quotes would be a great one
Great and inspiring dedication. I really love the color scheme that you have chosen !
thank you for your helpfull advices.
Flowy
From France
This staircase is amazing. Absolutely beautiful work and very inspiring. I am also having a think about storage solutions in my hallway. It’s a headache in our awkward space! Thanks for linking up to #MakingHome
I love these stairs! At first I thought it was wallpaper or similar, but the fact you actually hand painted them…it’s amazing! I think I need to do this to my stairs, at least I will when the carpet is completely worn through and I can convince my husband! The pattern us beautiful and will impress any guest entering your house, a definite talking point!
Thanks so much for linking up to #HowtoSunday 🙂 x
Love painted stairs – these look amazing! Not sure I’d have the patience to ever finish if I started though.
I’m so inspired by this idea. I have no stairs to do this but I love the process you’ve used and I’m thinking a mural that my daughter has long been asking for could be a Christmas holiday project. Such an inspired idea elizabeth. Thanks for sharing what looked like a real labour of love
Awesome stairs. I feel your pain with the sweeping. We have a runner and the dust just sits at the edges laughing at me!
Goodness what a labour of love! Looks amazing though x #HowtoSunday
WOW! This looksAMAZING!! I miss owning our own home and being able to add things like this to the decor!
Wow, the stairs look amazing. It is a complicated pattern and to do everything by hand is hard work, but I think it was worth it x
What a beautiful way to redesign the stairs! Love the patterns.
just wondered how this beautiful handwork is holding up against the daily knocks and bangs?
The varnish is protecting it against knocks, but the daily sweeping as every speck of dirt is visible is a pain!
Wow, you are so clever! I’ve popped over after seeing your post on Wayfair, and wanted to see more, so was delighted to see lots of other photos of these gorgeous stairs, a real work of art and I admire your patience in painting them!
Such detail! I will most definitely keep this idea in mind when decorating my new home. Thanks for the great post x
This is the kind of thing you see on the internet and just can’t believe it. What you’ve achieved is just so flipping amazing and your patience is incredible – I’d have given up after half a step!
Awesome – we’re redecorating and I’ve picked up some ideas from this.
Oh Elizabeth! They look so fantastic! You must have buckets more patience than me, I’m am in absolute awe!
Amazing! You clever clog – this looks fantastic, totally worth the time it took!
Wowzers Elizabeth, you are so amazingly clever. Your stairs look just fabulous. I’m impressed with your shoe rack too. Can’t believe the builders are STILL there.
I’m loving this Elizabeth, you are so talented!!
And the acrylic paints you have used are my favourite as well, use hem for everything 🙂
brilliant handiwork elizabeth – I really admire the time and creativity you put into your home – the stairs look brilliant
Wow well done you. The stairs look fantastic, and your cat is a cutie.
I love this so much, I’ve been waiting to see your post since the teaser photo a while back. The finished stairs look SO AMAZING!
These are soooooooooo stunning Elizabeth. Do you take commissions?
This is an outstanding piece of work, so creative and so perfectly executed, well done you!
I wish I had stairs now! So amazing, they look sensational!
THIS IS FANTASTIC. So in awe of your skill (and patience!!). They look just perfect 🙂
Simply stunning Elizabeth – you must have a happy face every time you go up the stairs:-)
Wow, it looks amazing, I love the idea and it must have been a long but worthwhile project. Love the step by step guide on Wayfair too – very useful.
I’ve seen your hints on social media but to read about the full project in its entirety is so inspiring. When I return to my house after traveling I’m going to be looking at it with new eyes.
I love these – what a fantastic design! 🙂