Thursday, November 3, 2016

Stairway Refinishing

I'd like to thank my Mom for her contribution to my home. Her visit in August netted me some much needed sewing and crafting projects, but her parting gift was a donation to the refinishing of the stairway to my bedroom. Or so she thought. I was actually able to stretch the money and get 3 of the 4 old cold air return patches completed as well. Sadly, the original returns are too expensive to replace, so I opted for a finished look, which is still pretty cool. 

Here's the before on the patches. At some point, when the furnace was replaced, they changed the airflow and size of the cold air returns. Sadly, the original "grates" were replaced by plywood.:
Here's the original return of which I still have 3 originals (this one has a little damage I hope to one day fix. They cost approx $500 apiece to replace and I had 3. (way out of budget. Also, I can't figure out how to rotate the picture):
And here's what I "settled" with (and what I love) Looks like it belongs there, almost:




















The stairs are still "under construction". I only had the treads refinished. I haven't decided on what I'm going to do with the risers yet... So many ideas on Pinterest!!

Before, the steps had separated varnish and were ruined by paint and insulation goo from the renovation. I really didn't want to carpet the stairs as they are steep and narrow, so this is what I've lived with for the past year:

Note that these are pine treads. Back in the day, the money was spent on the main floors. These steps went to the attic, so the logic was that no one would see these stairs. Oddly, the landing at the top is oak, but nothing else, except the "storage room". It has hardwood/oak. Now, since it's the way to my bedroom, I wanted to clean it up and be presentable. Here's the "almost after"!


Pretty!

I need to regroup and hopefully decide on what to do with the risers. Right now, they are the blue/green of the bedroom. I know don't want them white. I have a feeling that I'll want either a pattern or stencil, maybe with the gray of the walls. Either way, it's another project that will keep me going for at least another month!

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