step by step

The stairway to the upstairs bedrooms needed a makeover as well. The electric red paint and groovy light fixture were cute, but not really our style. Our friends couldn't believe we wanted to remove that light. It was, afterall, the same as the one at Graceland, and they were all on a big Elvis kick for a while. 

We removed the top molding, but left everything on the bottom. All of the top had to be replastered. 

Look at that kitchen just lurking in the background.

The stairway is very narrow, as most stairways built in the 1930's. People weren't as wide back then. And people must have had littler feet too. The stairs are a bit short. My husband's size 12 hangs off, so we decided to carpet the stairs and wrap them with a pad to add about an inch to the width of each one. 

At the top of the stairs was an iron rail that was also very short. However, there was a mysterious giant post for you to hang on to. See above.

Now it looks like this:

My uncle replaced the ballisters with new ones that are much more fitting with the era of the house. We also painted the pine stairs white before we carpeted them. They were in such bad shape, it was the only way to salvage them. I love the way it turned out. There was still some touch-up paint to be done in above photo. 

I recently added this finial on the null post. It is antique and I found it at my favorite flea market for $2! I also collect white ironstone, and hung some of my collection around the hall mirror. We painted the paneling on the bottom half with an oil-based antique white, and the top is a satin latex called "Desert Castle". I love the contrast and interest of the two put together.

Hope you ejoyed! Have a great Wednesday!