The Foyer Reveal: Part 2

I'm not sure what inspired me to do things around my house before Pinterest came into my life. This site has given me such great inspirations in the short time I've been addicted to it - from the coasters I DIY'd to the gallery wall I did in my foyer. 

So imagine my excitement when I came across this beauty...

Centsational Girl's Staircase

...and discovered it was a DIY project. I had already pinned all of these photos, and was having some serious stair envy. 

First seen here

Originally found here

This one's from House Beautiful

From here originally

And here's the link for this one.

I jumped over to Centsational Girl's blog and read all about how she transformed her oak staircase (which looked so much like ours in the before picture that the Mister actually thought it WAS ours) to a beautiful espresso finish.

So, this is our before picture. And I'm going to go out on a limb here...

...and say it's even worse than CG's. At least she already had white spindles. I, on the other hand, was drowning in a sea of oak, and hating every second of it. So, to work I went. 

The spindles and the baseboards were the first thing I tackled. I gave the entire thing two thin coats of Kilz, my all-time favorite primer. I didn't bother sanding them first, mainly because there are a billion of them and I didn't want to. So, fingers crossed that two coats of Kilz does the trick instead. 

I must say - already a vast improvement. But, as annoying as this step was, the hard stuff was still to come. I gathered up all my supplies...

...and set to work. I poured the Citrustrip Gel into a metal bucket, per the instructions on the bottle, donned some work gloves and set about painting the entire banister with the orange goo. I had previously used Citrustrip Spray when I refinished my cabinet, and now I won't use any other kind. It's low-VOC and smells very citrusy - perfect for indoor projects. 

I let the gunk sit on there for about 30 minutes (with Chester and Nora safely quarantined in the bedroom), and then I used the plastic scraper to get the majority of it off. To get in the grooves and make sure I got everything, I put some Odorless Mineral Spirits on a stripping pad and went over the entire thing. Not fun. 

But, definitely progress. Once everything was dry, I used my hand sander (still on loan - thanks K!) and 220 grit paper and went over every inch of that bad boy. 

Many hours later (and very sore arms), and I was ready to get to the good stuff. I chose Minwax Gel Stain, because I figured it would be easier to use on a slanty surface like this one. I picked the darkest stain they had, which was hickory, and globbed that stuff on there. Now - I haven't had the greatest experience with staining when I follow the directions on the can. (You know - paint on, let sit, wipe off.) So, I ignored them and just painted it on. And didn't wipe. Good news: it left me with a beautiful color that I loved. Bad news: Even 24 hours later, it was still very sticky to the touch. Womp womp. 

I finally caved, and went over the entire thing with a rag soaked in the mineral spirits. That left me with this:

Definitely an improvement, but not what I had in mind. So, I revisited Centsational Girl, and read about how she used craft paint to get the color she wanted. (I know - shocked face. Acrylic paint on a banister?) But, I figured, if it worked for her it could work for me. I booked it over to my local Michael's, and came home with two little bottles of craft paint in Dark Burnt Umber. (And a set of paint brushes for acrylic paint.) 

I held my breath and painted it on there...

...and loved it. It was the perfect shade, AND it conquered any lasting stickiness that was still happening from the excess stain. It only took one coat of paint to give me this:

The only problem was the entire thing was F-L-A-T. (Keep in mind, the spindles are still only primed.) 

So, out came the Behr semi-gloss enamel in Ultra White. I went over all the spindles again, trying to cover all the messy brown spots without getting any white on the underside of the banister. 

And then I gathered all the little stair buttons that had come loose during the project. (Most of them stayed on, and I just painted around them. But a good amount had come loose, so they got painted separately and glued back on.) 

Once the spindles and baseboards had a coat of the Behr Ultra White, and the buttons were all glued back in place - it was time for the finishing touch. To make the banister really shine, I bought some Minwax Wipe-On Poly in Clear Gloss finish. This stuff is amazeballs - and works super quickly. I poured it on a rag and went over everything with it. 

(Unfortunately, I didn't wear gloves. Bad move. I had to practically soak my hands in mineral spirits to get the poly off. Ugh.) 

I waited three hours, and then did it all over again (albeit, with gloves on.) I didn't sand in between coats, but I lightly went over the banister with 320 grit paper afterwards. I wiped it down with a microfiber cloth, stepped back, and did a happy dance.   

 

The Mister and I love it. It feels like a completely new entrance, and definitely more our style. We still have more grand ideas for this part of the house - including new hardwood floors in a darker finish, and ripping up the carpet on the stairs to carry the hardwood up to the second floor - but for now, this space has become one of our favorites in the house. And, it's another space on the lower level that we can check off our to-do list!

Update: After a few days, the wipe-on poly turned the white spindles (and the baseboards, where the rag had touched) a yellowish tinge. I had to go over them with another coat of Behr to cover the discoloration - booo. Definitely only use the poly on the dark parts of the banister!