Monday, May 12, 2008

A Case of Stairs

Okay, so tell me, who puts light colored carpet on stairs?!?! The gentleman who we bought our house from, that's who (should I have used "whom"?).
Yes, we had brand new pinkish-taupe carpet on stairs that would be constantly used by our five children and all of their friends. What do you do? Well, first I must tell you that I do not require my family or anyone else in our home to remove their shoes upon entering. You can if that's what makes you comfortable, but shoeless feet is not the requirement, comfort is. As I said in an earlier post, there is nothing in my home more valuable than the people within. After a few years of wear and tear on a carpet that wasn't all that pretty in the first place I decided it needed a little R&R. You know it! Removing and Replacing! Of course the cheapest solution was paint, but I couldn't have just plain old painted stairs when with just a little effort they could be unique and interesting. I incorporated my love of typography, and this is what I came up with:
(the runner is tan, not pinkish like it appears in the photo)
As usual, my family made fun of my idea, but I've learned to not pay attention to them anymore. They asked me why the stairs needed numbers. I answered that if they fell up the stairs they would know which stair to blame (you have to have a quick wit in a family of critics). I did make sure to start the numbers with 0, so there wouldn't be the unlucky #13. I think my children have actually come to enjoy their travels up the stairs, but they would never, ever admit to it. The stairs have been like this for almost two years now, and occasionally I'll hear a loud thud followed by, "That dumb number four stair!" Yes, our stairs are not just form and function, they're entertainment too.

8 comments:

Mrs. B said...

Hi Joy! Your stairs look great! I've actually seen quotes painted on the fronts of steps too and I think it's a great idea! We have awful pinkish white carpet on our stairs too. We've been tearing it out and putting wood laminate in room by room since buying the house, but it's still on the stairs and bedrooms. However, I'm afraid that people will slip on the stairs without carpet. Is that carpet that you have on the tops of your stairs? Did you have that installed or do it yourself?

Joy said...

We bought a carpet runner and cut it to fit each stair. My original plan was to use carpet tacks to install it, but the stair treads kept bending the tacks so we used a staple gun instead.

Taddie Tales said...

Um - guilty. It was the builders standard and we didn't have the $$$ to pay for an upgrade or wood which is what I really want. Tell me, is the run wood or mdf? What type of paint did you use? I have been telling my husband that I am going to tear the carpet off the stairs but he thinks I'm nutso. I so want to do this to my stairs - they are SO nasty right now.

Lindy

Jennifer Hope Longenecker said...

I love the idea of the numbers. In our house the kids are usually falling down the stairs and it would be a lot easier to ask them "so which stair did you fall from?"

Joy said...

Lindy- Our stairs are made of a hard pressed wood similar to sub-flooring (the stuff they used before MDF). I painted with an interior satin latex paint. I didn't polyurethane since the runner takes the wear and tear.

Taddie Tales said...

Thanks much Joy! Now if I can only get the guts to just rip it all out!

Robin said...

Oh these are wonderful! I'm enjoying reading through your blog! Thank you so much for visiting me today!

Lisa said...

Hi Joy! i've just come across your blog and I LOVE it!! Who would have thought to paint the dollar store wreaths, you i guess! I am a question about the landing. is that also press board? if so how did you finish the edge. i have been dying to rip off my carpet cause with 3 small dirty hands a dog and a hubby my carpet it terrible. i am in luck cause my treads are pine, we have a slight curve in the stairs so we have two landings and they are made out of plywood. i am just not sure how to finish the edge so you don't see the crack where the riser meets the tread. This is the only thing that keeps me from ripping off the darn beige carpet!

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