A much needed improvement with staircase makeover

I decided to get rid of the carpet upstairs and replace with laminate wood like floors.  As I searched for floors I could not find stair treads or noses to match the floors that I liked.  This became a problem because the staircase was carpeted and had a landing.  I love to look for new ideas and solutions to problems on Pinterest.  This is where I found my staircase makeover solution.

Once I found a solution for my staircase all I needed was a little paint, a runner and lots of elbow grease…

After I made a decision on the look I wanted for my staircase I needed to figure out how I would treat the landing.  I had a plan in my head but I wouldn’t know if it would work until I removed the carpet to see what I was dealing with underneath.  I was hoping and praying for good sturdy wood on the treads and the landing.  Many times you will find a cheap plywood and I knew that would not look good painted.  Here comes the elbow grease of this DIY project!

Removing carpet from the staircase was not a lot of fun!

The hardest part of this project was dealing with the carpet, the pad and the staples.  After the carpet was removed the pad came up pretty easy on the sides but had been glued down in the middle.  I was able to use a scraper to get most of it off but then had to deal with the glue.  I decided to do each step one at a time first pulling off the carpet and pad and then removing the staples.  This allowed me to control the amount of debris I created and made for easier clean up.  I knew I would not finish all in one day so I thought it better to take it a step at a time.  I was pleasantly surprised that the stair treads and headers were a good solid oak wood.  I knew they would look great painted once they were sanded.  Unfortunately when I got to the landing I was not so lucky.  It was a cheap plywood…

Dealing with the landing and ugly plywood.

I knew I wanted my stairs painted all white and I was able to find a great runner from Dash and Albert at http://annieselke.com. I had recently used some white mdf board to plank a popcorn ceiling and I decided this was a great solution for the landing.  It turned out great and created just the look I wanted.  I was also in the process of changing out all the trim and baseboards in the entire condo so I was able to add the new baseboard and a shoe mold on the landing.  I used a porch and floor paint from http://www.sherwin-williams.com in the same color as my walls.  With two dogs I knew I needed a heavy duty paint that would not chip or peel. I love the final look and they are holding up great!

DIY instructions for this project:

If you are interested in the details of how to recreate this project yourself, please look for an upcoming post that will give you all the information needed to complete.  It will include all tools, materials and step-by-step instructions.