So, you guys all know that I’ve been working hard on transforming my kitchen and making it awesome, right? I am so close to being done with that bear of a project, and I can’t wait to show you guys the after pics (hopefully soon, fingers crossed). Anyways, the kitchen is looking super great and all, but the basement stairs, right off the kitchen are looking un-tyte. Something had to be done. I couldn’t just make my kitchen all amazing and wonderful, and leave the ugly beigeish-greenish basement hallway, oh, and those light fixtures.
I’m glad I did it, and it didn’t take too long either. Only 24 hours later, and my basement stairway is kinda looking magically babelicious (yes, I’ve been watching Wayne’s World). This is the part of the project where I JUST WANT TO BE DONE ALREADY. 24 hours in real life right now is like 2 weeks in kitchen life. In my brain, this is all becoming unbearable, just like every big project seems to get at this point. I had to convince myself that painting this stairway would be worth it, and I knew I’d be mad at myself for leaving a project unfinished.
It didn’t cost much to do this project, I used the last of the wall and trim paint that I had used in the kitchen. I went nutzo with the spray paint again and painted all the door hardware flat black, no more brass! The cheapy wood railing got a nice coat of white paint and now it doesn’t look half bad. I replaced the lights with exterior sconces for less than $13 a piece that picked up at The Home Depot (I gotta thank my buddy Colz for that bit of inspiration). I dug through my stash of old friend artwork and made a pseudo gallery wall. I used washi tape from Two Berry Creative to hang the artwork, since I didn’t have frames on hand, and I think that’s just fine for a basement stairway.
You may have noticed that some of the plants and knickknacks are from other parts of the house, I’m always pro taking from what you got. Plus, now I have an excuse to buy new plants for my living room down the road.
Just pretend you didn’t see that photo of me there
And you may remember the shoe storage cabinet that I blogged about last spring. This thing is still alive and kicking, and I love it. Having shoe storage on the main floor has really changed our life at home. Now everything is mostly organized, most of the time (expect when I am renovating the kitchen). I love a life without shoe piles, and this cabinet is pretty easy on the eyes to boot.
I love this, but I don’t know how you get it all done. My stairwell to the basement is similar to yours, though tinier. We both have to duck going down stairs. I never thought about improving it because it is such an ugly part of our house, but now I’m inspired, and I’m going to steal a lot of your ideas. I love the scones and the cabinet. Our shoes are outta control. Now, if I could just get the guts to paint! Question: I see that your stairs have that edging stuff screwed into them. Did you put that on? Our basement stairs have it, and it isn’t in good shape and I’m always afraid one of us will get cut by it. I should probably replace it.. Another question: do you use regular old spray paint to spray your nobs or a special kind? Have those nobs been stripped first? Okay, I’m done with 20 questions… Thanks for the inspiration.
I bet our stairway is similar in size, these pics (and the new white walls) just make it look bigger, the tall guy has to duck too.
Regarding the stairs, I assume you’re talking about the brass edging strips? No I did not paint them, they were just there. The floor over in this area is pergo, and I’m guessing the strips hide some ugly edging or something.
Yes! I use rustoleum spray and primer in the flat black. I did this on the back door too, and so far after a month there are no scratches or signs of wear. I didn’t do any prep work, it was a weak moment of making something better than it was, as fast as possible. All I did was mask off the area around the knobs and then went to town with light even coats of spray paint.
Things like basement stairs are so boring, but it really does improve the feeling of your home if you make the boring things pretty too. Good luck!
Looks great! Your blog has seriously become my fave. I’ am behind and never commented on your counters in the kitchen, but those look amazing!!!! I am also in the midst of shoe pile hell around here, and have been eyeing one of the Ikea units for a while. Thing is, our nearest Ikea isn’t really all that near… Can we talk about the back of that shoe unit? Is it a solid piece or is it open? The spot that I am thinking of putting it has one of those neat old heat vents on the wall and it sticks out. So if the shelving unit is flush on the back, our piles shall remain… because putting them in the closet is just too easy. :)
Can’t wait to see the full kitchen reveal. Loved what you have done so far!
Hey Lori,
Thanks so much! I’m glad I’ve got you coming back to see what I’m up to on the reg ;)
I gotta tell you about the shoe storage cabinet. The back side has 3 slats to keep the shoes in, one slat per shelf, but other than that is open. Also, it comes with legs, so if you had a heating vent right there, you could put the legs on, and the shelf would be elevated off the ground. I chose not to, because this upper-stairway is like a dust magnet, and I would lose every small toy in the world under the cabinet if there were legs on it.
The only thing I’m disappointed in is the top of the cabinet bowed with only having the lamp on it. This is the only time I’ve experienced this with an Ikea product. I’m kinda bummed about it. Maybe I just got a bad piece of MDF or something, I dunno. I still love it though, and if the bowing got way worse, I would go out and buy a replacement in a heartbeat. Shoe storage has changed our little world.
I love this! Our back stairs are very similar too, and I gave them a mini makeover last spring, but this is inspiring me to add a few more touches. I wish I had your door though! Ours was replaced at some point with a hideous monstrosity with a brass-trimmed “decorative” floral glass pane. It’s wretched. But that whole hallway is so out of square that I’m really scared to try to replace it! Would love to find something more similar to yours though!
Loving that Target arrows rug turned upside down! Just flipped mine and it gives the room a whole different look.