My project - The stairs

Well, we have the first coat of paint on the walls.  I have to say the second storey is really taking shape!  Next week is going to be even more exciting with the dressing room closets, bathroom built ins and flooring going in.  After that will be wall touch ups, another coat of paint, the installation of the rest of the mill work (12" baseboards, crown moulding, the archway between the bedroom and dressing room and window and door casings) and finally all of our lighting and plumbing fixtures going in!   Marv, the brick dude from Allied Masonry, has also been hard at work fixing the two giant holes in our foundation to look something more like rough openings for windows. 

In the meantime, Kurt and I have started on our own individual projects.  Kurt has been sanding down all of our existing window trim to get it ready for painting.  After that will be prepping the main floor stairwell spindles and our wainscoating for a paint touch up.  He's also learning about how to build a railing around a stairwell opening and installing a handrail.  The last part is in support of my project... making the stairwell to our half storey look and feel welcoming, attractive and safe.  At present, it is none of those things! 

It will be interesting to make this:

 (The Sneak and Smudge enjoying our stairs shortly after we bought our house)

(Our stairs as of yesterday)

Look something more like this!

(Stairwell via Door Sixteen)

Right now, I've removed about a third of the carpet, underlay, staples and those strips of horribly pokey wood they use to apply carpet to stairwells - that is totally the technical term for this just so you know.  The stairs underneath are in really good shape!  The screw-happy homeowner of years past also went to town on the treads but luckily didn't split the wood like s/he did to the fir plank flooring on the second storey.  Really, it's going to require some minimal application of wood fill to cover up the screw heads and a sand down to get it all ready for some white paint.  We've also picked up some adhesive tape with grit to make the painted surface less slip and fall friendly.  I know those strips may not add to the beauty but, as someone who has bit it down this particular stairwell on more than one occaision, I'm going to acquiesce a bit of style for safety. As for the risers, Kurt is going to friction fit 1/4" plywood to clean it all up and then I'll either apply wall paper or hand made paper to give a pop of visual interest and colour.  The walls are also being painted out a fresh white and we're attempting to figure out how to install a handrail up the left side.  Last but not least, I need to figure out how to light the area a bit better without actually having to pay an electrician to install a new light as that's not in the budget right now.  D'oh!