The landing and stairs makeover didn’t cost that much, but it took time, patience and a lot of skill. The before and after pictures below show briefly what was done, and boy! this took a lot of work. This is why it’s known as the extreme makeover job. I did all of the work myself, apart from putting in the spindles. This is great news because it means you too can achieve this look.
First of all, let’s look at the landing makeover. After the old, stained carpet was removed, we were left with raw, damaged floorboards. One of the things that irritated me about the old landing was that there was a solid plywood at the top of the stairs (on the landing) blocking out essential light from entering the area. My idea for this extreme makeover was to replace the old banister and plywood, with a new one, holding spindles. I also wanted to strip the floor boards, but before this was done, some of the damaged ones had to be replaced.
The landing extreme makeover
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| old floor boards on landing had to be replaced |
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| the torn, red curtains on the stairs window also needed to go. |
The natural light was there, (coming in from the stairs window) but the solid plywood (seen below) prevented any of it from reaching the landing.
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| floorboards are done, paint is finished. Time to get rid of plywood and let in some light |
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| landing and stairs, extreme makeover finished |
The completed look! Light flows from the window now that the thick red curtains are gone, and the solid plywood separating the stairs and landing has been removed. Notice the detail I added with the kewel and decorative moulding on the the edge of the bannister. I got them from a builder’s yard for next to nothing. A bit of glue and some paint later, and they look like they’ve been there for years.
Now the stairs extreme makeover
Before: original stairs
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| old stairs covered in red carpet, creaky stairs, too-loud decor |
Before: the side of the stairs
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| the side of stairs was a solid, dull white |
Before: middle landing area
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| floor under carpet was a total mess and literally filled with holes |
Before: holes in stairs
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| holes like these filled the entire stairs. This picture is of the last stair |
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| finally, the holes in the stairs were filled. |
After removing the carpet, rotten underlay and carpet grips, I filled all the holes with wood filler. There’s still lots of work to be done, though. The large creases/gaps between the stairs and the backing boards have to be filled and the entire stairs still has to be sanded in preparation for painting. This indeed, was an extreme makeover! I spent an entire day behind the stairs, screwing and gluing the pieces together to get rid of some of the creaking.
After pictures of the extreme stairs and landing make over
After: new stairs
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| new stairs are fabulous to behold |
After: the side of the stairs
Notice, the kewel (little bubbly thing on the left) makes a nice touch to inject some elegance to the finished look. I added the colour stripes with all the paints I used in the hall area. This is easy to achieve with masking tape, even if you haven’t got a steady hand.
After: the middle landing area
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| the landing creases are filled and painted |
You may be able to notice some damage at the very tip of the stairs. I couldn’t replace this, but with the holes and creases taken care of, the new paint does a good job of disguising it.
After: bottom step is given some class
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| strips of paint makes the bottom step all better |
A whole lot of work later, I added a combination of colours at the bottom of the stairs. These are all the colours used in the hall/landing area, so the look flows charmingly.
Little touches like the kewel and decorative moulding just below the bannister (in the before and after pictures below) make the overall effect of this extreme makeover something to really add elegance to the area and wow your visitors. Little touches to make your home beautiful add up to give an overall impression of style.
Before
After
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That looks like a major project. I'll bet it is going to look fantastic when finished. We do all of our own repairs and make overs too, it is time consuming but the rewards are worth it.