Stain Regret

Good Morning!

In with a post to show that sometimes those DIY projects just don't turn out the way you hoped.  Sometimes Pinterest lies to you.  And sometimes you don't follow your first instinct because you think you should be more practical.  For instance, I really wanted to paint the stairs white, all white with a carpet runner.  But after many conversations with Mr. Windmill we decided to stain the treads and paint the rest white.

Like this:

Kara Herbert Interiors

After taping off all the parts that I didn't want to stain I got to work.  The funny thing is, I pretty much knew the minute I saw the first tread stained, I didn't like it.  But I tried to tell myself not to be so rash.  I finished the project and pretended that my newly stained treads would grow on me.  

But they didn't... 

By dinner time I was doubtful...

By bedtime I hated them...

I had STAIN REGRET!

This is now Plan B (minus the cute little doggy).

{source}

credit for this image...Lovelee Pea

I am going to paint everything white!  Like I wanted to do in the first place.  And then I will be on the hunt for the perfect stair runner so I don't slip and fall and break my neck (or a hip at my age..) Today is my birthday...gulp...the big 44!

My To Do List For Today 

Return the polyurethane (no need for that now)

Purchase some more sandpaper 

Purchase a big ol' can of shellac based primer to cover up the ugly.  

Now for the ugly.  

The pictures seem to mask a lot of the hideousness. 

Stay strong all you DIY'ers!  We are on this ride together.  

(some of us longer than others...uh, like 3 years but whatev')

Love and Blessings!

~Brenda

Apples and Pears

STAIRS!

Hello everybody!  

I know, I totally fell off the face of the Internet.  I've been trying to nurture my inner peace and Kumbaya. I've been taking a break and sort of resetting.  The projects at the cottage, however, have been chugging right along!  

As each piece of the house started to come together, the stairs remained this dark reminder of what used to be.  

The stairs used to be behind a door in the hallway.

This is what greeted you once you dared to 

open that scary brown door.

And then Mr. Windmill started 

ripping it all apart in July 2016. 

 

Here you can see how we removed part of the wall on the very left.  We also removed a portion of the hallway wall and took out the doorway.  This allowed the staircase to have a much more open feeling. 

Here is a view from the dining room.  You can see more clearly how we removed the left wall at the bottom of the stairs.  The section to the very right of the stairs will be our new linen closet.  

Oooh, it's starting to look much better now! 

Fast forward to September 2016.  

The first phase of plastering started.

While I toiled away painting the newly plastered walls downstairs, Mr. Windmill was busy with the upstairs remodel (more on this in another post). This picture is just to reference what the stair railing looked like   before we replaced it and brought it up to code.

The stairs were usable as they were, but they were dinged-up and scratched, had many staple and nail holes that needed repairing, but the worst part.....  

THEY WERE SO SQUEAKY.  

Like wake the dead squeaky.  

So Mr. Windmill set to the task of tearing them apart and rebuilding.

Eeek, and here is what those stairs look like today!

In this picture, you can see the door to the 

new linen closet on the right.

A straight on view.  And no more squeaks. 

These babies are solid!

And a little sneak peek of the upstairs. 

Wow, that was a lot of pictures!  

Sanding, painting and staining is slated to start next week.  

Love and blessings!

~Brenda