It's Only Been Two Years....

We like to think about projects and "discuss" for a long time before we can agree. Over two years ago we redid the stairs by replacing carpet covered plywood with old pine treads. Of course the handrail and ballisters had to come down to do this. They were little ordinary spindles you can buy at any home improvement store and we wanted to replace them with something special. Something more in keeping with the style of the house. Only we couldn't decide what. I liked the idea of plain flat kind of mission style but JD had an idea for something he wanted to make.  We needed 24 of them and it just seemed like such a daunting project. Plus he was thinking of cutting them out of particle board and I did not like that idea. No matter how you paint it, it always looks fake. So after two years of apologizing to everyone who came in the house about the lack of a handrail; plus frequent discussions of how one of us was going to fall down the stairs, it was time.
 
This is what he came up with and I love it!
Every step was a slightly different height and each one had to be trimmed and fitted to each step.

We used a wipe on varnish to finish them.  I know most people would have painted everything white but I like a little black in a room. I'm torn between a cottage/farmhouse look and a log cabin/rustic look. I think this definitely has a cottage look, but it's not so girly.

Now I need to work on a picture gallery for the stairwell.

Sharing with Open House Party at No Minimalist Here* Coastal Charm Nifty Thrifty Tuesday * Common Ground "Be Inspired"* French Country Cottage*Funky Junk Interiors*My Romantic Home