Banister remounted!

 This wasn't even on my short list of interior projects, but it's completed and checked off!

The banister clasp had broken and the rail had been propped up in the hallway for a while.  Re-intalling it wasn't a big deal, (once I figured out which aisle the clasps were in). Choosing a paint colour for that portion of the wall caused the delay.

It had been a cold, blue white for a while, one that I did not like but wasn't sure what colour  the rest of stairwell was going to be. Yesterday I tried Cameo Stone but decided that had too much colour for the downstairs, (the lilac side of Cameo Stone was too apparent). Today I wanted it done, so I grabbed the half quart of Classic Gray plus 50% deeper and splashed that on. Perfect -neutral, warm, adds depth and accents the architectural detail. IT diffuses the black stairs and rail and transitions well with the upstairs wall colour ... so yeah, Kills it!

Now I just need to caulk the seam and paint the trim.  Another goal of mine is to empty some paint cans and that's coming along well too.

Stairway to wonder

Outdoor stairways always pique my curiosity. Similar to a winding road, and what is around the corner, I wonder what lies at the top of steps. In my home town there are 3 long stairways that disappear into trees.  I eventually made my way up each one to discover where they led and what was on top. There is one more in my town that I still need to investigate.  Here, in Istanbul, I captured several mysterious stairways.

I will return and discover their treasures.

Stair riser inspiration

My stair risers have been scuffed up since I moved in (9/23/09). And the pillars had gotten pretty nasty. It's a favored perch and rubbing pole for the cats. The pillars don't clean so well as the previous owner did a quick paint job with either primer or very flat white paint. No wiping clean here. Pushed to boredom (putting painters tape on living room wall to paint stripes...YAWN) and disgust, I took the can of white paint that I had and started to paint over the dirt freshen up the pillars and risers.











I would love to take the risers one step further and do something fun like this:

source: The Styles Files

source: The Styles Files

source: Vintage

source Home Beautiful

I like the wallpapered flower steps shown here Apartment Therapy as well. That looks doable.