Laowai

I have projects rattling around in my head. Projects like painting my stairs.

I’ve been pondering painting my stairs for years. The goal is to make my house un-boring. To add something handmade that gives a little moment of satisfaction as you move around the house.

So over the years I collected photos of painted stairs. I thought about it in the back of my head as I went up and down, up and down.

Pinterest is great for collecting ideas.

And then the catalyst came. I watched a video about Charleston – a home that is painted all over in the most free and creative way. I especially liked the painting done in this dining room. I was inspired to begin!

So I developed a toned down design for my stairs. I used black and gray because I didn’t want to add another color to my house but I wanted the weight of black.

And then I started painting.

You can see there is a little change in the width of the stairs about half-way down. On the left side of the photo below. Dealing with that small change was a challenge. I ended up drawing a diagonal line from the top to the bottom to resolve the issue. So the space on the outside of the the painted rug is not actually even but because it’s gradual I don’t think it’s noticeable.

The painting was time consuming but also meditative. I had to wait until sunny days came, otherwise I just couldn’t see properly.

Here’s how it turned out.

This project timeline was long but finally I’m satisfied. Now I’m wondering if I need to/should paint my fireplace mantle black.

More pondering…

And to complete this post – here’s a photo of my handsome boys.