Stairs Makeover 2.0

You can check out our original Stairs Remodel here if you haven't seen it. 

The stairs were carpet when we first moved in. We removed the carpet and the gross green slate tile and it looked like this when we were done.

As I stated in the original post, we wanted the risers to be bright and contrast with the dark wood. So, I decided I was going to install bead board on the risers and paint them white.

My first step was to paint the stringers back to white. I know, I know...after all that hard work stripping and staining them! My husband was not impressed when I said that I would be painting them white again but this is the only way to achieve the look I wanted.

 I don't know if it was because my house was built in the 60's or if it is just the nature of stairs, but a lot of the stair risers were different dimensions. They were off by a quarter to a half of an inch here and there so each stair riser had to be measured and cut to fit. Since the stairs fluctuated a little bit on the dimensions, I decided to use the boxed, pre-cut bead board so I had more ability to trim to fit where it was needed and I didn't have to trim every piece. I cut the bead board to fit each stair riser with my chop saw then labeled the back of it and lined it all out by stair on a piece of plywood. I used my paint sprayer so I could get nice even coats of paint. I did about 2 coats of paint and figured I would have to touch up by hand once they were installed. 

I started by gluing the bead board on with liquid nails, then used our nail gun to nail them into place in the seams so you can't see the nail holes as easily. There are gaps at the tops and bottom of the risers so I added some small pieces of trim to cover those and caulked the rest of the seams. 

Here is the final product along with the freshly painted door, picture ledges, and new window trim in the foyer. Click on the links to see more information!