BEFORE: The stairs lead up to an open walkway, which accesses the bedrooms, loft and full bathroom. Obviously these stairs were originally covered in ancient (totally disgusting) brown carpet which also adorned the living area.

The risers and treads on the staircase are made from plywood, which is something I totally expected. I thought I’d simply paint the stairs and then apply a pretty runner. But on closer inspection, these stairs aren’t even paint-worthy!

The original builder of the house had applied random bits of wood at the front edges of the steps where the treads and risers meet. I’m guessing the purpose of this was to give the effect of a bullnose edge under the carpeting? Also, at the right side of the stairs, you can see there is drywall peeking out between the railing skirt board and the steps. So, if the weird piece-meal steps were not enough, this rough drywall sandwich was certainly very daunting, as I hated the idea of having to disassemble the railing!

I originally pictured something like this indoor/outdoor carpeting by Dash & Albert on the stairs at The Shack. The geometric pattern is both rustic and modern at the same time, and I love the visual interest it provides!  That modern geometric pattern almost reads like a Navajo blanket or rug, to me.

Here’s another great inspiration image found on Pinterest (isn’t that cute little dog just the best?). This photo is actually closer to what the stairs at The Shack would look like, since the treads and risers are painted white. This particular staircase also includes a skirt board on the left (which the stairs at The Shack is missing). The skirt is almost like a baseboard for your stairs. These can be pretty tricky to install after the stairs are in place, however.

After mulling things over for quite some time and weighing out all our options, we’ve finally decided to just go ahead and replace all the old treads and risers on this staircase.  This way, we can cover up that old drywall peeking out on the right side and create a real bull-nose with the treads. We also plan to add a skirt board on the left side, to give everything a finished, quality feel (of course, I can never choose the easy route).  Our plan is to paint everything white, then apply a pretty geometric runner up the center of the staircase.  I’ve also decided to add hardwood flooring on the landing area, to match the rest of the main floor and upstairs walkway.  This will tie everything together nicely.

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