Thursday, October 3, 2013

Our House is Infected........With Creepy Hallways!

Two moths ago I shared with y'all how I gave our downstairs hallway a makeover, here. The results were phenomenal and I love everything about that hallway now, there is not one thing I would change...err.. Except the floor which is on the list of things "to do" so I don't count that ;)
I then turned my attention to our stairwell that leads to our second floor. If you've been following along you know that I've been working in my bedroom/bathroom. Those projects are on hold for a bit until my Dad comes at Thanksgiving to help me with some more technical plumbing work. In the meantime I've been busying myself with other smaller projects around the house, I.E. basement organization, and our two upstairs guest bedrooms. The only problem with working upstairs is that I must climb the creepy stairs that belong on an episode of SVU. 





The floor is filthy, don't judge.




Okay, so the stairwell could be worse, but it's a far cry from awesome and certainly not inviting. 


If you follow me on Pinterest, which you can here, you may have seen me pin this cute stairwell pic from Lonny Magazine.
This photo totally inspired me. I immediately knew that this was something I wanted in my own home and I knew exactly where to put it! I think a lot of my decorative choices have been influenced by east coast beach houses. Growing up some of my best memories happened in those beach houses with my family and the friends that became my family. The easy comfortable style of a beach house  feels like home to me and even if I live in landlocked Kansas, I can have grasscloth in my house and I'm that much closer to the ocean. And that my friends, brings me to my next point.... grasscloth.
I love grasscloth and it's made a really big comeback lately. After some researching and a little bit of price checking I decided that I would go with a faux grasscloth instead of shelling out for real grasscloth. You are looking at a difference of $20 per roll vs. $70 per roll and for a space like a stairwell the faux would be perfect. I think if this was a living space like a bedroom or living room I would have opted for the real deal. I chose this wallpaper here, it's Allen + Roth from Lowes. I read a few blogs before I bought and both ladies used this exact grasscloth and it looked awesome- I was sold.


I figured out where I wanted my grasscloth to stop, marked a line and put up my wallpaper.
It was actually really easy and I went up pretty quickly. Although I didn't follow the directions which instruct you to submerge the paper in water to activate the glue, I used a spray bottle of water, waaaaaay less messy.


I then began putting up my board and batten, if you've been around the home decor section of Pinterest very long you know this has become the new "thing".
What I love about both the grasscloth and the board and batten is that they camoflauge how poor looking the plaster walls in the stairwell are. The walls are just really patchy and they are pretty uneven. The texture of the grasscloth does a really great job of covering imperfections in walls.


After all of my MDF trim for the board and batten was up on the wall I painted and painted and painted.


I then stripped, stained and sealed the wood floors and handrail, using the same method as I did here.


And of course added photos(which I haven't finished yet).



(The floor is dirty again, don't judge)

I think the longest part of this whole process was all the touch ups, I had to touch up paint, and then add caulk and then paint again over and over. It was a long precess but totally worth the time and money investment.




There are still a few things left to be adjusted, like these "lovely" light fixtures, I'm thinking something lantern-esque, in oil-rubbed bronze.


The ceiling also needs to be addressed, it too is patchy and uneven like the walls and right now it's a weird tan color which just makes the area look dark.


But before I start on those things I think I'm going to take a day or two and just enjoy my newly renovated, non-creepy stairwell.












2 comments:

  1. Your hallway turned out gorgeous! Just like the inspiration photo :) I love that you saw what you wanted and just went for it! Can't wait to see the lantern lighting :)

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  2. This is such a HUGE transformation. I have also been pinning the grasscloth and board and batten look! Loved this so much I chose you as one of my features at Give Me the Goods Monday Link Party last week! Thanks for linking up! So glad to "find" you :) Looking forward to seeing more cool projects!
    http://www.commona-myhouse.blogspot.com/2013/10/give-me-goods-sunday-features-29.html#comment-form

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