Home Decorating – Painting an Outdated Wooden Staircase

Many American homes that were built in the 30s, 40, 50s and 60s have the typical stairway that you see as soon as you come through the front door. Often times that staircase is narrow and looking up the stairs; the hallways leading to the second floor can seem very dark. A great, inexpensive option to modernize an old staircase is with paint. Painting real wood stair parts is easy as long as you prepare properly and never cut corners when it comes to the quality of paint and brushes you work with.

Very popular paint finishes for a stairway include high gloss in bright white or a subtle off white to truly brighten up the area. For an urban chic, modern look, use darker colors and choose a paint with an urban matte finish. Rich chocolate brown is very popular right now.

Here are a couple of key points for painting a staircase without any troubles:
It is imperative that you remove old paint or stain so you have just the bare solid wood to work on.
As soon as all the last bits of paint and stain are gone, sand the wooden treads and risers and spindles and hand rails using a fine grit sandpaper to get a smooth, ready to paint surface.
Be sure you select the best quality floor paint you can afford. If you are uncertain, consult with a paint specialist at Home Depot, Lowe’s or your local home decor store and get advice. You want to buy a hard wearing, durable product that is a snap to keep clean, will give you the color shade you want and will hold up for a very long time.
Always apply a high quality primer coat to all stairway parts including the steps, the wood risers, the solid wood balusters, wood newel posts and railings. If you see that the wood really soaks up the primer severely, let the first coat dry fully and then apply a 2nd coat of primer. Allow to dry for a full twenty four (24) hrs.
Use superior quality painting brushes and rollers to ensure a smooth finish and brush on the first coat of paint. If possible, allow twenty four hours between paint coats. If you have removed the old paint correctly and chose a good quality floor and staircase paint, you will only need to apply two (2) coats. In certain cases, you might need to add a third coat, which is often the case for deep base colors such as lipstick red and royal blue.
Do not allow your family to walk on the stairs until it has absolutely dried. For fun, apply the last coat of paint on Friday late afternoon and then get away for a family weekend away and come back to a brand new stairwell.

The best thing about paint is that is affordable, you don’t have to hire an expensive professional and it is never permanent. If you really are disappointed the final look, you can always do it again!