Removing carpet on stairs and transforming our upstairs hallway! Spring break projects

Removing carpet on stairs and transforming our upstairs hallway! Spring break projects

• 3.29.2019

It is safe to say we had a very productive spring break! Basically, we mapped out our year early this year and figured out that because of Jason's school schedule and a few small trips we have planned, we had a little time spring break and then a couple of longer chunks in the summer to do house projects. And we had quite a few on the project list!


For our spring break project, there were a lot of things that we thought about but we decided one manageable chunk (that would definitely feel satisfying to get done) was removing the carpet on our stairs upstairs. It’s the only carpet left in the house, it’s probably 40+ years old, and it was really gross! Of course, before we did that, it made sense to paint the walls. So we had to commit to a couple of labor-intensive tasks.

We also want to add a handrail to that stairwell and improve the posts so it’s safer for the baby to be upstairs. This was also pretty much the last large expanse of wall that needed fresh white paint after we painted almost the entire house Sherwin Wiliams Alabaster before we moved in. I do not enjoy edge painting around all of our wood trim, but it had to be done!

We recruited family to watch the baby a couple times so we could have a couple really productive days, and we fit in plaster patching; painting walls and ceiling; removing carpet, padding, tack strips, and staples; and cleanup in basically a long weekend. (We also had fun with a trip to the children’s museum and some quiet mornings over the break!)

We still have some details to finish in this area, like replacing the light switches and adding new plates and picking and installing a light fixture.

That is the original light fixture and it's really cool--ornate mold that looks like carvings, probably had a convex glass shade under it once. But it's not really my style and now needs to be replaced. I want it to coordinate with whatever I put in the downstairs hall, and haven't chosen that yet.

We also will need to install quarter round on the landing (and much of the rest of the house)--it was removed in a lot of places when they installed the carpet, and never put back.

We also need a runner now! I'd like to install something, but just haven't gotten to shopping for it and reading tutorials yet. I'll put that on the project list, but since we don't go up here much at all right now it's not a priority for safety or anything.

So that's our project! Felt SO good to get something done on the house, and check that off the list!