How I updated my stairs and added character on a budget

July 5, 2020 in Decor, DIY's

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on these links and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission- at no extra cost to you.

When we purchased the house we live in, it was outdated and lacked character. Slowly, I have updated all the spaces in of my home, creating looks that are simple yet still styled.

One of the last places I updated in my home was my stairway. It had pretty hardwood treads, but otherwise was a blank slate and lacked character. Here is a look at the before:

I had a plan in my head of the look I wanted, and of course, the risers were inspired by the talented Joanna Gaines. In Season 5 of Fixer upper, they updated a staircase with a gorgeous pattern created with small pieces of wood. Well…this mama didn’t have time to cut and install a zillion pieces of triangle shaped wood…. with two little ones running around … I may still be working on that. And if we are being honest… while I was good at math in general, geometry was my LEAST favorite subject!

My Inspiration.
*Image from Pinterest. Season 5 of Fixer Upper.

So… in my true style…I figured out a way to get the look… on a budget… and without all the tedious angles and cuts. Can you guess what I used? Would you be surprised to know that I used a SHARPIE marker? Yep! If you have been following along with me for awhile, then you know I have created a few spaces and transformed them with a sharpie!

One of those spaces is my master bathroom chevron focal wall. You can read all about how I created it HERE. I also added Sharpie Subway tile to my boys bathroom and Sharpie Shiplap to my entryway area.

My master bathroom Sharpie Chevron focal wall.

My boys bathroom with the Sharpie Subway Tile.

Another view of my boys bathroom and the Sharpie Subway tile.

Here’s what I did to update my stairway. I first added in two additional spindles at the bottom- as the spacing was not up to code (and my kids could fit through the spaces). Then I thoroughly cleaned the stairs and handrail. I vacuumed every nook and cranny. Then mopped the stairs with my steam mop. Then went back with a microfiber cloth and my Thieves cleaner and gave everything one final good cleaning.

Before. The gaps at the bottom were so large when we moved in I added large zip ties as a temporary fix to keep my little ones from climbing the stairs.

I added an addtional spindle on each side to minimize the small gaps.

After I installed the additional spindles were installed.

Taping off the areas before I painted the risers and spindles.

Next it was time to paint. I taped off where necessary and painted the spindles and the risers with a fresh coat of white paint. I used Behr Ultra Pure White. I then painted the handrails in Tricorn Black. Once all of the paint was dry, it was time for that “little extra” on the risers.

spindles taped off so I can paint the railing.

I took the measurements of the risers (not all were exactly identical), the majority were 6 3/4″ in height. I created two stencils from cardboard – you will want to use a non-corrugated cardboard- you can find this on the insert from a calendar, or even a cereal box. Once stencil was for the center smaller triangle shape. The other was for the remaining angles.

I first found the center of the stairs and penciled a small tick mark, then used a small straight edge and drew a vertical line down the center of each of the risers with the Sharpie marker. Then I began creating the angled lines to create the look I wanted. I recommend using a pencil initially (at least on the first one) until you figure out how far apart you want them spaced out.