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Design Dilemma Home Decorating Paint

What would you do with these honey oak stairs?!

2 years ago

We just purchased this home and we are debating painting or replacing these stairs. We do have oak trim, but may replace it with white trim in the future. What would you do?

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Comments (14)

HU-187528210
2 years ago
Wait to see what you do with this whole space.
Don’t spend now to rip it out later.

.....

Ideally I would have the carpet removed ,
Add wood,
Maybe add a runner as well ,
White posts , wood railing
And the ball on top (sorry don’t know the term) I’d do a square.
Rho Dodendron
2 years ago
Are you asking about the steps or the railing? If the railing *I* would leave it until *I* decided what to do with the trim.
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I am doing this even as we "speak!" I am only waiting for drying time between coats. I am also painting bare-wood cabinets and will be painting them all to match. First, I totally agree with ajc71 with the harsher sandpaper. I experimented today and got that crazy polish from the 220. Second, I have also been experimenting with brush-on primer vs. spray-on, and let me tell you, the difference is night and day! I brushed Glidden Gripper onto my base cabinets and doors, and it raised the grain on my unfinished cabs. Not too big a deal, but I did have to go back and re-sand then touch up with primer. Then I spray-primed the unfinished upper cabinet doors with original Kilz (removed them and took them to the garage) and the difference was night and DAY! Not only was it faster the finish was awesome, and coverage was excellent. You can bet your sweet bippie I will be doing the rest of the doors with a spray primer, even if I have to get something better-suited to pre-finished doors. Stiles will still get the brush-on, mostly because I do not want to have to deal with spray in the house. The sanding will be bad enough. Good luck!
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Hate to be Debbie Downer but If you are a newbie at refinishing - you couldnt have picked a more difficult project due to the intricate nature of a staircase railing ..... as opposed to something flat like table or door. I would see if I could negotiate something with w professional - ie if I was to do the grunt work of stripping off most of the old poly maybe he would give a discount for doing the final futzing with stripping/sanding and applying the finish. If you arent a newbie, if you know how tricky it is to get into all the tiny nooks and crannies and can get your hands on or canfashion some tools for getting in to the small places then what the heck, go for it - it can be a labor of love and so it takes you a while - a post every weekend is a realistic goal. Of course it would be better to do this before the treads are refinished - that goop has a way of getting everywhere If it was the old hide glue you could disassemble it to refinish but I dont know if that's possible with modern glues.
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@Beth, first thanks for all your tips and ideas on the hardware. Good idea to mark them out and good to know that 4" is the min (they sell 3 and 3.5, which are cheaper, so I wondered if that would work. thanks) I know; You had a lot of good ideas on painting. Thank you. I am still waffling on what to do. I guess my concerns w/ the painted floors are the effort to do it and the maintenance (I have wear patterns on my front porch and the kitchen gets more traffic). Plus I want to limit my exposure to chemicals. FWIW, this morning I emailed my house painter to check his schedule if I choose to have him repaint the cabs. (he's a much better painter than I am) Painting would allow me to fix the placement of the holes on some of the cabs (currently, most of the cabs do not have holes). I could also put a cab to the left of the stove. And I made an appt next week with the interior designer who was going to help me pick finish materials etc with the big remodel....to get his opinion of a scaled-down remodel. i.e. how to make this house a better version of what it is without spending a ton of money since I may move in a few years....thanks for all your help! I don't want this to be all about $$$, but everything is so $$$ and I hate the idea of investing a lot of excessive $ that I won't get when I sell. (when my former realtor came over this summer, she kept saying "do what *you* want; do what makes you happy; you don't need to do anything to fix this house to sell it" etc). So I guess my dilemma: what can make it more live-able for me for the next few years. (but possibly longer? who knows?)
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Have addressed your problem a few times. . Strip your railings. It will be easier than you think and use a soya based stripping gel..non toxic. Then top coat with polyurethane, see below, no stain. White and or red oak will likely be underneath that orange railing. The next pic is a before and after of stripping the railing, staining it brown and top coating with polyurethane. These two projects once looked like yours and illustrate separate results. White painted spindles,
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Rachel Lee
2 years ago
The gray walls are making the yellow worse. If you keep that, paint the trim and stairs.
arcy_gw
2 years ago
Nothing unless you plan to continue what you do to ALL THE TRIM OUT. I agree it's the gray that's the problem. The oak is beautiful.
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Celery. Visualization, Rendering images
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Gray is neutral color and with wood going very good :-))
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Jilly
2 years ago
I agree with others — the gray and that tone of oak clash and are jarring.

I’d repaint the walls first, then see how you want to proceed with the stairs.
woodrose
2 years ago
,Celery. Visualization, Rendering images yes gray is a neutral color, but it depends on the wood it's paired with whether it looks good or not. In your first picture it's paired with a light wood, which looks good. I don't like the kitchen in the second pic at all; there's something about it that's not working for me, perhaps the gray countertops.

Rachel's wood is bright and the gray makes it look brighter. I do love that shade of gray. My bedroom is nearly the same color.
Suki Mom
2 years ago
The gray paint looks purplish in the pictures. A greige paint would go nicely with all your wood.
littlebug zone 5 Missouri
2 years ago
Yeah, gray is a neutral but that doesn‘t mean it goes with everything. Besides, gray is out of style and it’s a sad color, IMO.
decoenthusiaste
2 years ago
Away with gray! Its really getting old! Sage green works well with golden oak. Probably easier to paint the walls than all the trim.

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Shasta
2 years ago
I would paint the line oak ceiling molding in your 2 story entry white to match the top hailf of your wall. think that line of oak keeps the entry from feeling open. I might also paint the stair rails white. Right now the oak stair rails grab your attention. There are so many pretty parts of your house that should be the focus instead. I agreee with others that sage green or even a creamy white would be better than the existing gray.
PRO
Celery. Visualization, Rendering images
2 years ago
I agree about gray, just wanted to show it does not bad with wood.
mdefree
2 years ago
If this was my house you have two options light or dark.

Light: paint all trim, doors , and railing sw pure white.

Or

Dark: Gel stain railing dark walnut.
Re do floors 50/50 mix Jacobean/classic gray water popped Duraseal stain.

Trim paint sw alabaster; walls sw anew gray
Angel 18432
2 years ago
Evergreen Frog is the color of the year for 2022. I think it would go nicely with your wood.

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