Day 3: Stair Makeover and Piano Room

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The minute someone walks into my home, the stairs and piano room are the first things they see. It started as a bit of an eyesore but now I’m in LOVE!!!

Before the Stair Makeover

Here’s what it looked like when we first moved in. Weird pink color on the walls, a cheesy saying with gold lettering and an old tired light fixture. It definitely needed a stair makeover.

I knew the carpet on the stairs needed to go, but I also knew it would be a BEAST to remove so I waited for quite a while before tackling it.

Ripping out the carpet was slow and messy work! I could only do one or two steps per night, but as soon as I saw the original wood under there, I knew it would be worth the effort.

This is one of the darkest areas of our home. The original stain glass window is GORGEOUS but it doesn’t let in much light. Once I learned the banister wasn’t original, I had no problem slapping on a new coat of paint to brighten up the space.

After the stair makeover

And here is the after!!! So much better right?

I added a gallery wall of vintage frames on the stairs and filled them with black and white photos from our family’s history.

I also replaced the light fixture with my favorite chandelier of all time, the VENICE CHANDELIER. If you haven’t heard the story of it, you should definitely go read this post.

The space next to the stairs is quite small, but it’s the perfect spot for our piano. I also splurged on an giant picture of Christ. The artwork is Sweet is the Work by Yongsung Kim and I love how the white tree blossoms reflect the blossoms in the chandelier.

Adding vintage pieces

I wanted to keep things simple over the piano and ended up arranging vintage glass in rainbow order. Some pieces are meaningful from my Grandma Ethel or from family trips, but most of the pieces are antique store finds that I’ve gathered over the years.

I just can’t get enough of colored glass. It makes my heart do a little leap every time 🙂

The piano needed something to ground the colored glass and I was thrilled to find a lace table runner at an antique store that was the perfect size!

To jazz it up a bit, I made my own pom poms for an added bit of whimsy and fun. Does anyone else love pom poms as much as I do?

The only tragedy about this room is that no one currently living in the house plays the piano 🙁

I had high hopes of making all my children learn piano and they all took lessons for various amounts of time, but Isaac broke me. Once he quit, I couldn’t keep anyone else going besides my oldest daughter, Cora.

But when Cora comes home to visit, I melt every time she plays and sings. It’s just soooo beautiful!

So…. in the meantime, we’ll have to be satisfied with Bonesy playing it 🙂

Changes Made

• Removed carpet from stairs
• Painted back wall and stair rails white
• Added rainbow glass to the piano
• Sewed homemade pom poms onto a lace vintage runner
• Added artwork and painted the frame

Lessons Learned

• I had so much fun shopping for rainbow glass at antique stores! First gather what you have, then fill in the gaps.
• Lighting is an absolute game changer!
• Bigger is better with artwork! This painting is almost the exact width of the piano but I love how it fills the space.
• Removing carpet is hard, messy, and sweaty work.
• Audio books make diy projects much more enjoyable.

Resources

• Artwork: Sweet is the Work by Yongsung Kim
• Glass Flower Light Fixture: Venice
• Paint: Wimborne White by Farrow and Ball (color matched using Sherwin Williams paint)
• Rainbow Glass: Vintage
• Lace Runner: Vintage
• Family Picture Frames: Vintage and found in my basement 🙂
• Skeleton for Halloween: Target

Recap and What’s Next?

If you’re just catching up, here are the previous posts in the “before and after parade!”

• Day 1: The Family Room
• Day 2: My Miniature Collection

Tomorrow I’ll be sharing about my nail painting station and the nail polish brand that has changed my life. Seriously… I love it so much.

See you tomorrow!

xo, Tessie