What colour would you paint these stairs?

[pernod]

Hi all, we are in need of advice

After spending may hours toady sanding, our stairs are now all set for painting.

So, the question is...

If these were your stairs, what colour would you paint them?


So far, the top two choices are:

• White, to lighten the room and blend in with the rest of the white house (aim: brighten the room in a neutral way, we'll then add colour with some large canvas prints)

• A light stain, to make the most of the pine wood banister (aim: might be slightly less 'in our face' than a white?)

Currently we are leaning toward white as the house is tiny and the current wood is rather dominating in the room. Likewise there is no other wood anywhere in the house for these to blend into... but thoughts and advice would be very appreciated!

Painting will start 9am tomorrow so any thoughts before then would be very appreciated.

[CO2000]

If all the skirtings are white then white it should be, what finish were they before sanding ? clear varnish ??

but if you do go the light stain route then you can always go white later, not easy the other way round !

[AlexanderV8]

Personally, I wouldn't paint them. Perhaps a stain to even things up & then wax.

If you are worried about not having anything in the room to match the wood, when you decide to replace the carpet, why not go for a wooden floor and some rugs.

[pernod]

CO2000 said:

If all the skirtings are white then white it should be, what finish were they before sanding ? clear varnish ??

but if you do go the light stain route then you can always go white later, not easy the other way round !

Thanks CO2000!

Previously they were darker stain which was horrible!

I think the only reason we are hesitating is because going back from white will be impossible as you say, and removing the darker stain has already made a massive improvement.

[grumbledoak]

I'd leave them and get a wooden coffee table to match. Once you've painted it is hard to go back.

[remedy]

Paint the verticals white and varnish the bannister/bottom? Best of both worlds. That's what I did.

[pernod]

Thanks for all the input guys...

Still leaning towards white but will sleep on it and see in the morning.

What doesn't come out in the shots is that the opposite wall is white and very bright as it has two wall lights... that currently makes the stairs seem even heavier. Will have a think in daylight in the morning

[Tiggsy]

white - they look like a giant loft ladder as it is and no shade of varnish will alter that.

[Laurel Green]

I'd go for a pale mushroom on the sticks with white for stringers and newel post.
Masking tape the treads (two widths per side) will make an easy job of cutting in.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[goldblum]

Change the carpet and the hideous settee instead.

[mat13]

goldblum said:

Change the carpet and the hideous settee instead.

and i presume you live in a show home?

[goldblum]

mat13 said:

and i presume you live in a show home?

because I have better taste than you does not mean I live in a show home...

[andrew186]

i;d say a light stain

natural look is always better

and as someone has mentioned, just get some other wooden furniture to match

[Simpo Two]

I like the colour as it is. White just looks 1970s IMHO.

[FraserLFA]

I have nothing to add,other than i like how you've got a cat and a family member (Possibly) in to some of the photo's.

[anonymous-user]

Quite incredible, you ask a simple question & a very rude person feels the need to chip in!. The light wood looks good in my humble opinion, could you stick with that & use that as a theme for the rest. IE perhaps wooden flooring & contrasting skirtings to suit. I guess you have started now, good luck!

[Simpo Two]

Actually if 'light and airy' is important to you, then changing the enormous dark brown settee and dark red curtains might be a better step than painting the poor old staircase...

NB Like the cat photo!

[Paul Drawmer]

Well, it's 5 past 10, what's on the brush?

Hope it isn't paint.

[annodomini2]

I'd strip the stain back and go with either a golden pine or light oak stain and wax.

More work, but it'll look a damn sight better than painted.

[pernod]

Hi all, so heres the update.

After the general conclusion being to keep the wood, we decided we should take a closer look at that option in the light of the morning.

After a bit more sanding, it became horribly clear that what we actually have here is a very very cheap 1970's pine which has some bad installation shortcuts which really have no good way to tidy them (no wonder they were hidden under a dark stain!).

Based on the fact that dark stain is a no-no the only realistic option is to cover the mess over again using paint.

So we are back to where we started.

Really appreciate all the input though all. At least it meant we took the time to really investigate the wood option. Cheers all!