Refinishing the Stairwell

Happy Friday, friends! Today is my birthday – I’m a quarter of a century old and really excited about what the next year holds! I don’t know yet what’s in store, but I have a very distinct feeling that it’s going to be wonderful. Before I tell you about this week’s house project, let me throw out an idea.…an invitation, even. I, Chloe Joy, invite you to send me your problems. Preferably the house/design/DIY variety cuz I don’t know much about cars or babies or psychoanalysis. Got a room that’s driving you nuts? Need a second opinion on paint colors? Not sure where you’re gonna store your holiday decorations? Tell me about it (no, really)! I would love to help if I can, so send me your question to chloejoy@littlehousebigcity.com (or by filling out this contact form) and include pictures if relevant. I think it would be fun to feature these Q&As here once in a while, what do you guys think?

And now back to our regular programming…

Last weekend I had to take a break from all the victory dancing to tackle the buzzkill that was my staircase. The floors were refinished and beauteous, but the newell posts and handrails  were left untouched. I realized kinda late in the process that they would cost extra if I asked the flooring guys to do them, so in a minor lapse of judgement I decided I’d just do it myself. I have no idea how much more it would have cost, but I’m fairly certain it would have been worth the $$ to have them done at the same time as the floors. 

Don’t get me wrong – it wasn’t particularly difficult – just tedious, time-consuming and messy. That said, it did make a huge difference and I recommend it if you’ve got a staircase that could use a facelift. It looks so much better and could be done in a weekend! The folks who renovated the house before we bought it chose generic everything, and poly’d the railings and posts just like the floors. My plan was to paint everything white except the railings, which I’d stain “grayown”, like so: 

Here’s what I needed to get started:

• Sandpaper – 60 grit, 220 grit, & 400 grit
• Orbital hand-sander and Black & Decker Mouse Sander – sorta optional but really helpful
• Tack cloth
• Painter's tape
• Staining brushes
• Oil-based primer
• White semi-gloss paint to match trim
• Stain to match the floors 
• Water-based polyurethane
• Paper towels

Step 1: Sanding

Before I could do anything, I had to sand everything with a rough 60-grit to remove the poly and rough up the surface Then I followed up with a fine 200-grit. I conquered my fear of the orbital hand sander and went to town on all the flat bits, like the tops of the railings and the sides of the posts. The orbital is GREAT – so efficient and it has an attached bag for collecting dust. I wish I could have used it to do everything, but it’s not well-suited for nooks and crannies – of which staircases have many. For those I used the Mouse and a sanding block designed for bending around curvy posts. This was by far the worst part of the job… after seeing how fast and effective the orbital was at getting down to nice raw wood, hand-sanding felt like running a race in a vat of jello. I focused most of my energy on the railings, since those needed to be totally raw to accept the stain, and then I just roughed up the posts which were going to be primed anyway. 

Step 2: Cleaning

Starting out with the orbital sander, there was minimal dust. When I switched to the Mouse my house turned into the Serengeti. You would have thought I’d sanded an entire Redwood forest down to a few toothpicks there was so much dust, and that's when I most regretted not asking the floor guys to take care of the railings. My new beautiful hardwoods were defiled!! I wiped everything down with a damp rag and then vacuumed, swept, and mopped the entire floor. Then I used a tack cloth to gently wipe down the railings and posts again. Fun fact: Tack cloths are literally tacky – their purpose is to grab all loose particles on a surface before you paint or seal it. The ones I got from Home Depot left a sticky residue on my hands that was really hard to get off, so do yourself a favor hold tack cloth with a clean paper towel. 

Step 3: Taping

I taped the tops of the balusters, the floor around the base of the posts & balusters, and the wall behind the long railing leading to the front door. I knew I’d be touching up the stair risers eventually, so I carefully taped those edges off too.

Step 4: Staining

The flooring guys left me a quart of leftover stain, which was a real blessing because I didn’t have to stress about whether it would match the floors. Stain is very watery and a breeze to apply, just watch out for drips. After stirring the can, I just dipped the edge of a paper towel in and then wiped it down the railings in the direction of the wood grain. I stained all sides of the railings, including the bottoms. Just like the floors, it took two coats to get a dark enough color. I applied the first coat Saturday night, let it dry overnight and then applied the second coat Sunday morning.

Step 5: Priming

While the railings dried, I applied a thin coat of primer to the posts and the angled base the balusters sit in at the bottom of the stairs (does that have a name??). I focused on the lower sections first, and then taped off the railing edges after they had some time to dry so I could prime the tops of the posts. I made sure to get a really snug fit with the tape – getting into all the curves and notches so I wouldn’t be priming my freshly stained railings. Keep an eye out for drips. I gave the primer about 2 hours to dry, per the instructions on the can.

Primer

3 Coats of Semi-Gloss

Step 6: Painting

I applied three thin coats of white semi-gloss paint and sanded between each coat with 400-grit sandpaper. I’m not sure the exact shade because it was leftover from the guys who renovated the house, but it’s the same white used on all the trim in our house. While I was at it, I gave the stair risers two fresh coats of paint to cover up the stain marks from the last 2 times the floors were done. Oh Lordy, talk about nerve-wracking! I did not like applying white paint so close to my brand new floors. I was so nervous about dripping paint on the floors or the tape not having a tight enough seal. There were a couple close calls and i had to put my finger nails to serious work, scratching up any paint flecks that dared besmirch the floor.

Risers Before Paint

Risers After Paint

Step 7: Sanding and sealing

Once everything was 100% dry, I lightly sanded the hand railings with the 400-grit sandpaper which made them incredibly smooth. Then I wiped them down with a clean rag, then a tack cloth, and then I applied three thin coats of poly with a brush. I used crystal clear, water-based poly in a satin finish to match the floors. The sealer I used specified not to apply more than 2 coats in one day, so I put on the first coat, waited an hour, put on the second coat, went to bed and then put on the final coat. And that was that! The stair case is lookin' fresh to death! 

Have a great weekend y'all! I'm putting the computer away and spending time with my family to celebrate getting another year older :)

New "Grayown" Floors in Da House

I can't really put into words how excited I am about what just happened here, so I'l have to settle for this: 

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

That's pretty much what Eli and I have been doing since we got home on Thursday night to see our new floors – except in sock feet, obvi! The last 18 months felt like an eternity of waiting to banish the yellow-orange basketball court that was our hardwoods. Dramatic? Yes. But they were so pervasive and affected how I felt about everything else in the house. Having them refinished feels like this huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, and suddenly I feel reinvigorated and excited about the future!

Who knows how much longer I would have put this off if it weren't for you guys helping me decide on a color – so THANK YOU! After we went through that whole process of voting and photoshopping in different options, I was really nervous that I wouldn't be able to translate "grayown" into a real life stain. I dunno about you guys, but I think I got pretty darn close! Let's look at some before and afters, shall we? First stop: the living room! 

Goodbye, Barf Simpson... 

Hellooo, Grrrayown 

When I got the quote for the floors, I didn't realize the newel posts and handrail aren't automatically calculated into the cost. I could have paid extra for them to be refinished, but I figured why pay more when that’s something I can handle myself? I know what I'll be doing this weekend! Just follow my lead and ignore them for now.

I really love how the color works with the kitchen cabinets we painted back in July. The view down there on the left was the biggest eyesore in the house – I was so elated when we finished painting the cabinets and then so bummed when we pulled up the tarp covering the floors. Without all that shiny orange screaming "LOOK AT ME!" I can fully appreciate our handiwork 4 months later. Plus, I finally feel inspired to install the backsplash and under-cabinet lighting. 

The powder room already won the distinct honor of being the first complete room in the house, but today it's looking even better. The previous yellow matched the suns in the wallpaper spot on ... that was definitely not what I was going for! Now this little room feels calmer and more grown-up. It’s still quirky but it doesn’t look like a funhouse or a tanning booth anymore.

Below is the view from the master bedroom. I like seeing this first thing in the morning to remind me that it wasn't a dream – the floors really are refinished :] Those newel posts are mocking me but their days are numbered, and the walls are begging me to hang artwork ASAP.

The darker wood just feels so luxurious... like my feet are getting a little treat every time they touch the floor. Have I mentioned that I love it? I really love it. I chose to go with a satin finish on our redo and I'm so happy with the result. It has this coy sheen that is so beautiful in person.

Okay, so that's enough of the ogling for now. Keep reading if you want to know about the process or cost of getting from A to B. Last week went something like this:

• Sunday (Prep): Eli and I moved our couches, dining table and refrigerator into the laundry room alongside the washer and dryer...our pack-job would get a very high Tetris score. The breakfast nook in the laundry room went up to the guest room, along with the rug and anything else that was breakable. We cleared the kitchen counters and took artwork down from the walls so they wouldn't get covered in dust...the TV stayed up because it's anchored really tightly on the wall and could be covered with plastic. 
• Monday (Day 1): I met the 3 floor guys in the morning to let them in and finalize the color. (Word of caution: make sure you specify if you think you want gray, black or white stain as those aren't standard colors that they keep in the truck) They removed the shoe moulding and taped up plastic around anything we wanted to keep dust free (like the kitchen cabinets/counters, built-ins and TV). Then they sanded a section of the floors to put down color swatches. I had picked up a floor sample from Home Depot in the color that I liked  (Colfax by TrafficMaster), which made it easier for the guys to match. After we decided on the color, they sanded the entire floor and applied the first coat of stain.

• Tuesday (Day 2): In the morning I went by the house to make sure the color was good before they started applying the poly. It was lighter than we'd decided on, so I asked them to apply a second coat of stain. That added about $0.75 per sq ft to the final bill, but I'm really glad we did it.

• Wednesday (Day 3): The guys applied the first and second coats of poly. I opted for a water-based polyurethane in a satin finish because it dries fast and clear. If we had gone with an oil poly, the floors would have needed a full day between each coat and then more curing time after. Plus the house would have been filled with noxious fumes and the color would have gotten more yellow over time. Oil is the classic standard, but water-based just sounded more appealing to me. Word of caution: My friend Sharon had a bad experience with water-based poly which she later learned was caused by using Murphy's Oil Soap (CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post said it was Mrs. Meyer's hardwood floor cleaner – it's actually Murphy's! My B, Mrs. M). Apparently something about the cleaner interfered with the adherence of a water-based finish... super crazy and unfortunate! I almost never mop and certainly never with Mrs. Meyers, so I decided it was a non-issue for us. I'll let you know how it holds up! 
• Thursday (Day 4): The guys applied the third (& final) coat of poly in the morning and installed new shoe moulding. We got home from work around 9pm and did our celebration dance on our new floor!
• Weekend work: I'll be sanding & staining the newel post and handrails this weekend, as well as touching up the paint on our stair risers and caulking the new shoe moulding. Then we'll move everything back to where it belongs and share more "After" photos.

Eli and I stayed with my sister during the refinishing process...technically we could have been back in the house after the first 2 coats of poly went down, but we played it safe and waited til it was all done. One thing I was really nervous about going into the process, was security. There would be strangers in my house when I wasn't home, which is nerve-wracking for me. The guys we hired were fine and didn't give us any reason to suspect they'd steal anything (before, during or after), but we did take some precautions. Eli took his expensive camera gear to his office and we kept our laptops with us. Everything else stayed, including the TV, iMac, jewelry, etc. but other than the TV, we didn't leave anything enticing out in the open. 

The other concern was what to do with our house key. It wasn't practical for us to meet them every time they came or went because of city traffic and needing to be at work. I ended up leaving them my key, which was nerve-wracking again...what if they made copies? Or what if they forgot to lock up and someone else broke into our house? These are things I have to think about in our neighborhood where there's a decent amount of crime. Luckily we have a home security system that we can control from our phones and see whenever a door or window is opened. The floor guys called me each morning when they arrived so I could disarm the house, and then again when they left so I could arm it again. I also let my neighbors know what was going on so they could call the cops if anything seemed awry. Thankfully we didn't have any issues, but I just wanted to share what worked for us since I hadn't really considered it beforehand.

Lastly, the bill. I called around and got some quotes before deciding to go with a local company called Atlas Floors. Here's how the bill broke down:

Sand, 1 coat of stain, 3 coats of poly for main floors	(309 sq.ft.)	$927.00
Sand, 1 coat of stain, 3 coats of poly for stair treads	(103 sq.ft.)	$154.50
2nd coat of stain	(309 sq.ft.)	$231.75
Discount**		-$100.00
Total cost		$1,813.25

** I originally chose Atlas because my friend had recommended them and they were offering an Angie's List Deal. After I had them come out to measure and finalize the quote, I learned that it was a different company called Atlas that was offering the deal. Whoops. They offered me $100 discount to stick with them, and I took it. I'm still not sure which company my friend used, but it worked out in the end.

$1,800 is easily the most we've spent on anything in our house to date, but it also has had the biggest impact. I'm considering it an early birthday and Christmas present to myself. : ] And an investment in my sanity! 

So what do you guys think? Did it turn out like you expected?

Styling a baby's room

Pom Tassel Curtains  | Mur triangle decals | Maskros pendant | Babyletto crib | Help Ink poster | Tally rug | Floor pouf | Glider

No pregnancy news, friends! Today is all about decorating my nephew's nursery. When my sister & brother-in-law learned they were pregnant, they decided not to find out the sex of the baby. It's a challenge to style a baby's room without knowing whether it's for a boy or a girl, but I love it! A room doesn't have to be gendered for an adult – so why do we feel like it does for a baby or a kid? When you take "feminine" and "masculine" out of the equation you start thinking more about the feeling in the room and less about the wall color.

The mood board I pulled together is based around elements Candace had already decided on before having the baby... a blue rocker, a white crib, seafoam walls (Crystal Clear by Sherwin Williams). It was never intended to be a "boy's room" – it's just a coincidence that a little boy moved in. I'm convinced that if he were a she, "she" would still love it because of the feeling it evokes.

In my sister's words, she wanted this room to feel "a little bit cool, a little bit natural, and a little bit whimsical. Very happy, very playful, and not generic." Sounds great, eh? She got a good start without me – painting the walls and picking out furniture – but then a little baby arrived and distracted her with more important things...like kissing tiny toes and cuddling for hours on end. Y'know, the usual. Now she's starting to spend more time in the room & feels like the design has stalled out – something I can wholly relate to. Me being me, I pounced on the opportunity to become the favorite aunt lend my decorating advice.

Before I detail my master plan, let's see where the room stands right now. These are iPhone shots Candace sent me to jog my memory... long-distance decorating is not without its challenges:

It's precious already, right? Candace has great taste, so my job is easy. Her main concerns that I need to address are that it feels too serious and that the blue chair sticks out too much. There's no denying that the accent wall and chair are the stars here. The challenge is getting them to gel with the rest of the room, but I've got some ideas for how we do just that.

1. Bridge the blues

Candace's fear of the blue chair not fitting in is valid – it's dark and everything else is light. They're both pretty, but they don't really relate to each other. Sure, they're both blue, but they're so far apart on the spectrum that they don't have all that much in common. We can bridge that gap by carrying the darker color over to the walls and by introducing a third (intermediary) blue. Here's an illustration of how this might play out on the wall: 

Suddenly the chair feels intentional and at home. On the left, we've got 4 distinct colors: white, gold, seafoam and dark blue (actually called "ocean"!) Four is generally the max for a harmonious room, so it's counterintuitive to suggest adding yet another shade of blue. BUT in doing so (I hope) I've related the dark blue to the light blue so we can group them together in our minds as different shades of the same color. Yes? No? Maybe? Just go with it.

Then I suggest we take it a step further by bringing those darker blues into other elements around the room. And that brings me to suggestion numero dos...

2. Rug switcharoo

I love the current rug because it's really fun & bold & it echoes the triangles on the wall. However, I don't love how it competes with the wall for a starring role. We already determined the wall is the star, so the rug should be content as supporting actor. I'd swap it for something with a subtle pattern that ties in the darker blue from the chair. Here are a few that could work well:

West Elm | Rugs USA | Land of Nod

These obviously aren't plain blue rugs. You could go that route, but these patterns work too because their scale is much smaller than the wall triangles. I personally love mixing patterns at every opportunity... I think it's a little more fun and exciting than committing to just one. Plus it's more of a challenge, so it looks cooler when you can pull it off :)

The second (more important) issue with the rug is that it's one size too small – this is a super common problem because big rugs = big $$ (usually). It's even harder to justify the expense of a big rug when you already have carpet. BUT, if you can swing the cost or find a good sale, I do think it's worth it. Rugs bring in color, texture and coziness that a typical carpet just doesn't have. Plus they make a room feel collected and layered. This current rug looks to be about 6' x 9', but the room, which is about 11.5' x 12.75', really calls for an 8' x 10'. 

2. Lighten up

Candace's house, like mine, has lots of boob lights hanging around. You know the ones... a ceiling flush mount that comes standard in lots of homes and just happens to look like a giant boob. While a nursery is probably the only place where such a light might be appropriate (boob jokes, anyone?), I'd swap it out for something a little more ...err... whimsical. Light fixtures can get 'spency in a hurry, but Ikea and Urban Outfitters have nice affordable options. This Maskros pendant from Ikea (left) is definitely playful... it throws fun patterns around the room. That could be fun for a nursery. The Boja basket (right) is another good Ikea option – this one brings in the natural element Candace wanted. Both of them have a nice texture and both offer a soft, diffused light. 

Maskros IKEA | Boja IKEA

I'd also add lamps beside the rocker and the changing table for nighttime cozy vibes. Nothing kills the mood (or wakes up a sleeping baby) like flicking on the overhead light. Floor lamps are good for bringing in some vertical height, but in a carpeted kid's room I'd worry about it tipping over. Table lamps are a better option, but we don't have a lot of table real estate to work with. Instead, I'd hang a sconce or two. Here are some cute options that tie in the metallic triangles from the wall [confession: the middle light is not A) a wall lamp or B) gold, but it is C) a chime & light in one. And that's pretty cool):

Eyeball sconce UO | Chime pendant UO | Modal lamp Fab

3. Window treatments

Lights are great, but blackout curtains are the real saving grace in a nursery. I really like the ivory ones on the right from Urban Outfitters – the pompoms are playful without being busy, and the arrow curtain rod is cute too. The curtains on the left (from Anthropologie) are even more fun, but they're sheer... Womp womp. No matter though because we can always make our own by sewing some blue pompoms and tassels on regular blackout curtains. The window in the nursery butts up to the adjoining wall, so I'd stick to one wide side panel that ties to the right during awake time and covers the window during the sleepy time. 

Pom & Tassel Curtain | Plum & Blow Blackout Pompom Curtain

4. Stylish storage

The only piece of furniture this room still needs is storage for books & toys. There are a few possible routes we could go: toy bins, wall shelves, or bookcases. Personally I prefer the latter two because they utilize vertical wall space. Right now, all the furniture is the same height, so the room's "skyline" is really flat. I'd like to add a tall bookshelf or a wall shelf hung high to break it up a bit. Let's call it encouragement for baby boy to start standing up :) The books & toys stored on them will almost certainly be colorful, so I'd stick to white shelves to keep it from looking busy. Here are a handful of options. (Sidenote: you can really see here how not white Ikea's white is with #2!)

1. High Rise Bookshelf  | 2. Fjalkinge | 3. Ekby Osten Gallo | 4. Gold Standard Wall Shelf  | 5. Ekby Osten Valter 

5. Add the art

The triangle wall is already boosting our cool, artsy factor, but the other walls need some love too. Candace painted a cute chevron diptych that needs to be framed and hung, and a friend gave them a lovely hand-painted sign with baby boy's name on it. Other than that, I'm on the hunt for some prints that play nice with the color palette. One place I look for this kind of thing is Help Ink. It's a cool organization that features lots of different artists, and for every $5 you pay $1 goes to a good cause of your choosing. I first heard about them through Young House Love, and I like a lot of their smile-inducing posters and typography. Here are some that might work in this room:

Help Ink Prints

Lastly, I want to bring in lighthearted, party vibes with garland and geometric paper hangings... I have a feeling one of these DIYs will come in handy!

Almost Makes Perfect | Design Love Fest & West Elm | Studio Mucci Car Classic Fringe Banner 

That about wraps up my plans for now. You can see what else has caught my eye here on my nursery pinboard. I don't know about you, but I'm getting excited to see this room come together! I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished product before baby boy grows into a toddler ;)

Have you seen any nurseries lately that give you twinges of baby-mania?