Over the weekend I finished the stairs makeover!!! I’m excited to show you the reveal rainbow stairs. In case you’re new around here, I had super creaky stairs because stairs had been laid over the original stairs. Here’s how we started out-

You can catch up by reading part 1 of the stairs makeover

 

rainbow stairs

Let’s start with the video tutorial so you get an overview on what I did. Then, I’ll dive in with more details below:

If the video doesn’t work here, you can watch it on YouTube here. P.s. I’m trying to build that page up, so if you’d subscribe, I’d really appreciate that!

Yield: 1 Staircase

How to Redo Your Stairs

Print

Materials

• Paint in colors of choice for treads
• Oak Treads
• Wood Putty
• Screws
• Clear Wood Stain
• Construction Adhesive
• Caulk

Tools

• Table Saw
• Palm Sander
• Caulk Gun
• Angled Paint Brush
• Foam Paint Brush

Instructions

1. Use a pry bar and hammer to remove stair treads
2. If needed, trim your treads to fit with a table saw
3. Sand the treads to remove any roughness
4. Stain the treads in the color of your choice. Use a rag to remove any excess stain before it dries.
5. Paint the stairs the color of your choice (1. Beloved Pink, 2. Shy Smile, 3. Ballet Rose, 4. Coral Fountain, 5. Lamplit, 6. Corn Stalk, 7. Frittata, 8. Frosted Sage, 9. Spring Reflection, 10. Country Weekend, 11. Serene Breeze, 12. Casade Green 13. Watery)
6. Apply polyurethane to each tread with a foam paint brush. Sand lightly when dry.
7. To install the tread, use construction adhesive on the frame. Lay the tread down and then use 4 screws to secure the tread
8. Fill the screw holes with wood putty
9. If needed, install trim to cover any cracks in the drywall.
10. Apply a second coat of polyurethane to each tread. Sand lightly when dry
11. Caulk all seams. Paint the caulk when dry.

FAQ- HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO COMPLETE

It took my husband and I a full week of working at least 3-5 hours on it daily to finish the rainbow stairs. This was a labor intensive project that was made harder because the original staircase was covered up by new steps that needed to be removed first. The amount of time it’ll take depends on what shape your stairs are in now. 

how much did it cost?

I am estimating that it cost around $375 in materials (not counting if you have to buy tools). The treads were $260. $50 in paint. $10 polyurethane. $5 caulk. $30 in trim, $10 screws, $3 putty, and $7 stain.

why is the trim different on each side?

Originally, our stairway was open to the kitchen. One day, we hope to restore this feature (but taking out cabinets isn’t in the cards for us right now). Because of that, the left side was constructed with the sawtooth shape that holds up the stairs. While the right side is held up by the frame.

You can see the issues below. There were huge gaps between the drywall and the treads.

Since the foundation is different on each side, we had to address two problems with two solutions. On the left side, one long run of baseboards was installed on top of the angled sawtooth board. On the right side, trim was cut specifically for each stair and nailed in.

Can I just rip off my carpet on my stairs to make rainbow stairs?

Yes! Definitely! The hardest part with carpet is you just don’t know what’s going to be underneath. Be prepared to remove a lot of staples. Depending on what you find will dictate how you deal with the issue. You might find treads that you can stain or they not be high quality and you’ll need to paint. Be prepared to be flexible!

why not paint the treads white?

I specifically bought these gorgeous oak treads because I love them! Also, I had white stairs in my old house and HATED them! They were a beast to live with. For example, my dog’s would get dirty paw prints and every inch of dirt would show. Every dog hair would show. They looked dirty 99.9% of the time. Yes, they’d be beautiful for photos, but they don’t work for real life.

aren’t you worried that rainbow stairs will be bad for resale?

No. And the reason is that I timed myself painting the last coat of paint on each tread- it took 45 minutes. So with quality paint, in 45 minutes I could paint all of these to a neutral color. I think its always worth it to have the house of your dreams. And maybe, when we sell this house, that person will love the special touches I put on the house. Either way, I’m not worried about it.

will you give me some tips for picking cute paint colors like you did?

Go to the store and get a bunch of paint swatches and then bring them home and see which ones you like. Then line them up and switch colors in and out until you like the pattern. The beauty of stair risers is that they are such a small area that it’s pretty easy to envision how they will look on the treads. 

You can also just get my exact paint colors that I use on the rainbow stairs. I specifically choose colors off the shelf in case anyone wanted to use the same colors I did:

1. Beloved Pink, 2. Shy Smile, 3. Ballet Rose, 4. Coral Fountain, 5. Lamplit, 6. Corn Stalk, 7. Frittata, 8. Frosted Sage, 9. Spring Reflection (discontinued, close match Azalea Leaf), 10. Country Weekend (discontinued, close match Willow Hedge), 11. Serene Breeze (discontinued, close match Misty Isle), 12. Casade Green (discontinued, close match Ocean Boulevard) 13. Watery. I used the satin paint finish which I bought in a sample can for all of these. Use the Behr Marquee line- it’s maybe a $1, but the paint is higher quality so it’s worth it!

color update

**Update- after having these stairs for a few years and LOVING them, I ended up changing a few few of the colors on the rainbow stairs so the greens and blues flow better. Here’s the colors I used-

 1. Beloved Pink, 2. Shy Smile, 3. Coral Fountain, 4. Lamplit, 5. Corn Stalk, 6. Frittata, 7. Sparkling Brook, 8. Green Aqua, 9. Mirador, 10. Tinted Ice, 11. Early September, and 12. Blue Chalk

If you’re wanting a more sky/light blue, I’d suggest  10. Basin Blue, 11. Balboa, 12. Azure Lake. 

If you’d like to use some purples, I’d suggest Monologue, On Location, and Cyber Grape.

 

We ended up taking down the wall between the stairs and the kitchen during the kitchen remodel and I love how it looks now!

I have kids, should I remove the carpet from my stairs?

It depends on the ages. If you have a crawling baby, I’d leave the carpet until they’re established walkers.

I’ve never told this story on here, but Don fell down our wood stairs in our old house when he was 8 or 9 months old. The baby gate was accidentally left open and he took a bad spill. He was totally fine, but we still brought him to the doctor to verify. It really shook my husband and I up- we want our house to be safe!

This accident was the number one reason why we redid our old stairs and added a stair runner to the middle. I LOVED having a runner because it was safer for my baby. And, it was quieter (especially with the dogs and their claws).

My son is 4 and hasn’t had any falls down the stairs. My dog Lucy has fallen once down the last few stairs. So it just depends on you and your family.

what are you going to hang on the wall?

I have a whole gallery wall planned on the wall! I just ordered the art for it and I’m SO excited to get it up!!! For the left wall, I’ll be doing a rainbow gallery wall with pink than yellow than green then blue art to correspond with the treads. It’ll be really fun and unique- I can’t wait for that step!

UPDATE- you can see the rainbow gallery wall here. 

And you now know the full story of how we redid our stairs! When I painted the first coat of paint on the treads, I walked past and felt like these stairs now belong in my house. They pull everything together and honestly, they bring a smile to my face daily. I LOVE them!!!

If you have stairs you hate, just know that you don’t have to live with them. With some elbow grease, you can tackle those stairs!

p.s. if you’re redoing your stairs, make sure to check out my stairs posts! I’ve redone two stairs now and the other posts will be really helpful!

UPDATE– thank you to HGTV for featuring my stairs in the February 2020 HGTV Magazine! 

Thank you to A Beautiful Mess for featuring my stairs!

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