If you’ve been following along with my renovation on Instagram, you know that we discovered that the stairs were once open to the kitchen! AND NOW WE’RE OPENING UP THE WALL AGAIN!!! Sorry to yell, but I’m so excited! I thought I’d share the plan for the kitchen stairs so we can all geek out over this development together!
How it happened
My rainbow stairs are one of my favorite parts of my house! Sadly, they’re closed on both sides. I’ve always wondered if the right side had once been opened to the kitchen.
Then, as part of the construction with the kitchen, we started to open up the wall and look what we found!
A finished wall where the stairs once were open to the kitchen. It had been closed off in the 90’s in order for more cabinets to be added to the kitchen. To figure out the date, we looked at the tag on the paneling that we removed that covered the studs. In addition, there was a growth chart on the drywall from the 90’s that covered the studs on the wall.
So we decided to restore them to their former glory and open them up once more. This will be true to the original kitchen and bring in more light to the kitchen. Two of my big goals with the space!
I am so, so excited that we decided to move forward with taking the wall down! It wasn’t in our original plans, but I believe it’s 100% the right plan! Now the rainbow stairs can be viewed from even more angles in all their glory!
the plan for the kitchen stairs
After looking at my stair inspiration, I selected the items for the new rail system for the stairs. For this project, I’ll be working with LJ Smith who is gifting me the product.
balusters / newel post / hand rail / stair bracket
Above, with the rendering, it might look like it’ll be too honey oak 80’s looking. But, with the balusters being white and the finish on the hand rial and newel post being white oak, I think it’ll look like a modern take on a traditional staircase.
The balusters arrived already and so I held them up so you can get a sneak peek!
I love how clean and sleek the balusters are! I think they’ll be magical with the rainbow stairs!
Looking forward, the rest of the pieces arrive next week . I’m excited to having the stair more safe and becoming a real beauty!
In another small development, we removed the paneling and it exposed original tongue and groove bead board! It’s lovely, but there’s a huge hold in it, so it’s not salvageable. Luckily, the wallpaper I have planned will still work great!
OK, who’s excited with me for the plan for the kitchen stairs?! Won’t this be so great! I love that now the stairs will feel more open. They used to feel claustrophobic with two walls and tall and narrow steps. I can’t wait until Christmas when I get to add a festive garland!!! It’s going to be good!
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Thank you to LJ Smith for sending me product for this post. All opinions are my own. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.