Our new stairwell

Pictures don’t do this justice. One of the first projects that Leo took on was the upstairs stairwell. He spent hours and hours working on them. Sanding, staining, more sanding, more staining, applications of polyurethane to make it spectacularly glossy. He transformed the steps into a beautiful dark walnut stairway from the yellow blonde (well used) wooden stairs. He also painted the risers, the trim on the wall, and replaced the bannisters. And all of this shortly after we moved in! 

Also, we decided to turn the post at the bottom of the stairs into a time capsule of sorts. A few of Leo’s family members dropped off items that Leo put into the post before he finished off the cap and trim....including a letter from his sister Debbie, a family photo (Gladys, Frank with their 18 kids) with a brief history of the family, a special edition hockey card (tribute to The Tragically Hip) from his brother Sam, and special coins his brother Nick tossed in. Maybe someday someone will find them if they ever do a reno job.

Before...

And here we have a closer look at the “before” stairwell. You can see where Leo had added the non-slip tread on the steps for his mom before she moved).

And here we have a picture of the stairs when they’re almost complete.  You can see the green tape Leo put up to remind everyone not to step on the stairs. Unfortunately a few family members may have forgotten about the stained steps more than once. 

And now for the after pics! 

 

And the final Before & After shot 😊

We’d like to eventually finish the rest of the hardwood throughout the home but for now the stairs are beautiful and I think our next project will involve painting...maybe the front hallway?