Gray railings, the painting in the dining room before I finished it, and the built-ins aren't shown. Now for the updated photo:
Much better, or at least more true to life--and eons away from how it looked when we first moved into our home last April:
While both Chris and I do prefer the oil-rubbed bronzed railings, they still feel very stark to us. Hopefully down the road, we'll be able to upgrade them all together. As far as process goes, especially when it comes to cutting in near the carpet, I used the same technique I did when I painted the railings gray. You can check out that video here.
I think our staircase holds the record for the most amount of transformations in a single year in our home. You can see how it looked when we first moved in above.
Then, I added a slew of artwork:
Then the railings and spindles got a coat of gray paint:
Then I simplified things with a few family photos:
Then the railings and spindles got painted again:
While the ornate spindles aren't exactly our style, we are loving the classic oil-rubbed bronze look that will appeal to a broader group of people if we don't get the chance to change things before we sell. Not that we are planning on selling our home anytime soon, but we don't plan on being here forever and when we're making decor decisions "what is best for resale" is definitely always on our minds.
So it took a month. Okay, over a month. But now it is done and it is the weekend! Any fun plans? We hope to make some progress in our entryway revamp and check out a new restaurant in town. And who knows, maybe Greta will even want to sleep in! :)
Leave a Reply
WE'RE CHRIS + JULIA
Portfolio
Projects
What color is the gray on your walls in the foyer? Looks great!
Wow! Those look SO much better! I would enter the giveaways, but I don't have a place to call my own! Rats.
wow, it's amazing the difference! the ornate railings are not my style either, but it is seriously AMAZING how modern the ORB paint makes them look!
LOVE LOVE LOVE the dark railings!
They look great! The starkness makes them look sharp.
Julia, I just love all your ideas! Keep it up!
I love the way the railing looks in ORB. Great transformation. I actually really liked it grey too.
I had a few bags before, but I think they ripped in the many moves we've done. They aren't too expensive, maybe 3 bags for $12-15 I think. They seriously work SO good. I've used them before for traveling, especially when all 3 of us need to use the same suitcase. Not helpful if where you're visiting doesn't have a vacuum lol. We ALMOST made that mistake when we flew to Portland for my bros wedding last September.
It looks awesome and so modern. I seriously love it.
Very classic look, for sure! I like it a lot!
Hot damn! These crisp ORB stair rails look AWESOME.
Looks so good, I will be showing my husband that railing tonight. We need to update the one we have. Just did a mini reno in our kitchen, and the railing we have does not match up to it.
Staci, no we didn't spraypaint. They actually make a brush-on version, too! We used a product by Rustoleum called "Painter's Touch Ultra Cover Premium Metallic Paint" in Oil Rubbed Bronze. You can catch all the details and even a shot of the can in this post from when we painted the smaller railing: https://chrislovesjulia.com/2012/03/losing-sleep-over-clashing-grays.html
How did you paint them? Not with ORB spraypaint, surely! What kind of paint did you use?
That sounds so rejuvenating!! I have so many clothes that I don't wear anymore or don't fit me (I was a chub when we first got married!) that I just want to get rid of! The vacuum seal bag is such a good idea. Do you have one??
I am jealous of your gorgeous weather, it's supposed to be thunderstorms all weekend here. :(
I always know when I don't win a giveaway. No text. No nothing :-( waaaaaaaah! Hahaha just kidding. I hope that gift card goes to someone who really needs its!!
I LOVE the dark railing. Super sophisticated. What a transformation! That first picture when you moved in is seriously horrific. Like, gag. You and Chris have mad skills!
This weekend: park with Brinley who is dying to run around in the sun (and have some playtime with daddy), target to return a dress I ambitiously thought would fit for longer than 3 days- word of the wise, linen and pregnancy do not mesh, possibly playing outside in the sprinklers since we have gorgeous weather all weekend, and a treat for me- cleaning out my clothes. Winter stuff. Old stuff. Stuff I don't wear. All must go. I wore my winter coat one time this winter! I don't know what to do with it all. We have tons of coats! Thinking I'll do the vacuum seal bags for the coats so we have them, but they don't take up massive room.
I'm always impressed that you can make something that already looks spectacular-- look even better!