Masthead header

Hello my stylish friends. I need your help.

So I finally got the other bannister stained.  I am in love with how it turned out.  On the time and energy scale, this part of the project scored a 7.  It wasn’t as hard as I thought, but it did take a little longer than I planned.  And no, I am not counting the 6 months that I procrastinated getting the second bannister stained.

You like?

The next step is to paint the spindles white.  This will BY FAR be the most time consuming part.  I briefly thought about sanding and sating them all, but then I gave my head a shake and moved on to plan B.  Plan B will look just as awesome.  I hope.

But that brings us to my dilemma.  The stairs.  I originally hoped to sand and stain them to match the bannister, but this isn’t possible.  The wood is different and for all the work involved, it won’t likely turn out how I want it to.  This leaves me with 2 options:

1) Leave them alone.  I detest this option, but I have to consider it.

2) Paint the stairs white.

3) Try to match the stain and paint the stairs dark brown/black.

I’m leaning towards option #2, but I need some advice from those who know what they are doing.  You know, the opposite of me.

Help!

 

January 27, 2013 - 9:41 pm

Cathy - I’m no decorator, but options 2 or 3 both sound good. Both would look great with the dark banister. Looking forward to the end result. (I’m like you and procrastinate lol)

January 28, 2013 - 10:38 am

Claudia - I’d go with option 3. You want the stairs and banister to ground everything, and spindles to pop.

January 29, 2013 - 2:52 pm

sean - Looking at the pictures before reading the rest I was thinking of how nice it already looks. I know you dont like option 1 but it is really the best option. Give you time for other home projects.

February 3, 2013 - 2:43 pm

Krista Brosseau - Hmm – I have to agree with Sean – I actually like the 2 tone brown…

February 17, 2013 - 2:50 pm

KP - I love the new header and site redesign…it looks fabulous!

March 7, 2013 - 4:17 pm

Cathy - From a person who doesn’t have a clue what to do:

I like option 2, as well. It will brighten your stairs up and they won’t get scuffed with the carpet over them. (but check in with your ‘professional’ friends! lol

March 7, 2013 - 4:21 pm

Cathy - …..but on second thought, maybe the white might be too much with the spindles. See? If I were doing this, nothing would get done! 🙂

March 26, 2013 - 1:32 pm

Cousin Jen - Looks great! I would paint the spindles and go from there… I like option 2, but I would only paint the risers white, not the tread.

So…

We just got back from a week in this magnificent place.  We were visiting Dan’s side of the family.  It was my 4th time in the Rockies (Jaia’s 3rd and Wes’ 2nd) and I was in awe, just like the last 3 times I was there, snapping a ridiculous number of pictures – from the moving car.  And then, of course, 3 times that once we arrived.

This place is magical.

And for the skiers and snowboarders, the fresh dump of 30 cm of snow the week we were there didn’t hurt either…

And guess who took full advantage?

More to come…

January 18, 2013 - 10:42 am

Dan - A week later and my back is still sore from snowboarding through 50cm of powder! We only get out there every 2 years, so great to see everyone and spend some time in the rockies. Minus some gastrointestinal difficulties for the girls, everyone had wall to wall fun!

January 27, 2013 - 9:44 pm

Cathy - Thanks for sharing pics of your adventures in BC. Looks like you all had a great time. I also love your snowshoe pics too!

Me, only older.

Yesterday was my birthday.  Calories didn’t count, I took guilt-free time to workout, and the kids were sneaking around working on treats for me.  it was glorious.

I can’t help it.  I love birthdays and the attention you get to revel in for 1 full day every year.  Thanks to Facebook, I got birthday wishes from just about everyone and I loved every second.

Dan surprised us all by renting snowshoes and Mother Nature played along by providing us with two BEAUTIFUL days in a row to take advantage.  We even saw a white mink (maybe the cutest thing ever.  Really), fed the birds out of our hands  and heard about a porcupine in a tree – though we never actually saw it.

Do you snowshoe?  We weren’t sure how Wes was going to take to them, but turns out he was a master.  Both kids had a blast.  Hot chocolate at the halfway point helped.  Cheers to that.

January 8, 2013 - 1:39 pm

Ed Pundyk - Happy belated birthday, Shannen! Sorry I missed it, but everything went wrong on Sunday. Hope it was a good one.

January 9, 2013 - 8:36 am

Alicia - I`m happy to see it worked out so awesome!!

January 10, 2013 - 7:42 pm

melissa - It looks like you had a fabulous birthday!