The Big Stair Dilemma

This is how the stairs looked in our home when we purchased it 3 1/2 years ago.

Then we had the carpet removed and hardwood installed. As the golden oak spindles and handrail did not look very nice with the dark oak treads, I painted the spindles Benjamin Moore Cloud White™ and the handrail Black Satin™.

For some reason, I just was never happy with that look, the spindles seemed very stark in comparison to the dark treads.

So recently I undertook the painting of the darn thing again .... Only 48 spindles at one and one half hours per 12 with 3 coats of oil based paint - that should only take ....... get back to me next year on the completion date.

This time I did the entire thing including the spindles in Black Satin eggshell finish and am much more pleased with this result. It is a lovely soft black and the finish looks almost hand rubbed.

As well, I think the dark spindles & handrail blend together very nicely with the dark treads. Because the contrast is not as great as the white, the entire handrail is not as obvious as it was when it was white. I also think the soft black has a much classier look that the white.

Well, back to more painting ........