A QUICK AND EASY WAY TO GIVE YOUR STAIRCASE A LITTLE PERSONALITY...

When I first saw the staircase in the farmhouse.....I had a vision and instantly knew that I had "big plans" for it when we started the remodel.  I remember when I was a little girl I would have sleepovers with my best friend Sarah, who lived in a great old farmhouse on the family dairy farm.  I absolutely LOVED going to her house.  The layout of that house reminds me of ours now.  As far as I was concerned....she lived in the the coolest house ever.  All of the kid bedrooms were upstairs and her parent's room was downstairs.  I remember running up the old wooden steps constantly and thinking her room was in the clouds since you could see forever out the windows of her bedroom.  Growing up, my family always lived in a traditional ranch house that was all on one level.  I so badly wanted to live in a house with stairs....I remember begging my parents to build a two story house when we moved to the farm.  

When we first looked at this home, I will admit that I fell in love with the staircase and immediately went back to being a little girl at Sarah's sleepovers.  I had big plans for these stairs and quickly sketched out my vision on paper and Pinterest so I wouldn't forget all of my ideas.  

The stairs were covered with carpet and the banisters were in desperate need for some TLC.  I followed my "no carpet...we live in the country...rule" and got that carpet out right from the start.  We removed the entire section of railing from the top and down the steps and decided to go back with a very simple and straight rail/banister replacement.  I was lucky enough to find a carpenter that shared my passion for beautiful restoration of staircases....and the rest was history.  This one is probably not as "fancy" as the staircase in our previous home, however in keeping with the authenticity of farmhouse style, we decided to keep it as close to what may have been found back in the day.  

As for the numbers....all I can say is I have a thing for numbers!  I guess being an educator makes me love letters and numbers alike.  I have numbered the stairs in our last two homes and still love the character that they give.  Many people ask me why?  My only response is "I just like it" no more no less.  It's been fun to see my kids count the steps as they go up and down, we have staged photos of them on the number representing their age, and once my husband watched me tumble down the stairs and explained how it happened describing the exact step number from which it all started.  

I also chose to add a photo collage to the wall on the staircase in this home.  I am in desperate need of updating a few of the frames, however, its fun to look back each day at the kids when they were so little.  This is a very easy thing to do anywhere in your home.  All you really need is a blank wall and a mixed variety of black frames.  I remember having frames that were a little on the ugly side and with a good can of black spray paint I had great frames in just moments.

My last love of this transformation is my sputnik light.  I realize that "back in the day" that would NOT have been the light you would have seen in the staircase.  That's where I go a bit outside the box.  I love modern country and when I first saw this light....I knew it was "the one"  The funny thing is ....I had admired this style of light from Restoration Hardware but knew the $900 price tag was waaaaayyyy over my budget.  When I spotted this little jewel at Lowes for a dandy little price of $198....I was all over getting that thing in my cart!  That has been part of the fun we have had with this project.  I will search high and low for the "high end look alike" and must admit....I am pretty good at finding the item most of the time.  

Here is the Restoration Hardware-high end light.....

Thanks for all of the kind words regarding my new blog.....I have really enjoyed sharing our adventure at Tall Oaks Farm.  I have a wealth of ideas for future posts!  Stay tuned.....