Upstairs, Downstairs

Projects around the house can deplete money in a savings account quickly. If it isn’t the cost of the materials, then it is the expense of the new tool that is needed to do the job correctly. Granted, the cost of the tool is usually less than it would cost to bring someone in to work on the project for one day, but it adds up fast.

As Nick worked on the mantel today, I decided it was way past time to finish up the project that was my very own brilliant idea from this summer. Seeing as I had the summer off from teaching, I thought it would be a perfect time to “renovate” our staircase. Since enough money was being spent on our wedding, I thought this could be a low budget/high labor project. I was right about the amount of labor it took, and it hasn’t cost too much money (yet- but that will change as soon as we decide that the front door does not go with the staircase!). My biggest expense so far has been sandpaper. I tried out Norton’s 3X, and have been quite pleased with it. It definitely does a great job if you have scrapped &/or stripped most of the paint off first. My estimate was that if we started in the end of June, it could be complete by Labor Day: boy was I wrong!

I finished sanding the newel posts and was able to stain and varathane them, as well as put the last coats of varathane on the landing. One more light sanding for the trim on the newel posts and a final coat and we will be done. (I just wish the walls looked as nice as the stairs!)