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Anyone paint instead of stain bannisters/railing?

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Ideal_Rock
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I am wondering if anyone has painted their stair bannisters (just the railings) instead of staining...I have red oak railings and floors that are a medium brown...not a lot of red but not gray-brown...I want a little pizzazz! I was thinking about painting them shiny dark dark dark brown? Anyone done this? I think black will be too much for the space...Thanks...
 

Tacori E-ring

Super_Ideal_Rock
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I think it will look great. Ours is generic (white painted with a wood railing). A friend had painted her''s black and it looked awesome. Good luck!
 

somethingshiny

Ideal_Rock
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From the side of the stairs (because the center is carpeted), you can see the really dark wood step, white vertical rails and really dark wood banister. I love the way the dark wood shows against all the white (it''s actually more pearly colored)

I think you''ll get the same "pop" if you go as dark as you can against the reddish tone of the wood. I''d probably prefer black though, because reddish woods turn browner when they are up next to brown.

stairss1.jpg
 

bebe

Ideal_Rock
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MMM, I have 2 sets of stairs in my house. I have custom iron in the entry and for my "friends entry" my builder installed wood spindles and a wood banister without my approval. I didn''t want that, or at least I wanted to have some say. I was stuck. But just 2 weeks ago, someone said to me why don''t you paint your spindles black? Hmmm. Good point I thought. I''m thinking about it, but you go first!!!! haha.
 

pennquaker09

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Date: 7/28/2008 7:03:26 PM
Author:moremoremore
I am wondering if anyone has painted their stair bannisters (just the railings) instead of staining...I have red oak railings and floors that are a medium brown...not a lot of red but not gray-brown...I want a little pizzazz! I was thinking about painting them shiny dark dark dark brown? Anyone done this? I think black will be too much for the space...Thanks...


Can you snap a picture for me?
 

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Ideal_Rock
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Thanks guys! I''ll take a pic tomorrow....!!
I''m not brave enough to do anything but the rail!

Shiny- so that is stained? Looks really nice...I don''t know if my oak will take a stain that dark...
 

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Ideal_Rock
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OK guys...here are the best pix my cam phone can take....I'm obsessed with this...I'm sitting her not looking for a job but thinking about my railing...haha....

So anyhoo...it's not a huge grand staircase so I'm worried the black might be WOW not in a good way...and that brown will be blahhhh brown....should I just stain it to match the floors...

The floors aren't quite as dark as they look in this first pix...the bannister hasn't been touched yet (it remains golden oak like the floors were when we got the house)....

There will also be a railing on the wall....It will mount to the wall but have a nice curved start that cost me like 50 bucks for a piece of wood...whatever...
There is also a second staircase in the back off of the kitchen but it's narrow so I'm thinking stain is the way to go for that stair...maybe that's the way to do it...see how that looks first....

Paint?
Stain darker?
Stain to match?
I'm obsessed. With a lot of things
7.gif
Did you ever feel like you can't clear your mind of the stuff that doesn't matter?

bannister.jpg
 

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Ideal_Rock
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It is just impossible that she is not in a picture ever. It''s like radar. There is actually a dark painted piece of wood on top of the rail here...I''m not sure that helps.

Thanks!

wall.jpg
 

Tacori E-ring

Super_Ideal_Rock
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I have the same stairs (but carpeted) I want to replace them with something more modern (like the ones in flipping out perhaps
18.gif
) Is the wood in good shape? Not sure I would do anything if it is.
 

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Ideal_Rock
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Don't even talk to me about Flipping Out. I mean is he good or what? I have to say he's a little more modern than I am at heart...I mean I'd like to be that modern..but I'm just not...I try to get little bits of stuff in there with the traditional stuff...I guess that's transitional...?

I can't just leave the bannister that original light oak! Perish the thought! LOL....It, along with the new wall railing, will need to match so something has to be done....it's a lot lighter in person.... I think I am going to put shoe molding where the riser meets the tread...I was just playing around and it looks cool...

Anyhoo...it's so hard to tell from pix...thanks though! :)

I don't think you need to replace your stairs! I've seen black treads and railings...that looks awesome if your space can handle it....mine surely couldn't...or why not just get rid of the carpet? My stairs had carpet on them before we refinished...
 

Tacori E-ring

Super_Ideal_Rock
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I love the stainless steel/horizontal railing he has (though would NOT be child friendly). I love his style and am that modern (if only I had more money to gut my house! haha!) I thought about getting rid of the carpet but figured they might not be as safe and rather wait until we refinish ALL the wood (we want a darker color than our medium oak. Yuck. I hate oak). My friend who was in interior design school says I should paint the railing black. Kind of scared though. We did put Minwax revolve (on our living room floors) and the result is amazing. Might do some good on the railing.

ETA: I am spending my time trying to convince DH to replace our kitchen back splash and redo our powder room....(plus we need all new lights)
 

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Ideal_Rock
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See, now you''re afraid to paint it black too! LOL...
Yeah, not sure a new slippery staircase and metal rails is child friendly LOL..
Well, get to work on the lights first and then ease your way into the backsplash LOL...
 

Tacori E-ring

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Actually I think we are going to do mini slate subways. We have gray corian that we aren''t changing until we gut the kitchen in 5 years (give or take). Light fixtures are tricky b/c we don''t want to go broke and we need a HUGE one in our foyer...
 

somethingshiny

Ideal_Rock
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I love your hallway! I don''t think I''d do the black on the spindles or on the risers, but you could definitely paint the top of the step and the banister itself black. (and I would incorporate some black or black-framed artwork) Although, I have a hard time painting really nice wood, and it looks like your steps are lovely. Another option, and much harder, strip the banister and stain it and the step the darkest walnut you can find. That way you would save the integrity of the wood, really make the feature pop and not clash with your wainscoting.

btw-mine is stained, but it''s original 100 yr old wood, so it''s really darkened over the years anyway.
 

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Ideal_Rock
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Thanks Shiny! We had the steps and floors refinished when we moved in (they are nice red oak floors that were stained this really 80s color)....The wainscoting was there...So there is no way I'm painting the steps..and the painters just came to finish painting the spindles and risers...it was really just the bannister...
I think I"m just going to go ahead and stain it to match (same color) and ask them to leave it on longer....the good thing is that the back staircase isn't really visible so I can play it by ear...Ugh! Thanks so much!
36.gif
 

pennquaker09

Brilliant_Rock
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I would stain the railing darker to match the floor and I would put a nice fresh coat of high gloss white on the balusters.
 

dani13

Ideal_Rock
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Date: 7/31/2008 5:23:32 AM
Author: pennquaker09
I would stain the railing darker to match the floor and I would put a nice fresh coat of high gloss white on the balusters.


Ditto, Penn!!! That''s exactly what I would do too!!

Love your house, mmm!!!!
36.gif
 

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Ideal_Rock
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mini slate subway sounds awesome tac...i wish I did a mini sub to tell you the truth...I''m pretty much a sucker for any subway tile really...

ok guys, so stain it is....i''ll just have them try to match the floor as best they can...i''ll be ok if it''s a touch darker..they were really hoping I''d paint them haha...i know it''s so much less work for them...but I paid for it so screw it!

thanks for all of your help!
 

Tacori E-ring

Super_Ideal_Rock
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MMM, I actually would LIKE it stained darker than the floors...maybe an ebony
18.gif
I love subway too and luckily DH likes to tile. Though I know he wants to do something fancy behind the stove (picture frame with different shape tile inside). Hopefully it won''t get too busy.
 

Miranda

Ideal_Rock
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Date: 7/31/2008 11:30:41 AM
Author: moremoremore
mini slate subway sounds awesome tac...i wish I did a mini sub to tell you the truth...I''m pretty much a sucker for any subway tile really...

ok guys, so stain it is....i''ll just have them try to match the floor as best they can...i''ll be ok if it''s a touch darker..they were really hoping I''d paint them haha...i know it''s so much less work for them...but I paid for it so screw it!

thanks for all of your help!
Yep, I think it will be lovely stained the same as the floor or a touch darker. A tiny bit of contrast is nice. Mine is stained the same as the floors with white balusters and a white running board. You are making me want wood stairs. I put carpet in because of the slip factor with the kids and am hating it because the carpet is always mashed and they get seriously dirty.
 

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Ideal_Rock
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I''ll snap some shots when it''s done! Thanks so much guys!
Tac- it''s funny...my hubby couldn''t care less about any of it...as a matter of fact, for $60 bucks, I''m having the floor guy tomorrow and put down shoe molding where the brown meets the white...it looks awesome in person and really finishes the look since the stairs are old with some slight gaps b''w the treads and risers...

Miranda- leave it to me to get other spending money too LOL.....I say off with the carpet! LOL...What I would do is remove the carpet...stain or paint the treads...and then you know those cool carpet tiles called Flor (expensive but so cool)....I''d put those down just on the treads..they have amazing solids and patterns too....they are really low pile and removable...
 

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Ideal_Rock
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Here- these are by a different co...these are crazy expensive ...but just to give you an idea....you can totally find cheaper carpet tiles..
http://lizaphillipsdesign.com/winks.html

They also might look nice with your super stainless steel kid friendly bannister Tac! LOL
 

Miranda

Ideal_Rock
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You ARE a bad influence girl!!!! OMG, I totally love the FLOR do-dads! What a fab idea to use them on stair treads. I just added that to my list of projects!
 
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