The color of our staircase rail never bothered me before, but I started looking at it recently and thought how nice it would look if it was actually a dark espresso color.
Here is our staircase rail before…
So, I borrowed some stain from my Dad and got busy. Oh, and no, I didn’t sand anything. You could though for a nicer finish.
All I did was rub it in with that staining sponge and that’s it. Very simple. Oh yes, remember to STIR, not shake your stain. :)
Here it is now.
Buh-bye orangey-reddish wood! I didn’t do a perfect staining job of course, but it’s a nice update. :) I still need to add a coat of polycrylic as well. But now I want to stain all of our kitchen cabinets a dark color. Are you surprised I didn’t say I wanted white kitchen cabinets like everyone else? :)
I cannot wait till I can start my projects on this staircase wall. I have a lot in mind for it. Hope it comes out as good as it is in my head! :)
xxoo,
Decorchick!
Nice update…really does make a difference if you look at the before and after. I’m gonna go run and look at my staircase now. I’ve never noticed it before. :)
Haha thanks Marien! Yea, never would have thought about it really.
I really like that – nice job!! I’ve wanted to darken up our railing as well but feared it would be too difficult. Did you sand first?
Hey Kyra, I updated my post to say no I didn’t sand. That is probably the proper way to do it though. :)
Hubba wha? You didn’t have to sand or varnish? Sounds terrific (and looks terrific too)!
Hey Lynn I updated my post to say I didn’t sand or anything, but that is probably the right way to do it.
But thank you! :)
Emily it looks fantastic!
Thanks so much Melissa!
What a nice update! I’d love to see how the kitchen cabinets turn out.
Thanks Megan!
so much better! when i did mine the sanding was the WORST! glad to see you got such great results without! :)
Well that was probably the right way to do it I’m sure. :) But this seemed to work too! haha
Such a nice transformation. It really makes a statement now with the new stain. I probably would of had to pain the rail wall after I did this, I am kinda sloppy when it comes to paint and stain, you did an awesome job.
Well that stain I used was water-based, so it wiped up really easily on the wall. I got some on there too but it came off like a champ!
Congrats, that loooks lovel! I LOVE IT! :) – you always do such a good job! I stained all the stuff in my house too! Eek…. NOT FUN!!!
Thanks so much Rebecca! I really do want to do our cabinets but those probably have to be sanded. Ick.
No sanding and varnishing? I Love it! Your rail turned out really nice. Don’t you love those easy, easy projects?
Toodlepeeps
Yes I love the easy ones Lisa! I updated the post to say I didn’t sand, but that I’m sure is the right thing to do. :)
Emily, it made such a difference! I really like it. Good for you! Sometimes it’s just these simple little updates that make a great difference.
Nancy
Thanks Nancy! Yea, pretty strange huh? Simple works for me though! :)
I agree with you on not wanting to paint your cabinets white! A dark stain would be beautiful! I am thinking of doing that myself!
Ohh well let me know if you do your cabinets!
Like the darker color much better. It looks fabulous. Hugs, Marty
Thanks Marty! Yea the darker is way better. Should have done this 2 years ago. :)
I am impressed what a coat of stain will do. What an update!! Very impressed!!
Thank you Maridith!
Much nicer – are you going to board and baton it, too?
Will do the wainscoting going up the staircase.
Love it! It really makes a difference!
Thank you Tina!
Thank goodness someone besides me is a dark stain lover!!! I am overwhelmed with the white trend right now! I think the railing looks amazing and can not wait to see the cabinets.
Thank you Jennifer! Oh who knows when I will actually get to the cabinets. That will be a huge undertaking.
It looks great! Very rich. I love that dark expresso color!! I am assuming the railing didn’t have poly on it before? Otherwise, I would think you’d have to sand to get it to take.
Thanks Lauren. I have no idea if there was poly on there before. I would have thought there was since it was kind of a glossy finish, but I’m not sure.
what a huge difference!
Yes! :)
I’ve been thinking about painting my kitchen cabinets a creamy off white color just because now they’re the dated early 90’s light oak. But a nice dark stain would be fine too. Hmmm . . . I’ll have to give this some more thought. The stair railing looks so much better. I goes much better with the paint color now.
Thanks Patty, I agree. :) Let me know what you do with your cabinets!
It does make a big difference! Really nice!
Thank you so much Veronica!
Nice! Love the contrast.
Thank you Alana!
Looks really nice! I ran out to try to find the stain to get started on my cabinets but the home improvement store suggested sanding, conditioning, and then staining! Now I’m back to thinking I might just paint them. LOL! But I love the change you made =) Can’t wait to see if you end up doing your cabinets 2!
Thank you Robin! Well that is probably the correct thing to do to your cabinets. But I don’t want to do all that either. lol. Maybe I’ll experiment. Haha.
Cool!!! I’ve got a computer armoire that is that orange maple wood… I’ve been thinking of staining it a deep walnut, but didn’t want to sand. I’m going to try it.
Ok, well don’t get mad at me if it doesn’t come out right! lol. I’m sure sanding is the proper way to go, but ya know….:)
What a difference the stain makes…love it
Thank you Annette!
Wow, what a difference! Great tip! Thanks for sharing with us!
Thank you Rebekah!
This looks great! I love simple updates :) Good luck with the rest of your projects. Can’t wait to see how they turn out!
Thanks so much Lindsay!
Thanks for linking up to the Mad Skills party!
madincrafts.blogspot.com
I have been wanting to do this for FOREVER! I have the same rail, and I want to stain it darker. Thanks so much for the “push” to go ahead and do it!
Looks great! This is another project to add to my growing to do list. Thanks for sharing!
I love it!!!
Cute. Another great idea. I’ve wanted to stain our stairs before. But, I think that’s pretty low on the project list…which keeps growing and growing…and growing!
Gorgeous! It is absolutely amazing what stain can do to transform a home! I really love the shade of the stain you used! Oh and I am your newest follower! :)
I think I have the twin sister to your staircase rail and have never thought it could be so easy to transform it from ugly duckling to swan!! I am a new follower and have always been intimidated by my lack of “craftiness.” Thank you so much for explaining everything simply and showing me exactly what you used. First the railing (love the espresso stain) and then who knows…. Thank you for not only inspiring me, but your explanations and pictures give me the confidence I can do it too!!!
That is a great and easy update! Thanks for linking up to the Under $100 Linky Party!
Looks great! What a difference! Love your blog, glad I FOLLOW U ON TWITTER!
Wow, it looks great! Love your blog! GladI found you on twitter!
The color change looks terrific. I would have thought about painting it — but you were 100% right. Looking forward to seeing the next stage.
We have the sweetest Roxy bedding giveaway, $100 value and our new Giveaway Friday! link up party. Please stop by. Jane F.
I LOVE it! I thought it looked totally fine before, then I saw the new darker look! Now looking back at the older color and it just looks wrong! Love the dark look! Thanks for linking up to Topsy Turvy Tuesday’s!
We did something similar with our staircase (though with paint). Isn’t is funny what a drastic change something so often overlooked can make? If you have a free moment, I have a new weekly (I hope!) Linky on my blog called Not “Baaad” Sundays with LambAround. I’d love for you to post this :)