Finally, the stairs...

Dear Martha, Thank you for your fun and creative ideas. Where would I be without you?

What the wood looks like when it's sanded and stained. The 'stuff' in the corner is filler. I wouldn't do this normally but my initial reaction when I took off the carpet was to paint the stair. After a bit of labour I saw the wood, grew interested and decided to keep it bare. The house is divided as to whether we should keep it this way or cover it up using some other method.

And here they are in all their glory. Before they were carpeted in a REALLY ugly pink/beige carpet... shagalishous. This carpet is still hanging out in 2 bedrooms and the master on-suite. Oh, yah, it's awesome.

Take a deep breathe. They aren't done, again, a trend... I'm all about consistency. I have a bit of filling to do on the sides and the poly needs to be applied but I have to say, I LOVE them. They are rustic and imperfect. In fact, it looks as though someone with virtually NO home improvement experience tried to create something out of nothing and possibly failed miserably. And it's hard work. Don't suddenly rip up the carpet of your house and think this is easy. It will take you LONG hours, tons of sandpaper and a scrape or two (by scrape I mean huge chunks of skin missing from your hand). It was sooo much freakin' fun though. I'd love for them to be over and done with but putting poly on stairs takes an awful long time - there's the whole drying thing and the whole getting motivated thing...