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Piano Keys And Telling Our Story

When our painter friend came to lighten up the kitchen walls I also had him tackle another project.  I have always wanted an entry foyer with a piano key staircase.  That is the best way I know how to describe that look.  You know white risers and black treads.  I have always been a sucker for anything and everything black and white.  This was a project I could have done myself, but our painter friend is much faster than I am.  He was already going to be painting our vaulted (I don’t paint vaulted rooms) kitchen so why not have him tackle the stairs in between coats?

Here she is – the staircase I have always wanted!

Ack!  I’m in love!  He used an oil-based paint and only applied 2 coats.  I’m sorry I don’t know the brand of paint he used.  I didn’t want a full coverage.  I asked him to let a little wood grain show through so it would look more like a stain.  Painting is much less labor intensive than staining.  There’s a lot less sanding involved as you don’t have to remove the top coat of poly from the wood treads.  He did sand them lightly just to give the paint something to stick to.  I would only recommend using an oil-based paint for a project like this one.  It really is more durable than acrylic.  Each coat had to dry about 8 hours before anyone could walk on the stairs.  Thank goodness we have a first floor master!  The kids enjoyed sleeping in our room for a couple of nights.  We were thankful when the stairs were completely dry and they could return to their own beds.  😉  Again, this is a project I could have tackled on my own, but getting it done quickly was sort of a priority (what with the kids sleeping in our bed and all).  No doubt this would have taken me much longer than it took our professional painter friend.  
I never got a true before picture.  Here’s a glimpse of how they looked before.  
                                 
Is the black going to be easy to keep clean?  I’ll answer that with a question.  Is anything easy to keep clean when you have 2 kids and 2 dogs?  Some of the very best things in life are high maintenance.  Babies and black floors are two of them.  In my opinion – both. are. totally. worth. it!  
As for the “telling our story” part of this post, I added some story telling artwork to the staircase wall.  In addition to giving our entry foyer a sassy dose of snarkiness, I also wanted to give it some history.  I guess I like to let the walls do the talking?   I picked up some frames in the home section of Kroger.  They were marked 50% off and cost $10 each.  They came with a white mat that had three 8×10 inch openings.  I had space for five of them on the staircase wall.  Can you think of anything else of which we’ve had five?  Does five houses ring a bell?  😉  I enlarged a black and white photo of all five of our houses and hung them in order first to last (and current) going up the staircase.  
Here is a close-up of our third.  
That house will always be very special to us.  It is where we went from a family of 2 to 4.  Even though our daughter had only lived there for 6 weeks when we moved to Pittsburgh.  
The hubs printed the numbers and addresses from his computer.  He doesn’t remember what font he used.  This is why I’m the blogger.  😉  My only regret is that we used regular printer paper; card stock would have looked much better I think.  I didn’t think of this until after I had hung them via black command strips on the wall.  Did you know they come in black now?  So great for hanging black frames!  
Measuring and hanging these frames was super fun!  Said in my most sarcastic voice ever.  All I can say is I hope these stay on this wall for a long time because I DO NOT want to go through the process of hanging pictures on a staircase wall ever again.  Make sure you have a partner to help you.  You will need someone to pour you a glass of wine. 😉 
 

Anyone else enamored with all things black and white?  What type of artwork is hanging in your entry foyer?  Have you framed a picture of your house -past or present?

*Linking up here
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  • Beautiful stairs! And the house framed pictures, great idea! I just did our main powder room in black and white zebra stencil and I love it! Also just painted our entryway oak trim white and the banister black! I'm loving the black and white look as well.

  • The stairs are really amazing and such a showstopper. I also love how you personalized the stairway with your homes – that's a wonderful idea. Fabulous work!!

  • Red, white & black are such a classic color combination. It will always be one of my favorites. LOVE the new paint on the stairs.

    Those house pics are just too cute. They really make a statement on the red walls.

  • I swear you impress me more every day. Can we be BFFs? Simply amazing. The stairs and the photos. What a fabulous way to tell your story!

    P.S. I'm still looking for a chair to paint gold. Or something to paint gold, that is for sure.

  • It looks amazing! I wish I had a staircase like yours. Mine is strait and closed off by two walls. I love that you hung something that means a lot to the family – all five homes.

  • Carmel, I seem to have missed this post and am so happy to stumble upon it since I am about to take on our stairs. I LOVE the black treads & banister – it looks gorgeous! And your 5 homes – what a creative idea!
    Your home is so inspiring. And I love you keeping it real about 2 kids and 2 dogs and keeping it all clean. You are right – anything would require upkeep with a real family living in it!
    Hope you had a great weekend….Lisa

  • I saw this on Pinterest and had to seek out the actual post (the link was just to your blog). I grew up in Chesterfield so it piqued my interest. I might have to go be sneaky and take pictures, or use inside pictures, but we've lived four places since we got married (7.5 years!) and I think this would be so sweet!

    Jessie

  • I love this idea! Love it!! We moved around ALOT when I was a child and my parents are STILL moving! My dad was just transferred south and they will be moving in two weeks so I may create something like this for them as a housewarming gift!
    BTW- did you notice Mr Goodwill commented above??!??!! Thats like blog royalty!!! Love your blog!

  • I'm totally doing this and I have always wanted to! I have pics of all the homes we've lived in including the house that we went from 2 to 4 in… 🙂 Your ideas are just so, so great!

  • Your stairway (and your entire house) are so beautiful! How are the black Command strips holding up? We are planning a gallery wall with six 20 x 20 frames (7 lbs each), but wanted to see if you'd recommend the black strips.

  • Even though the #3 caught my eye, it was the address that drew me in closer. I could tell it said Virginia which was cool because I live in VA. But when I clicked on the picture and saw that it said Chesterfield, Virginia, THAT was awesome!! Why? Because I live in Chesterfield, VA! How cool is that?! Great idea and one I am sure we will do as well. Although mine will not be 5, that's way too stressful just thinking about it! Take Care!

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