5 Ways to Makeover Your Staircase

Add distinction and character to plain old stairs with these 5 creative tips. -THE EDITORS OF THIS OLD HOUSE

See more staircase upgrade ideas at thisoldhouse.com.

Salvaged Light
1. Go Salvage Shopping

Wiring runs from the basement through the newel post to light this ornate, late-19th-century pot-metal salvage find. A unique way to illuminate a stairway for safety.

MORE: How to Use Salvaged Building Materials in New Construction

Attic Library
2. Library Landing

A long run of surface-mount, low bookcases transforms the space at the top of the stairs into a library. The second-to-last one on the right (not shown) is set on casters, so it can be pulled out to access crawl-space storage.

MORE: How to Build a Bookcase

Painted Stairs
3. Tear Out Old Carpet on Your Stairs

How to do it: Refinish the treads and paint the risers white-or get creative and paint a runner-like pattern.

Estimated cost: 1 gallon of white paint, sandpaper, wood putty to fill tack holes, 1 quart of stain, and 1 gallon of clear polyurethane, about $95; Lowe's

MORE: How to Paint a Floor

Storage Under the Stairs
4. Under-the-Stairs Storage

Lighted built-in shelves hold book overflow from the office, which was made smaller to fit the staircase to the new upstairs rooms. Learn how to build under-stairs storage.

MORE: Built-in Storage Ideas

Custom Oak Railing
5. Change the Railings

The quartersawn oak railing on this stairway was crafted from a design the homeowner found in a book on Arts and Crafts houses; she drew it on a napkin for the carpenter to replicate.

MORE: A Beautiful, Remodeled 1910 Arts and Crafts House

See more staircase design ideas at thisoldhouse.com.


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