Around the time Daisy was born we finished our basement. It runs the length of our house, almost doubling our living space. The bulk of the space is a large “family room” where we can watch TV and the kids can play. To make it feel less “basement-y,” Matt installed nice flooring, we had pretty columns built around the lolly columns, and we installed wooden banisters, but we did not renovate our staircase. It turns out rebuilding stairs is really, really expensive, and the stairs themselves were solid. They were just ugly, thick, basement stairs. We said we would just carpet over the stairs, but we always put the carpet funds towards something else.
One day skimming through Pinterest I came across the idea to make your staircase look like a stack of books, and I decided I didn’t even want carpet on my stairs. I want books. I painted the front of each step with a different color. I then used my Cricut and some permanent vinyl to cut out the “binding” of the books. I finished by covering them with a clear varnish in case they peeled up. The tops of the stairs still look like basement stairs (constant foot traffic makes sure of that), but the face of the stairs are super cute.
Now if you didn’t know I am an insane over thinker, you know that now. I am. It’s a huge crippling problem but I am working on it, OK? Anyway in this instance some of my over thinking helped. See whenever I want to paint something, I do not just go to the store and buy the color I like. I go buy several samples and paint a small part of the wall or object. Then I look at the wall or object over a period of days, at different times of the day, to see which shade works best at all different angles of sunlight. (Yes, it sometimes takes weeks to decide on paint colors). This is both time consuming and leaves me with lots and lots of paint samples. Bad for clutter, but perfect for each “book.”
My over thinking did hinder my deciding which books to create on my staircase. The lists and rankings of my favorite books – you wouldn’t believe. How could I pick just 10 books? How? I decided to use the side of my staircase as well.
I even added board books and nursery rhymes. Each book has a special place in my heart. These are books that interested me as a child. Books that taught me how to read. Books that taught me how to love reading. Books I hope I can share with my children. Books that had me crave adventure. Books that remind me how much I love a good mystery.
Books that inspire me. Books I couldn’t put down. Books I initially hated but grew to love. Books that people are surprised I even spent the time of day to read. Books that made me want to read other books.
Of all the projects I have done in the 15 years I have been in this house, the staircase is still my favorite.
