Wednesday, March 25, 2015

How to Paint a Stairwell Without Hiring Help

Note: This is NOT a sponsored post! Also, please excuse the horrible pictures. The upstairs hall has zero natural light and is dark and shadowy. Most of the pictures in this post were taken by my phone or worse...at night with my phone. Ugg! ;)

Guess what? I painted the stairwell all by myself! Without hiring a painter! I'll admit that I'm ridiculously proud of myself for accomplishing this. I have droned on and on to my husband about it multiple times. Basically, I geek out about it every time I go up or down the stairs. You'd think I just landed a rocket on the moon. :)
In our old house, we took one look at the high stairwell and called our painter. He was reasonably priced and did a fabulous job! No regrets there. However, this time around, I knew that the money to hire a painter would not be in the budget for a long, long time. My options were either wait another year or two or figure out how to paint the stairwell myself.

I've been working on a gallery wall for my upstairs hall and didn't want to hang it on dingy, old paint, so the gears in my brain started turning. I remembered a little edger gadget I picked up on a whim a few years ago that I enjoyed using. I had recently noticed the new models were improved and could accommodate an extension pole. That was my light bulb moment! Behold... the $5 gadget that allowed me to paint my stairwell by myself without hiring a pro or needing to buy a special ladder for the stairs!
Image Source: Lowe's

Not only can the new model attach to an extension pole, it swivels all around and now it has two little guards at the top that keep the paint from smearing on the ceiling, so there is no need for painters tape! My biggest holdup with painting the stairs was that it was too high (we don't have a stair ladder) and I wouldn't be able to tape off or cut in. But, with this little gadget, I was able to cut in without needing a ladder or tape!

I taped off the baseboards and door frames then cut in the bottom portion of the walls with my paintbrush. Then, I used the edger to cut in the top edge of the walls, as well as along the sides of each wall. When I did the sides, I turned the edger backward so that the guards were out of the way and I could get paint as close to the corners as possible. Like so...
A couple quick edging tips:

-Practice a few times first to get a feel for the amount of pressure to apply to the edger and how much paint to use. I edged the walls in my hallway first, then edged the stairwell once I was plenty comfortable with the edger. It's very easy to use, but it was helpful to get really comfortable with it before using it while standing on the stairs with it extended 8 feet above my head. ;)

-The guards flip up so they are out of the way when you dip the edger in the paint. Occasionally, if I got too much paint on my edger, when I'd flip the guards back down, they would get a bit of paint on them that I'd need to wipe off. No biggie, but something to be aware of.

-I found that after I dipped my edger, it was helpful if I ever so lightly ran it across the edge of my paint pan to get off any excess paint.

After the cutting in was done, I stood on the stairs or on the landing and rolled using an extension pole. You know you're insanely jealous of my painting attire. ;)
For the corners, I got really high tech. I duct taped my paintbrush to my extension pole. I told you it was high tech! Haha!
If this method is a little too, um, "rustic" for you, look what I found! It's a corner painter made by Shur Line in the same line as the edger! And, it can attach right to your extension pole! It was $5, so I passed and just did my duct taped paintbrush thing. I know, I'm cheap. But, either way will work!
I won't lie, it was labor intensive and a bit tedious, but it saved me a bunch of money and allowed me to check the stairwell off of my list!
I used the same Benjamin Moore Gray Owl paint color I used in the living room, but I had it lightened by 25% because the hallway is so dark. I didn't want it to look really dark with all the shadows. Lightening it by 25% was the perfect amount--it appears to be the same color as the living room, even with all the shadows.

Ready for a little before and after action?

Before...
After!
I'm giving that light and those gold doorknobs a major stink eye! They're on the to-do list!
Next item on the stairwell/hallway agenda? Hang a gallery wall! I already gathered all the frames and have the layout figured out, but I'm still working on gathering photos and artwork. I'm hoping to have it ready to show you next week! 


22 comments:

  1. What a perfectly timed post just doing our stairwell too!

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    1. Great! I just added a few more tips about using the edger! Good luck!

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  2. That turned out great! I love your color!

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    1. Thanks! I tried literally 8 or 9 different gray samples before I found this one. I'm really happy with it!

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  3. What a beautiful home.... and your paint job turned out so nice. Great job... and enjoy that sense of accomplishment... I love that part too. :)

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    1. Thanks for your kind comments! Of all the projects we've done, this is one of the ones I'm the most proud of. Maybe because I didn't actually know if I could pull it off? Haha!

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  4. Duh on me -- I mean, I know there are such things as edgers but did I think of getting one for myself -- NO! OMG, thank you for the reminder, for I am facing some painting here -- a dark blue bedroom that has to go, but the ceiling, which is painted white, is done perfectly. The thought of going up and down a ladder to tape off the ceiling AND all the trim work -- yech! So I've been putting off the tedious chore, and cringing every time I go into that bedroom. I'm going to look for the edger today online and get one ordered pronto. As for duct-taping the brush to the pole -- a brilliant and inexpensive solution! The paint job looks great, and I love that color.

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    1. Yes, taping and cutting in high ceilings= no fun! Hope the edger helps! I just added a few more tips about using the edger to my post! Good luck!

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  5. Amazing - will definitely be trying these methods out when we finally tackle our hallway...unfortunately we have quite a few rooms to go before we get there. It turned out SO good though. Bravooo! :)

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    1. I so know how that goes! We have three bathrooms and the dining room on our list next. :) I just added a few more tips to my post about using the edger in case that helps. Good luck & thanks for the encouragement!

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  6. I love the paint color you chose! and your high tech idea! :D

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  7. WOW! We have been putting off painting our ugly stairwell for 10 years now because we thought we would have to buy scaffolding. We are actually covering up an ugly gray for white. I too am planning on hanging photos in my stairwell and hall so looking forward to that post.

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    1. Hope this helps! White will look so bright and cheery!

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  8. Great color & I can't wait to see the gallery wall. Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty :)

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    1. Thanks! I can't wait to get it on the wall!

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  9. Hi Samantha! These are great tips! They will come in handy when we redo our stairs too. I love your table and chairs makeover as well! Beautiful job! Feel free to link up at On Display Thursday - love to see you there!

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  10. Stairways are the worst, this coming from a paint-hater, but we are painting ours soon too. Must buy a corner painter! That's genius.

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  11. I am so impressed! We have a really high entry way and stairway that needs to be painted. We got a quote for $400 but I would surely love to save that money. I'm going to show this to my husband and see if I can convince him that we can actually do it ourselves. Nice job!!

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  12. How high are your ceilings? Ours are 9 feet - will this still work? Would love to save the money!

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  13. I have been looking for an answer! We keep putting the hallway off because we thought we would need to put up scaffolding (which all the "how to" videos instruct) or hire someone $$$ I can't wait to give this tool a try. Thank You :)

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  14. I love the way you write -- thanks for teaching me how to paint my tall stair ceilings and for the laughs.

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