They look fantastic Andrea!

~Lyvonne

holy moly! that looks great!

Tahia - it is a standard black from Porter Paints. I will say this, it is the most expensive paint I've ever purchased - almost $70 a gallon. It went on so smoothly and surprisingly thin. I have 2 girls whose rooms are upstairs and the paint is holding up really, really well.

Thanks Andrea. You've inspired me to do something to my stairs.

I have the same question as Tahia......what is the "black" paint?
Your stairs look great....

thanks

I was initially concerned they wouldn't look good with the wood floors but the contrast definitely worked. All in, it was 30 hours of prep work and painting, not counting the drying. The key is to use good paint and primer and, at the end, use a little tiny artist brush to clean up any little blips. It's been months and they still make me so happy to look at them.

I love it! Love the gray walls too!

Awesome! We just painted ours too, but only the risers and trim. I love the treads painted black, it's stunning!

I was thinking of doing the same thing to my steps but I am concerned how the paint will hold up with all foot traffic. Is there a special coating on top?

cmchugh - no special coating. The key is to do really good prep work (sanding, priming) with the best products you can afford. Honestly, even though I'm a huge Lowes and HD fan, their best paint wouldn't hold up. I went to Porter Paints and bought the best primer and paint they had. The sticker shock was something else ($60-$70 per gallon) but the quality is worth it when you consider how much time goes in to the prep and the project. Some folks have discussed a poly top but it will yellow over time and you'd have to strip it if you wanted to put another coat of black on. I kept mine uncoated and will add another coat of black (after a quick rough up of the existing coat) if I need it. 6 months, 2 active girls, guests and many feet up and down the stairs and it still looks great!

Looks great! Was the sanding of the railing a nightmare? I was having a hard time finding a contractor to sand and restain. So I thought I might just paint it. My railing looks just like yours originally.

cmc - it wasn't too bad. I bought an orbital sander because i was going to need to cover a lot of space. I used sanding blocks for the railing. I think with staining you'd need to sand all of the poly off of the railing first so you'd get an even color. With painting, you don't need to go quite that far. I sanded and then primed and then sanded again. The railing really needs to have time spent on it because you'll feel it every time you use it. There are certain steps I found that work best for painting a railing - under is painted first and the top is painted last. You should be ready to paint the entire top of the railing at one time so you have continuity of the paint because you'll want to take long strokes while the paint is still really wet. That insures a nice and smooth and shiny finish. I have a couple of paint drips (not bad but gloss shows everything) that make me crazy. I could probably sand them out and apply a quick coat but I've mentally moved on from the project now!

Thanks so much for the information Andrea.

This looks absolutely amazing! Great work Andrea!

Beautiful!

So much more distinguished

This looks great, and I agree...the job is only as good as the materiels used. Painted staris....no Kmart paint for this project! :-)

Really stunning. Well done. Can I ask what the wall paint colour is?

What a change...really nice !

Everyone should do this! Sad 2 Fab! Amazing!!

Wow! Beautiful transformation!!

1000% improvement. Looks great!

Looks fab with your new accessories!!

We just redid our stairs in a dark wood, do you think the black railings would go with it?

You did a beautiful job Andrea, it's absolutely stunning! I wanted to do this in my old house, but simply didn't get to it, I'm planning to do the current townhome I live in. Your tips and tricks will be most helpful. I love the updating you did as well. ☺

Wow Andrea they look great!

How very stylish they look now! Well done.

what color is the gray?

Breathe of fresh air

Wow. It looks fabbo! That must have been tricky to do the white rails and black risers. Which did you do first?

Wonderful job! Is so sophisticated. I love it!

Amazing transformation. Always amazed by what color and paint provides. Great bold decisions!

Wonderful! Love it!

It looks stunning! Well done!

Beautifully done! What a transformation!

looks nice

Cloudpants - I had to do every other stair so we could still use them as we only have one staircase in the house and my kids's rooms are upstairs. I would usually work on them while the girls were sleeping. Everything got primed first, then the railings were done (bottom to top - in that order), then the white risers were painted in then, finally, the black went on the stairs. Then I went back in and cleaned up everything with the little paint brush. If you have patience, it can totally be done - just don't rush it and embrace the process!

The color on the wall is called Gray Goose and I purchased it a Lowes.

WOW! You did a great job. You are also so brave to have made such a huge change yourself. Looks amazing.

This really looks amazing! You did a great job and it really transforms the space... love it! I will most likely do mine in the future although my stairs have carpet down the middle with just wood on the sides. Thanks for all your tips!

What a fantastic job you did Andrea! Everything works so well and looks beautiful together. The stairs are truly a work of art. Enjoy many happy years in your gorgeous home.

Andrea - how do the light colored risers hold up? Do you get marks on them?

mepetruze - they do get some marks but i just use a mr. clean scrubber and they disappear.

Love it!! So glad I saw this!! Was gong to paint it boring white, but this seems so much more elegant and sexy. Also, I am tired of cleaning the scuff marks off of the risers every other day. I am hoping the black will eliminate this issue. The foyer looks very attractive with all of the mirror elements. Such a great look. Thanks for sharing.

Looks amazing !

Looks amazing