Stairs Makeover

I had a problem with the stairs. On the second and third floor, the back rooms are at a slightly lower level from the front rooms. Shown above are the assembled stairs for the second and third floor.

I absolutely detested the original stairs: the first tread is immediately below the doorway. It seemed to me that whoever opened the door would trip and fall unless the stairs were extended a little bit from the doorway. So I bashed the two stairs together to come up with modified stairs for the second floor. Now the lady of the manor can open the door, glide in and gently walk down the stairs. In my opinion, things would be a lot easier if the rooms were at the same level. Any way ...


I didn't much care for the patchwork look on the sides of the stairs. So I covered the sides with card-stock paper and finished off with the same narrow wooden trims I am using in the rest of the house. The stairs were painted dark brown, the treads covered with the same wood-grained Con-Tact paper as the floor, a tiny golden craft-book decal for details, and the entire thing got one coat of glaze.


So, what would happen to the third floor, you may wonder. I am using the wider stairs that were meant for the porch, and promoting them to the third floor. The third floor has an open floor plan, so it doesn't bother me that the stairs start a little lower ... no surprised tumble down the stairs at any rate!

The photo below shows the second and third floor stairs, and part of the trims I am working on currently. More about trims coming up later ...