"Falling" Up the Stairs {Fall Decor!}
October 05, 2010
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Adding fall decor and cute mice cut outs to the stairs.
Last year, I was itchin’ to tackle a certain project for MONTHS. In fact, I researched it for quite some time – and in January I finally got up the courage and went after it…and I’m SO glad I did. :)
That project was ripping the carpet off of our stairs and staining/painting the wood underneath. Hands down my favorite transformation in our house.
Because we were lucky and had beautiful treads under that carpet, the whole project only cost $30. The investment (like usual) was in my blood and sweat:
Like I said, I had been dreaming about the wood stairs for quite a while. So long that I bought the Martha Stewart mice silhouettes on clearance last fall, knowing I would use them on the steps someday. I was SO excited to pull them out of the fall stash this year! Yippeeee!
I knew I wanted to add a little somethin’ extra along with the little mice, so I used some random magazine photos as inspiration and decided to do an arrangement of itty bitty pumpkins along the side of the steps:
Because I’ve spent so little on fall decor this year, I splurged on real pumpkins. For a little extra PADOW, I added a little votive holder to each step as well:
Do you see how the pie pumpkins are positively glowing? I wiped them down petroleum jelly -- it's supposed to make them last longer. We'll see!
The Bub and I arranged our black paper mice here and there along the risers and let. me. tell. you. – they are stinking CUTE!!:
This is the only time of year I can stand spiders and mice. :)
A couple of months ago, I showed you how I finished off the stair redo by adding the detail along the side of the staircase using mdf:
After that post, my friend Layla, being the brilliant mind that she is, (a brilliant mind with Photoshop), sent me a picture with a potential change to the staircase – one I was considering for awhile, so it was AWESOME to see how it would look:
It was subtle – just changing the color of the railing. She also changed the brass fixtures to a brushed nickel, which looked so sharp!
It totally pays to have friends with Photoshop. :)
I’ve been meaning to make this little change since, but it was only when I starting falling up the stairs that I decided to just do it already, and I’m SO glad I did!!:
I sprayed the hardware in oil rubbed bronze, to work with the rest of the house. (I just took them off, sprayed with primer, then the ORB.)
The handrail got a quick sanding, then two coats of brown paint, leftover from our dining room walls. I put a coat of poly on top and plan to add one more.
I don’t know what took me so long to make the change – the dark color looks fantastic!:
A reminder of how it looked before, with the white rail:
Notice the difference in the picture quality too? ;) I LOVE my new camera!!
Pretty crazy how the color matches exactly what Layla suggested too!:
The pumpkins fit perfectly into that space under the handrail – we haven’t had any issues with them in the way at all. Now let’s just hope they hang in there a couple more months, when the Christmas decor will come out. (OH the possibilities!!)
I love how our staircase has turned into another space I get to decorate! :)
Tired of seeing my stairs yet? (Don’t answer that.)
It looks amazing...and I love what you did with the mice cutouts - so cute!
ReplyDeleteThat is the cutest, neatest, most adorable thing I have ever seen!!
ReplyDeleteI love it, so cutee! (Nothing new there!)
ReplyDeleteWow. The stairs look so great. It's amazing what a difference the dark railing made. So much more rich. The decor is darling. Envious that you can now decorate your stairs, too! How dreamy!
ReplyDeleteThose mice look GREAT on your beautiful stairs. That is just the cutest thing ever.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Adorable, almost worth doing the stair project for this decorating project alone! Janell
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness - you've got to be kidding me.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen rodents look so good!
Looks awesome! It so makes me want to rip the carpet off of my stairs. And I'm glad you're loving your camera. It really makes a big difference, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteTotally magazine worthy!
I love it! It looks really awesome! Angie xo
ReplyDeleteThat was so fun to see. I am not tired of your stairs at all. I can't wait to see Christmas stairs on your blog.
ReplyDeleteLove the stairs...they look great. If I would have came into your house and saw this decor I would be doing a double take. Those mice silhouettes can trick you! Looks super cute!
ReplyDeleteNicole
Careful with the pumpkins if you didn't put anything under them. I never thought about it & last year I had a pumpkin on a marble top piece of furniture. It ruined the little area of marble & I've never been able to get it to clean up. With the stain on the stairs, they might easily stain or eat away at it. Or maybe it's just marble!? LOL. I LOVE LOVE LOVE your stairs & decor =)
ReplyDeleteoh my gosh! i will never get tired of these stair, hon bun!
ReplyDeletei just absolutely love them and my kids would die for those mice!
thanks for posting this fun before and after.
angie
Hi! I love these little mice cut-outs because they are one of the few Halloween-y things that don't freak my kids out! :-) Of course, they may freak me out when I am stumbling around in the dark but it is a price you pay for great Fall Decor!
ReplyDeleteVanessa
I delight in your creations.
ReplyDeleteDelight in them.
Seriously.
We don't even celebrate Halloween...but I find this very cute!! Lisa
ReplyDeletelove the pumpkins!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE those stairs!! So cute decorated for Halloween ~ those mice and pumpkins are adorable. And I love the new railing too!
ReplyDeleteI love every single inch of this! The mice look amazing! I wish I had stairs so I could be a copy cat...
ReplyDeleteI just love your stairs! Mice and all. I really need to tackle this DIY project, especially since one of my boys had a pee pee accident on the carpeted stairs. Yikes! Sorry, TMI? Just don't tell our visitors.
ReplyDeleteBrittany
http://www.prettyhandygirl.com
Never seen such a cute thing on stairs before! Too cute. I love the face lift on the hardware.
ReplyDeleteThat is such a cute idea! My kids would flip over that!
ReplyDeleteI love everything about it! The railing looks much better. Those pumpkins are a wonderful touch to the cute mice. This post reminded me I need to order a crate of the flicker lights on dollar tree's website before they run out around the holiday's. I need them for my sister's wedding. No candles allowed in the builing.. good thing there are fake ones!
ReplyDeleteQuestion for you... which camera did you get? I remember you saying before you had a Sony Cybershot, which is the camera I have. Did you stick with Sony? I love the color and sharpness in the new photo's.
jen.justforrachel@gmail.com
SO SO cute! mice, pumpkins, candles...Love it! That's catalog worthy material ; ) You are amazing! Great redo on the handrailing too.
ReplyDeleteMS halloween issue is always my FAVORITE. I loved the mice! Makes me wish I had stairs again. lol.
ReplyDeleteHow adorable! I love it!! And, the railing really pops now. Who'd a thought you want your railing from and center, but it makes such a big difference in the overall look...great job!
ReplyDeleteAdorable!!! I love the changes on the railing! Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWOW!! amazing, just love it and those mice are so stinkin cute, I have never seen those!! LOVE IT! Jealous as usual ;)
ReplyDeleteLove the meeses to pieces. I'm in a fall decorating slump this year... sighs
ReplyDeleteDI
Squeak! ;) Those are cute. Love the new look for the stairs' handrail, and thanks for the tip on the LEDs!!!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE IT! I want to do the same thing with our stairs, just waiting for the hubby to agree, the stairs are beautiful, now I really want to do it so I can add the mice - so cute!
ReplyDeleteI love the mice, my kids and I cut some out every year to decorate our stairs and we get so many compliments!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the stairs and the "new" railing! The mice, on the other hand, totally freak me out. Glad they're at your house and not mine ;)
ReplyDeleteSomeone commented earlier about making sure the pumpkins don't stain. Other than that, SO. DARN. C U T E !!!!!
ReplyDeleteLove the mice!! I live in a ranch style house, and the only stairs are to the basement ... but I might have to find somewhere else in my house for mice to make an appearance!! They are too adorable! They look like they are scurrying everywhere. I also love the idea of your stairs being a canvas for future decorating. Very creative!
ReplyDeleteThis came out great...My kids have seen this all over blog land but we do not have stairs like this in our home :(
ReplyDeleteYour stairs are super amazing...Love the new banister and I LOVE the new festive-ness! LOVE!
ReplyDeleteAdorable! It's so cute how they look like they're running rampid everywhere too :-)
ReplyDeleteWho knew mice could be so cute?! And the handrail looks great!
ReplyDeleteok that is just awesome!!! It totally looks like its right out of Martha's magazine!
ReplyDeleteGOSH!!!! I love it! Now, you have me eyeing our stairs...hmmmmmmm....
ReplyDeleteThose mice totally gives me the creeps! Guess that makes them successful Halloween decor.
ReplyDeleteI have those mice but not those awesome wood stairs. Jealous!
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I never noticed in previous posts or pictures that your ceiling was BROWN. How you do you like that? Does it make you feel like it's closing in on you? Love the dark railing - so much better.
ReplyDeletethe CUTEST!!!
ReplyDeleteThat looks so fantastic!! Love the dark wood with the black mice...which, I might add, makes it look even more realistic! The dark stain really sets off the fall colors in the pumpkins and candle holders! Very nice job! I'm envious - in a good way! I don't have an upstairs! boo! -Karen
ReplyDeleteadorable! in an adorable mouse kinda way- LOVE it! you've inspired me to decorate my own stairs!
ReplyDeletehaha, what a cool idea!
ReplyDeleteso cute! :)
ReplyDeleteVery cute! Just don't step on one of those mini pumpkins with your bare feet, unlike me. It hurt for weeks.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I think Hobby Lobby should be giving you something. They just opened one up here and I had to check it out after reading about it so much on here. What a great store!
Love the mice! That almost makes me want to take the carpet off my stairs, but my staircase is twice as long as yours, so twice the work...
ReplyDeleteAs soon as you redid your stairs I thought of this: http://www.marthastewart.com/article/decorating-with-paper-silhouettes?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/halloween-decorating#slide_10
ReplyDeleteI like the mice, too, though.
So cute!! I never would think to do something like that. Not to be a downer, but I have to agree with a previous comment - be careful of leaving the pumpkins on your floor! They may leave a mark. You may want to put something under them.
ReplyDeleteAdorable!
Love love love Sarah! I have had those darn mice in my cart four times now and keep putting them back saying to myself 'I'll just make them with my cutter'...though by the time I get home, yeah right it hasn't happened. I need to just spring for the $4.99 and be done with it already =) Looks amazing! Thanks for the link too ;) Hope you are enjoying your week! ~ Stephanie Lynn
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your stairs! Beautiful pictures and the mice and pumpkins are SO CUTE!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt looks fantastic! I've been drooling over pictures of painted stairs for a long time too, and yours could quite easily go in my inspiration file! Love how the new colour on the handrail has completely transformed the place too...and that autums arrangement with the mice is just stinking cute!
ReplyDeleteThose mice and pumpkins totally make me want to have stairs!! (and I am going to head out to Dollar Tree and pick up some of those LED flicker lights)
ReplyDeletewow! they add so much to the staircase!
ReplyDeleteThat is unbelievably cute. And wouldnt work for my house I'm in RIGHT now because, well, we have REAL mice scampering about.
ReplyDeleteHOWEVER, we are moving soon and my kids would love something like this.
Oh my goodness, I LOVE your stairs!!! LOVE THEM!
ReplyDeleteThose stinkin mice are too cute. And you can still use them at Christmas...you know...the Christmas mouse!!
ReplyDeleteThat's the prettiest Halloween display I've seen this year. You rock!
Oh Sarah! There is only one word that truly reflects how cute this looks. LUUUUUURRRVE!!
ReplyDeleteI love the look of the wood paneled stairs. NO CARPET! looks beautiful. HOWEVER, I am freaking out at how cute it is with the mice pumpkins and mice wholes. Are those the Martha Mice? I would give anything for wood stairs to get to enjoy this for Halloween. DARLING! Jen
ReplyDeleteI used those same mice cutouts last year on our stairs and they were a HIT. Love them!
ReplyDelete-S
www.sbh79.etsy.com
love, love, love it! everytime I go up my stairs I picture them without the carpet and gorgeous just like yours, but the rest of the house has carpet and it would look kind of funny if the stairs were bare and then met right at the top with carpet. Someday I will get the carpet taken care of, then we will see! The mice are so cute!
ReplyDeleteThere are no words. This is too adorable and awesome!
ReplyDeleteSo cute! I love your fall staircase, so creative!
ReplyDeleteI love the little mice on the stairs. I did this last year, but I don't have stairs so it was not as cute. Makes me wish I had stairs!
ReplyDeleteThat looks so great!! Love it!
ReplyDeleteYou are an inspiration. I have been reading your blog for over a year and doing my versions of "copies" of some of your projects. I have decided to try blogging myself...thank you for what you do!
ReplyDeleteIt is AMAZING how just painting the railing makes the whole space look so much better!!!!!!!!!! Good friend! I LOOOOVE the pumpkins and votives on the stairs! It looks terrific and NO, I am not sick of seeing your BEE U TI FUL stairs:):) XO, Pinky
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, too cute! I saw that on Martha's website. If I had a staircase, I'd totally do that!
ReplyDeleteI love it! Makes me wish I had stairs.
ReplyDeleteToo twisted (cute) for color tv!!! Adorable!!
ReplyDeleteLove it! The railing looks so much better matching your stair treads. It looks intentional now. I have loved your stairs since the transformation and long to do ours too. Problem is that I know it is ugly chippy board under the carpeting. The railing and spindles are going to be painted and a darker stain added though. That is my project for next summer when I am off work.
ReplyDeletelove Love LOVE this! =) i featured this on my blog, thank you for always being so inspiring in your decorating!
ReplyDeleteKierston
beautifulmisadventure.blogspot.com
One of the best things you have posted and absolutely everything you do is fantastic. Awesome!!
ReplyDeleteThat is the coolest thing I have ever seen!! I LOVE IT!!!!
ReplyDeletethis makes me smile! love love love
ReplyDeleteI so so SO wish I didn't have carpet on my stairs so I could do that EXACT SAME THING!
ReplyDeleteLove it!
Love the mice! And I think the dark hand rail is a big improvement. Someday I'm going to rip the carpet off of my stairs too. I'm not lucky like you though. My treads are particle board so I'm still trying to figure out how to do without spending a ton of mulah.
ReplyDeleteSimply AMAZING!!!!! Love it!
ReplyDeleteI love your steps! I might just have to try and copy them.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! Those mice are adorable! I never thought I would say that about mice, but they truly are adorable! I love the way you have them arranged. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd the handrail looks a guzillion times better in the darker color. Great change!
Enjoy!
Oh my...that is so cute. Love it!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of camera did you get?
Your stairs look beautiful! Just love the fall touches.
ReplyDeleteToo stinkin' cute!
ReplyDeleteWOW! That is just gorgeous! Seriously. I am going to buy a house with stairs now. I just have to do this :)
ReplyDeleteThe mice are a nice addition the Fall decor! I like that it's not scary but a unique touch!
ReplyDeleteYou know what's even more wonderful about what you did? It's so inexpensive! And still sooo cute!
ReplyDeleteI am not a big fan of dark wood, normally, but I love the contrast you've got going!
ReplyDeleteSo unbelieveably CUTE! Seriously, I saw those Martha mice and was smitten too, no wonder you bought them! Your staircase is officially spookified, love it!
ReplyDeletexo
Kate
So Stinkin' Cute!!! Love those mice!
ReplyDeleteAnd your stairs? Amazing! Love the pop of the handrail. I'm amazed how you can continue to make them even MORE beautiful!
I LOVE it! Looks great! I never thought mice could be so CUTE!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh I bet Bubs just loves that. So cute. I want to do my stairs now soooo bad. I still have to wait a wee bit with Kayla being so young. But I can't wait. So fun Sarah...loves!
ReplyDeleteThat looks GREAT! I actually put out a few gourds & mini pumpkins on our steps the other day. I found out that 1) my kids are still little enough that they think I put them there for them to find and play with and 2) that my cat (at 11 yrs old) still tries to eat the gourds & mini pumpkins. Guess I'm doomed to admire cute stairs like yours! :)
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I'm saying this, but the mice are adorable! The whole vignette is do sweet. And the handrail in brown is perfecto!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutey adorable! Makes me wish I had stairs. And I think that's the inspiration I needed to pull out my fall decorations...even though it still feels like summer here in the AZ desert!
ReplyDeletei just love love love your stairs. that is all.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this post, I wanted to rip my carpet up and put mice on my walls. That is the cutest thing I've seen in a long time. You win the Grammy for that one!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness this is too cute! Very nice decorations. I would love to try something like this but with a 3 year old and a 1 an a half year old it would sooo not last! I can totally picture my kids trowing the pumpkins off the stairs and trying to peel the stickers off. Ha ha. Great Job! :)
ReplyDeletehttp://live-love-makeup.blogspot.com/
Just saw these at Michael's yesterday but our stairs are carpeted... Your stairs are perfect for this. Super cute! Love your new stairs too. BTW - pet rats are great pets; incredibly smart & entertaining. Not to mention super adorable when asleep in their hammocks :)
ReplyDeleteI love character of stairway and i think i will be making the mice a part of our decor in the house before the other half gets home from work!!!
ReplyDeleteThe stairs look awesome!! I have an idea for the votives...you can make eyeball votives with clear glass, several small ripped squares of black construction paper with 2 holes punched out for eyes, decopage them randomly on the glass and wal-la! Eye Ball Votives! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI've been dying to do the mice on the stairs too ever since I saw it in Martha Stewart last year! Too bad I have carpeted stairs in a rental...but yours look AWESOME and I love the new railing too. I think it gives your staircase a really expensive, high-end look.
ReplyDelete.heather.
Very Nicely done! Love the railing and the mouse cut-outs are really cool.
ReplyDeleteThat staircase looks so amazing! I wonder if my condo assocation will mind if i decorate the communal stairs?
ReplyDeleteHa! Love your staircase, Sarah. I especially love the mouse that's checking out the pumpkin. :) I'm so glad they made these guys again this year since I didn't buy them last year. I bet your son thinks they are a riot! :)
ReplyDeleteYour stairs look fabulous - very festive!
ReplyDeleteYou did a wonderful job on the stairs. Love your fall decorating, and if I didn't have my little courious buddies wonderfing around here, I would decorate my stairs.
ReplyDeleteBut since Copper does get bored when I'm away, I'm sure he would be playing ball with the pumpkins!
Sandy
What a super cute project! Looks just great
ReplyDeleteI have got to go get these mice!! They are just too cute ... love how the one is checking out the baby pumpkin. Thanks for sharing, *Becca*
ReplyDeleteGot the mice today at Michaels. My stairs arent nearly as nice as yours, but I do love them around the house.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is awesome, by the way! Just started following it! LOVE IT!!!!!!!!
:)
Tracey
Oh.My.Goodness. I absolutely LOVE the stairs! This is what my husband and I have been talking about doing to ours! you give me inspiration! Thanks!
ReplyDeletePS - I {heart} your site!!!
How did I miss this post!?!?!
ReplyDeleteI am LOVING your stairs woman!!!!
Seriously the coolest/spookiest staircase EVER!!!
You ROCK!
Layla :-)
Oh my gosh! How incredibly cute! The mice are such a great touch! This opens up a whole new world of decorating - thanks so much for sharing it sweetie - you rock!
ReplyDeleteI love, love, love your staircase. How have you liked the stairs without the carpet? I want to do that so bad but just curious how it works with everyday life. :)
ReplyDeleteThis looks AWESOME.
ReplyDeletedid you use some type of cut-out for the mice? i love, love, love this!! :)
ReplyDeleteDid you know your staircase is featured over at Houzz.com?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/741181/list/36-Stylish-and-Spooky-Halloween-Decorating-Ideas
You probably did, but thought I'd send a quick comment your way!
Jamie