Makeover: Stairs & Upstairs Ceiling

Our House

Benjamin Moore China Doll - Painting the ceiling: a before and after at @psstudio www.pencilshavingsstudio.com

We’ve been in our house now for seven years, and I’m *still* updating things I disliked from when we bought the thing. Isn’t that silly? Amazing how time passes. The main thing I have wanted to accomplish was entirely banishing alllll the builder beige paint from the whole house, which I’ve been on a hellbent mission to do.

But that part where I got hung up was that it involved painting the ceiling of the studio as well as the stairwell.  Why wasn’t the ceiling done previously when it was all painted white? Simple: because the attic-y ceilings of the studio (which is technically a bonus room), automatically flow into the stairwell, there was no logical break to stop the painting.  In other words, I either had to do all at once, or none at all

.Painting the ceiling: a before and after at @psstudio www.pencilshavingsstudio.com

So I finally put on my big girl panties, and got over my fear of painting the ceiling. (Put that on a t-shirt!)  Since I’m still having a major white moment (white walls! everywhere! in every way!), it seemed most logical to me to continue the white paint of the studio (and subsequently the studio ceiling) into the stairwell walls as well. It flows into the downstairs entryway.  To be fair, this makeover is very much a work in progress, but I wanted to show how far we’ve come. I still need to style the stairwell with some photos and art, but I’m planning on doing that once I get the entryway done soon (more on that soon – wallpaper!!!

Spectrum Paint graciously sent over the paint in China White by Benjamin Moore. I went with the Natura line and have to say it’s pretty impressive:  zero VOC, zero emissions and perfect for painting when you’ve got kiddos around. There was pretty much no odor at all when I painted, and I did it myself with both children in the house (that’s a whole other how-to!). It’s also got paint and primer all in one. It went on beautifully and I couldn’t be happier with it. Also, if you’re looking for a good white that’s not too cold but not too creamy, I love how China White looks.  (Pale Oak is my next runner up favorite white right now too, by the way.)

Here’s the before: yucky beige flat paint and it was super dirty from kids touching the wall as they go up and down the stairs (GAG). It’s incredibly difficult to get a good shot of this stairwell as it’s dark — and that beige paint was definitely not helping the dark situation at all.

Painting the ceiling: a before and after at @psstudio www.pencilshavingsstudio.com

And now for the after. Bright! White! Clean!  I’m still figuring out what I’m going to hang on the walls and how I’m going to do it, but in the meantime I’m loving how refreshed this entire space is.Painting the ceiling: a before and after at @psstudio www.pencilshavingsstudio.com

 

 

I’m imagining how awesome it would be to tear out that nasty carpet and replace it with a fun runner. Or maybe even just go with refinishing the wood and nothing on those stairs. I am so over carpet – nasty, nasty, nasty.Painting the ceiling: a before and after at @psstudio www.pencilshavingsstudio.com

Overall, I’m loving the calmness of all this white space. And I’m no longer twitching every time I saw that builder beige paint everywhere.  Benjamin Moore China Doll - Painting the ceiling: a before and after at @psstudio www.pencilshavingsstudio.comThank you to Spectrum Paint for providing the Benjamin Moore Natura paint.

 

with love,
Rachel

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