The Twilight Home (A Painted Staircase to Update a 1980s stairwell).

An inexpensive painted staircase makeover…

Yes, this DIY blog post is about painted stairs. But first, a little background, if you’ll humor me for a sec. Last year, we moved out of our urban comfort zone and moved into, I’d have to say, a bit of a country twilight zone. We bought a home on a little land…a place where the kids could run, frolic, and enjoy the wonders of the great-out-of-doors.

Problem was that the in-of-doors was a tad of an ugly-80’s nightmare.This was kinda ok, because I do love me some 80’s. If I had to have picked a theme song for our pad it was probably that Golden Earring song…you know, “Help, I’m steppin’ into the twilight zone…” Or possibly Guns n Roses’ mega hit “Welcome to the jungle”…

You don’t get more classic 80’s hair metal than that one, right?! To prove this home’s 80s-ness, check out this totally gnarly, gag-me-to-the-max bathroom we had. Seriously. And if you’re still not convinced of this time warp we were dealing with…check out the shower curtain we inherited when we bought “The Twilight Home”. This post contains affiliate links. Please read our full disclosure policy HERE.

DO YOU SEE THAT??? Our inherited bathroom curtain MATCHES Axl Rose’s outfit!!! I moved into the 1980’s…drop the mic.

If you wanna see how this bathroom turned out after it’s rehabilitation, head over >>> HERE. <<< Because right now, I’m gonna focus on another part of the Twilight Home.

This was our 1980’s smurf-er-ific stairwell that led into the 1980’s basement (side note: that smurfy blue color follows us everywhere…check out THIS room we remodeled!).

I know…

So, we got to work. Oh, that’s us…in our normal weekend leisure garb. Wish I was kidding.

Painting this stripe design was a bit time consuming, and we learned a couple tricks along the way. Here’s a link to the full tutorial for our painted stairs. 

And voila, no more 80’s-ugly! We removed an old builder-grade vanity mirror from that bathroom in the first picture, cut it, and framed it out in some barnboard. We love barn board here. And that light fixture? Guess how much that boob light makeover cost…ZERO! Haven’t heard the term “boob light”? Well, you’ll see what they are in the image below…

We just spruced it up with some capiz shells and again, the almighty spray paint. Now, I think she’s a “total babe” as they said circa 1988. That’s been one of my favorite, and super-easy DIY projects!

To me, the white handrail with gold hardware feels clean and bright, which are helpful in a darker basement. Click this link to see the makeover of the whole basement space.

Once upon a time, there were walls flanking both sides of this stairwell, floor to ceiling. We knocked one side down to open up the space and make it feel less like entering a dungeon.

We’ve done a lot of stairwellsin our time. Funny thing is, this is one of the cheapest we’ve ever done, and despite the low price tag, the finished product is easily one of my favorites.