Stairs and Hallway: Way Before, Before and After

Have you ever had a design project in your house that had you totally stumped? 

It took me ten years to figure out what to do with my stairway and the upstairs hall. 
Ten. Years.

I had no plan…I kind of stumbled along. Now, it is finished, and I finally have an "After" hallway. 

But prior to the "Before," I had a "Way Before" hallway. 

"Way Before," when we first moved in, the space was -- what's a word that's worse than "drab?" 

Dingy? 

Shabby?

Gloomy? 

All of the above?

Think white that's turned shades of gray-ish. Scuffed wood floor and stairs.  An oversize bulb for a light fixture. Horrid closet doors.

And it echoed-echoed-echoed-echoed...

It gave me the heebie jeebies every time I walked through it.  

Which was like a thousand times a day.

I wish I had some "Way Before" pictures, but it was "Well Before" the days of blogging.

We had to do something to make it liveable, so it got a fresh coat of linen white paint, and a new (boring) beige carpet. 

The carpet was as much a toddler-proofing necessity as an aesthetic one. We had just moved from a New York City apartment, and Junior Goo Shoes (who was three years old at the time), only knew how to get from floor to floor by elevator. He was completely clueless as to how to navigate stairs. 

He could, however, hail a yellow taxi on the corner of 86th and Madison. 

I thought that hanging up a gallery of family pictures would decrease the "blah" factor. What was I thinking? It looked like someone's grandmother's house. Not that there's anything wrong with that…

Hellacious, as my mother used to say. Very Bad.

I took them down almost as soon as I put them up.

Before 

Several years, and hundreds of magazine clippings later (oh, to have had Pinterest then!), I decided I wanted picture frame molding. We had it done professionally, but I'm sure many of you DIYers could do it on your own. But not Moi.

Before 

Before

It looked amazing…but I was still at a loss as to what to do next.

I finally found a great carpet, which was crazy-expensive. I hemmed and hawed for so long, that when I finally went to buy it, I was told it was discontinued. However…I got lucky, because they had a remnant just the right size, which I got for a greatly reduced price. Sometimes it pays to be indecisive. Literally. 

Forever and a day later, I found a yellowy-gold wallpaper that looked like grasscloth. I didn't know that it was exactly what I was looking for, until I saw it. It looks much more yellow in these photos than it actually is. Four pictures down (with the three mirrors) is pretty close to the real color.

I changed all the doorknobs to brass. Just that little thing made a huge difference.

The large mirror on the right is from TJ Maxx. I bought it at least a year before I found the wallpaper, but I knew it was going to have a place in my hallway, someday.

The small mirrors came from my neighbor's yard sale. The photo below shows a more true color of the wallpaper.

After searching for something with a little bling, I found these great light fixtures. There's one at the top of the stairs, and one at the other end of the hall. 

So there you have it. I had no plan for what I wanted the hallway to look like…just some vague notions. Step by step, I figured it out. 

Before…

After…

Not bad, for winging it every step of the way.

Oh, and I'm happy to say that eventually, Junior GS did master the art of stair-climbing. You should see him now…bounds up three at a time, and jumps down from midway. Oy.  

Linking to:

Pinterest Blitz Party at Debbiedoo's and On Sutton Place   

Metamorphosis Monday on Between Naps On The Porch 

BeBetsy Brag About It Tuesday Link Party 

Throwback Thursday         

Until next time…

Ms. Toody