You guys, the Foyer Facelift is just about done & I’m so excited to share about it! I just finished using gel stain and paint to redo the banister and I’m pretty happy with the results.
Here it is in 2017. The Before…
And after!
When we first walked through this house for sale a few years ago we loved everything about the neighborhood & layout, but we knew it needed needed some love. Given my love of projects and given our even bigger love of not over-spending on a house, we knew we found our forever home!
After we survived moving with two small kiddos (phew!), we got to work! Within 3 months of signing on the dotted line our home had a new roof (we hired someone to do this – don’t be fooled in thinking we did this on our own), new appliances, some new carpet, and almost all new light fixtures & doorknobs. Honestly if you want a quick facelift on a room, switch out the old fixtures & knobs, and Voila, Instant mini makeover!
But the foyer was a bit more daunting. I knew what I wanted to get rid of the oak look on the banister and spindles, but I needed some motivation to get it started. With the help of coffee, Pinterest and some detailed bloggers, here’s how we tackled our Foyer Facelift.
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Supplies:
- Mineral spirits and some lint free cloths
- Denatured alcohol
- Spray bottle
- General Finishes gel stain Antique Walnut
- Frog tape painters tape
- White paint, satin finish
- White primer
- Drop clothes
- Rubber gloves
- Angled brushes
- Wood putty
- Sand paper
- General Finishes High Performance Top Coat Flat
- Some good podcasts or music!
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Step 1: Motivate yourself!
Get annoyed enough by the oak to commit to this project. Honestly it took me over a year to get motivated for this and about 45ish hours of time to finish the project but the end product is totally worth it!
Step 2: Clean the spindles & banister.
(Before you do this, decide which parts of your banister/spindles/newel post will be painted and which parts will be stained.)
For that parts you will stain, clean it will Odorless mineral spirits. I poured mine into a bowl and wiped it down with a Scotch pad.
For the parts you will paint, mix one part mineral spirits with one part water in a spray bottle, spray directly on the wood and then wipe it with a rag.
Done cleaning but still looking rough.
Step 3: Tape Time!
Next is to tape off sections to prepare for gel stain. Gotta love the Frog Tape for this part! Tape off all the sections where the stain will come in contact with areas not stained. The only exception to this is the spindles. If you are going to prime and paint them, there is no need to tape them.
If you need to make repairs, do it now. Use wood filler and putty knife to fill in holes, and follow it up with a light sanding pad to smooth it out. Don’t forget to wipe off any dust with a wet paper towel.
Step 4: Stain-tastic!
Next up is to start gel staining. I used General Finishes stain in antique walnut color and I loved working with it. You’ll definitely need gloves & a drop cloth for this part of the project, and be sure to keep your house well ventilated. I first applied the stain with a foam brush and then wiped it off with a rag, but I found that the orange tone of my banister kept showing through, so I wound up applying the stain with a paint brush. I used long, quick strokes going with the grain of the wood to avoid blobs. Wait 24 hours in between each coat and cover it with as many coats as you need to get to the desired tone. I did 4 coats total of stain.
This is after the first attempt of wiping off the stain. I couldn’t get it to the right color using this method so I instead decided to paint on the stain.
Step 5: Tape, again.
Next up is to protect all the freshly stained sections of the wood with painters tape. This step is tedious but worthwhile for a good end result.
Step 6: Prime & Paint!
Once the stained sections are taped, you can start priming and the banisters and the sections that you want to remain white.
I wound up using 2 coats of paint to finish off the project. I used a one-inch angled brush and used long brush strokes to avoid drips and globs.
You are almost done!
Step 7: Untape, you’re almost there!
Once painting is done, (carefully) remove the tape, do a little happy dance and admire the new look! You may want to use an X-Acto knife to make sure the paint doesn’t rip as you detach the tape.
One more look of the finished product!
Step 8: Top Coat and Enjoy!
The final step is to touch up any spots and then put the final top coat on the wood. I have not yet done this step but I plan on applying it with a foam brush
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Overall the project cost me less than $100 but it has a huge impact! In terms of time, I would guess that I spent about 45 hours on this project but since I only worked on it when the kiddos were asleep it wound up taking about 4 months.
If you tackle this project, please share pictures!
Happy updates,
