Many moons (and months) have passed since we completed our new kitchen/great room space. The major parts of the remodel: flooring, kitchen cabinets, painted walls were finished early last summer. However, like any major (and sometimes minor) projects here at The Cottage there is usually some leftover details to finish.
Sometimes the delay is due to us finding our roundtuit.
Other times the hold up is me. Me and my pal, indecision.
And so it is the case with the stairway.
When we ripped out the linoleum for the remodel, we (as in Kirk) ripped out the railing — balusters, newel post and all.
We carefully removed the original knotty pine railing planning to re-install it.
Maybe paint it. Maybe not.
Throughout the remodel project I combed the internet for other railing options holding out hope for some inspiration and a railing that had the cottage-y look we love.
Recently Layla and Kevin Palmer at The Lettered Cottage featured their new railing which is exactly what I was picturing for our railing.
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| Railing |
Slightly concerned that it might be too “busy” for our stairs/room and that it would add more vertical lines to a room already filled with vertical lines, I kept thinking. And thinking. Then one night as I was dozing off to sleep (typical idea time), I remembered built-in bookcases doing double duty at a stairway in the former home of our friends (Dave & JoLynn)
We can only see the backside of the built-ins in the photo, so you’ll have to imagine shelving on the reverse side.
Would that same idea work for us?
To get an idea of how they might look, I pulled these shelves out of storage. These shelves were found at a garage sale over 25 years ago — they have been painted many times and altered over the years, but they are still serving me well 🙂
I gave the shelves a quick coat of Sherwin Williams Creamy mixed in Home Depot/Behr paint to match our walls.
Then I set the old shelves where the potential shelf/built-in/railing will be built.
I think we cut the back out for a stereo component or something like that years ago…. not the prettiest sight, but it does give me an idea …
Leaving some areas open to both sides would let in more light on the stairs — and give some visual interest on the stair side.
These temporary shelves are just an idea. Giving us a “feel” for the look without committing to it yet. The shelves Kirk will build would have a different configuration. Probably not so many sections. Maybe a sliding door to leave some shelves open, some covered. All the shelves would most likely have the same depth, and maybe the shelves will be adjustable?
I think the lines of shelving mirror the built in bench in the background nicely.
All we need now is to find our “round tuit” — design the shelves, get the materials and build ’em!
Finding time for Kirk to build them would be helpful too!