How to Paint Stair Railings like a Boss

I know it’s not a smart idea to start a new project, much less a makeover less than a week before house guests arrive but I seem to do it every time!:-)  This time it is the finished part of the basement which I pretty much have done nothing about in the three years we’ve lived here.

There is a reason why you have never seen pictures of the basement!  More often than not it looks like a cave that has been attacked by toys.

And you thought I was just exaggerating? Unfortunately not!:-)

Now that we have the sleeper sofa in the basement I’ve been meaning to do some sprucing up and beautifying.  I’m not going to have time to do a whole makeover before they come but I will get started with a new pretty paint palette and some organizing which can go a long way!

I am painting the stark gray finished basement walls in Valspar’s Del Cornado Tequilla (a warm off-white and the same color as my master bedroom) with an accent wall in Behr’s Melting Moment.  I’ve never used the latter color and am super excited to try it out!

Anyways, a few days ago after painting the stairway to the basement in the off white color it immediately looked boring and bleh.  As I thought about what to do I decided adding some contrast would be a good solution.

The original color of the railing was a light cherry or maybe a dark oak and l felt a darker color like espresso would provide more contrast against the off-white walls.

So I got out my trusty liquid deglosser and a rag and deglossed the railing.  If you don’t want to use a deglosser you could lightly sand.

Then I got out some leftover hi-gloss enamel paint in Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze (I used it before on the accent wall in the Man Cave).

Just using a normal paint brush I painted on 1 coat of the enamel  paint.

(Sorry for the bad iPad pictures)  You can kind of see in the photo above that after 1 coat the railing is pretty much covered accept for some cherry streaks showing through.

After waiting an hour I painted another coat and that’s all it needed!  No final protective coat is needed because after this stuff dries it is as hard as a rock!

I used a similar product on my kids’ bathroom vanity and it is still in perfect condition!

This wasn’t the first time I’ve painted stair railings.  Last time was right after we moved into home three years ago.  It had these oak railings.

I painted the railings an espresso/black and the spindles white to give more contrast and sophistication.

I love how they look!  However, I did not enjoy the process at all!  I did it the old school way of using a primer first and then going over the primer in an oil-based paint.  Lastly, I went over it all in a poly to protect all my hard work.

The process took forever (in case you are wondering forever is every night for two weeks) and the feel of the railings aren’t as smooth as with the enamel method.

Moral of the story is save yourself some work and money and go with the lightly sand and apply 2 coats of enamel route!

Adding a little bit more contrast is just want this stairway needed and it was a breeze to do.  Now if all of the other things I need to get done before guests arrive could be this easy.:-) Hope this post is helpful to you and you feel confident in your ability to paint stair railings like a boss!  Have a wonderful weekend!!