Finally Getting To It: The Stairway Project
I'd like to fess up about a home project albatross that has been around my neck for ages now. Emily and I had started a stairway improvement project awhile back ago: we stripped away old and worn rubber stair padding, cleaned away years of grime coating from the wood surface and repainted some of the features all with the goals of revitalizing the neglected space. A whole set of FLOR House Pet carpet tiles were ordered, appropriately the "Siamese" (we're a two cat household) line, an attractive and affordable replacement as a stairway runner. Yet, the project had gone half complete unfinished for months, set aside with the common promise of procrastinators all over, "one day...when we really have time!". That time never seemed to arrive until very recently...
Even though I had only planned to stick to smaller, reasonable home improvement projects while Emily was away on her journey to Cornwall, my obsessive nature turned up to "11" right before my own departure for New York to attend ICFF this past weekend. I was sick and tired of noting the pile of carpet tiles, mocking and chastising my procrastination, and giving me the incentive to finish what I started. So two evenings before my trip, with utility knife in hand, I cut all 23 FLOR tiles in half, repainted the worn parts of the stairs, and then nailed down the carpet tiles onto the stairway...FINALLY accomplishing what began months ago (upon completion I imagined the celebratory melody of Queen's "We Are the Champions") and proving the axiom, "better late than never". Our two cats seem to like the new stairs almost as much as we do and the journey up and down the stairs both looks nicer and sounds quieter.
Next possible home improvement project is to replace our bathroom rental's worn and ugly flooring. Just wonder how long this project will take from thought to actual physical completion. We give it 6 months and then some.
Comments (23)
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I see this project is complete with Cat Pocket(tm) technology, to store those bothersome hind feet!
;)
view gerundgirl's profile
I so feel your pain. I inherited the "unfinished projects" gene from my dad. Looks great though!
Oh and thanks for not using "we" here ;-)
view michpc's profile
Your stairs look great! And your cats are beautiful.
I hope I finish my floor this long weekend - starting tomorrow. I'm sick of looking at ugly, dirty concrete slab.
view magicsbm's profile
My cat does this too, but without putting any weight on her front paws.
It looks great. Congratulations on getting it done. Great job on matching the tiles to the cat. Looking forward to the other flooring project.
Also, I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE your use of the word "I" in the post. Bravo! My OCD has gotten in the way of my being able to read posts using "we" unless they are actually written about, you know, more than one person.
view Jen C's profile
Congrats!
You're cats sure love the project. How cute is that first pic?
view Pixie's profile
Cat complements the color scheme -- but you knew that!
view SherryBinNH's profile
I'm sorry what is this post about? ...I got distracted by the super cut kitty ;)
view suzy8track's profile
I mean cute! having typing problems today!
view suzy8track's profile
love orange tabby
view LoriSF's profile
Looks great! As I also ahve a 2-cat household I'm interested in a 3 or 6 month follow-up that might answer the following questions: How are the Flor pieces holding up (curling? dirt? wear?) and whether or not they make it difficult to clean (vacuum vs. sweeping, cat hair retention etc...).
view Tobermory's profile
Nice project, but isn't your kitty pissed not have that nice Flor bed anymore though? I've got a pile of Flor waiting for cutting and installation, and my cat ADORES lounging on it. Aparently all cats do!
view Emily the Cat's profile
Yay for cats, the I word, and stairs.
view rosenatti's profile
Oh man, you are lucky your cat doesn't eat shoelaces, like mine does. You never realize how much you take for granted the ability to leave your shoes on the floor until you have tried to tie your shoe and realized the cat chewed through the laces. (You also never realize how difficult it is to replace shoelaces that are not white or black.)
Also, great stair project! I like knowing that even the home improvement gods that write AT have procrastination problems. :)
view Jenny in DC's profile
Congrats! The hardest part is very often to get your behind off the sofa ;-)
I love the colours and attention to detail.
view Anna Europe's profile
Tobermory--
I installed some FLOR tiles on my stairs a year ago, and they still look as good as the first day. Well, they do when they're vacuumed. It doesn't take any extra cleaning--just the normal vacuuming. Also, I used double-sided carpet tape to adhere them to the stairs rather than nails.
view brittanykate's profile
Love your kitty!!
view sassydo's profile
That first picture is hilarious!
view wally3's profile
Love the kitty! The steps are cute too. :)
Congrats on finishing. Love the gradations of yellow, they make an otherwise ordinary staircase interesting.
view squarefeet's profile
The cat's a star!
view hrhprincessfiona's profile
Super cute love the blue/yellow/gray combo!
view Rolen the Great's profile
I'm curious about what sort of nails you used. The stairs look great!
view traceymariel's profile
This is my next project! (Well, sort of...my FLOR tiles are going to be an area rug, and I'm using a continuous sisal runner up the stairs.) I did the "wallpapered" risers in my last apartment (http://tinyurl.com/qvbk4s) with a leftover piece of digitally-printed vinyl that didn't stick well to the old, knotty stairs, despite the cleaning and fresh paint I applied first. For what it was, it got a lot of compliments, but I definitely think this post's project is more fitting for the new place.
After noting some negative comments about the "sloppy" stair tread shoe display on the original post, I beg to differ. This is how the BF and I keep our shoes, which keeps them from accumulating in a pile on the small landing and forces us to keep them orderly. It's a great solution for our zero-storage house.
view estydesign's profile
I love the shoes down the side of the stairs! Is it hard to keep them neat like that?
view Kaviare's profile