Every Little Step

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THE STORY

Last week it was NKOTB this week I’m thowin’ it back to Bobby Brown. Can you tell when I grew up yet??? 

Keeping with the theme of steps, I thought I would share our stairwell transformation. This is a great one. 

Here’s where we began:

Our first not-so-little step was to strip the stairs. This was grueling work and Jeff did the lion’s share.  

A railing was even missing, so we stole one from the hallway. 

When we purchased the house, we were engaged to be married. We thought it would be fun to have our engagement photos taken in the Money Pit. I love juxtaposition –  beauty and ugliness, darkness and light. The current state of our house provided the perfect backdrop for us to get dressed to the nines and pretend to be models for a day. Here are a few photos taken on the stairs. 

Shout out to Brad Barnwell, Frederick’s favorite photographer. He’s been with us through all of our most important events. Please reach out to him if you are looking for a photographer! Check out his work here. You’ll see more of these engagement photos on future posts too. They get a little crazy!

Although my thigh is now larger than my waist was when this photo was taken, I still have this dress. It’s one of my favorite pieces. I found it at my friend Jen’s shop, Venus on the Halfshell in downtown Frederick. She names many of her pieces and this one is called “Daddy’s Little Spoiled Brat.” So perfect!

Back to the stairs… 

We were making very slow progress painting these stairs and the walls were just too high for us to deal with. I think it took me 8 hours to finish these spindles.

We decided to call in a professional. Dave De Leon of  De Leon Painting came to our rescue. In just a few days, our stairwell was transformed. Here’s a great side-by-side before and after.

The niche looks really great. I wanted a chandelier in there and I guess I got one : )

We’ve had a lot of wear and tear on these poor steps and the walls. They were in rough shape. During the quarantine, Jeff repainted not only the stairs but also the walls and niche! We also updated the sconces. The old ones just weren’t fussy enough. These are worthy of the art. 

Jeff really dislikes the baroque frames on the wall – likely because they have fallen off the wall and hit him in the head on more than one occasion! I love them and I’m thinking of getting silhouettes of Brant and Rogue done to place in them.

Here is a sneak peek at the stairs that lead to our basement and my favorite light fixture in the house.  We’ll save the full basement reveal for a later post.

THE MATERIALS

Like what you see? Here are the paints and fixtures and artwork we used. Click on the links to shop our space.

The light fixture in our lower level stairwell is the Powell LED 3-Light Semi-Flush with White Globes, Aged Brass from Lights.com.

Wall color is Icy Avalanche by Sherman Willimas available at Lowes.

Spindles, risers and wall trim are in Summer Gray by Valspar available at Lowes.

The niche color is Pencil Point by Behr available at Home Depot.

Stair treds, handrails and posts are in New Black by Valpsar available at Lowes.

Our sconces were purchased from Pottery Barn, but they no longer sell them. I’ve found a similar sconce at a great price from BeautifulHalo.com.

The black baroque frames came from IKEA of all places. They are the Ung Drill Mirrors that are now discontinued. But you can still snag them at Refinery 29. Who’d have guessed something so fussy could be found in the land of simplistic Scandinavian furnishings!

The large canvas that hangs in the niche was a Home Goods find, but you can find many like it at Wayfair.

Step by Step

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If you are like me and are still in love with NKOTB…you’ll get the title. If not, you better ask somebody.

Before we purchased the house, we found out that the front stairs were dangerous and should not be used. I wasn’t lying when I said that caution tape had been put around them. They were an obvious assault on our eyes, and now it was clear that they could also inflict pain to the rest of our bodies.

I failed to get a good before photo of the stairs before the work was done.  But don’t despair. I have this fabulous artist’s rendering that portrays quite accurately the previously horrifying condition of the stairs.

artist rendering of front steps

The artist’s identity still remains a mystery. Like many other great works of art, you can see evidence that a previous work was lying under this masterpiece. Picasso was known to not only have painted over his own works but also the works of other artists.

This was beyond our capability as DIYers, so we relied on Jason Swafford of New Vintage Construction to do all of the work on the stairs. Rusted metal was removed, sections were rebuilt, and supports were added so that we could walk safely into our money pit.

Yes – the following images are after photos. Now I understand that they are unsightly, but at the time, they looked beautiful to me!

The stairs and railings have since been painted black. A bit more pleasing to the eye. In honor of Rogue, a black Cocker Spaniel adorns our steps. It’s also a little nod to a downtown Frederick tradition. 

My dream is to eventually get rid of the brick and existing railings. I’m obsessed with NYC brownstones and would love to replicate one of these beauties. I just don’t have the budget right now, nor do I have the patience to fight with the historic district!

NYC brownstone 1
NYC brownstone 2
NYC brownstone 3
NYC brownstone 4

A girl can dream! And until that dream becomes a reality, she will make endless trips to NYC to get even more inspiration and shoes. 

You’ve got to go through Hell…

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Here’s a little peek inside the money pit. Most people would have shut the door as quickly as they had opened it on this place. To me, it was a diamond in the rough, and I could see its sparkle and brilliance, even in this state. 

I cannot wait to share the before and afters for each of these rooms. 

But for now, enjoy this walk down memory lane with me.

If you are wondering, that is a sensory deprivation tank. 

As I mentioned, I am republishing this blog. It has been nine years and some of these rooms have been redone more than once. I’m sure a few will undergo a few more updates in the next few years. 

In the beginning

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As many of you know, Jeffrey and I recently closed on what we are affectionately calling “the money pit!” We couldn’t be more excited to start this journey together. I am starting this little blog to record our progress. Jason Swafford, owner of New Vintage Construction, will begin work on the major renovations next week.  

 

Here’s a little background on how we got ourselves into this wonderful mess:

Last summer we decided that we had outgrown our little apartment on 5th street…not only because of our stuff but also because of our growing waistlines!  We looked at too many “charming” apartments in downtown Frederick and quickly realized that we could have a mortgage payment for less than a one-bedroom apartment off Market Street. 

Enter Abby Zanger: the funniest, best dressed, most determined, honest, and just plain damn amazing realtor on Earth. Abby tirelessly took us to house after house and patiently listened to my unrealistic demands. In July, we stumbled upon a powder blue townhouse in the historic district.  I really fell in love the minute we walked into the filthy living room. Room by room, it got worse and worse, but I was falling hard. Envisioning chandeliers, fussy wallpaper that my friends would secretly envy, dinner parties, stainless appliances, and the all-important double sinks…I saw our future home. Undeterred by the hole in the roof, damaged walls, and even the sensory deprivation in the basement… I saw the potential. Unfortunately, it was just out of our budget after we factored in renovation costs.  

Months went by. We saw more and more houses, but we were constantly thinking about that crazy blue house.  In late December, the house was relisted as a bank-owned property and was now in our price range. We were ready to put in an offer and while on vacation in St. Thomas, we did.  Only to get a call before our snorkeling tour telling us that the bank had just accepted another offer before we got ours in.  Needless to say, I handled this news in a less than graceful manner and may have scarred the little girl on the bench next to me for life. I did recover and went on the snorkeling tour…

Dejected, we gave up. That’s until Abbey called one day to let us know that the house was back on the market. This was fate… it had it be. We put in our offer and got it…well, kinda.  It seemed like with each passing week, something went wrong and pushed us back. Electrical problems, a flood in the dining room, hazard tape being put up around the only entrance. It wasn’t looking good. We had even gotten down to our last extension before the bank was going to dissolve our contract. Friday, April 29th, 2011 was do or die.  I waited at work until 4 pm and knew that since I hadn’t heard from Jeff, it was over. 

He came to pick me up to go drown our sorrows and the phone rang…Abby was screaming “Get your ass to Old Town Title. NOW.” Less than an hour later we were homeowners. Scared, nervous, excited homeowners!

In this blog, I’ll attempt to document the work we are doing on Our Little Nest on South.  Stay tuned… more pictures to come!