Do you want to paint your stairs in a Vintage look? With a whitewash chalk paint and a few handy tips this is a fun winter job!

I've written an article several times about refurbishing and restoring the stairs and then finishing it with a coat of paint. The article was successful in painting your stairs in a concrete look. This was all the rage in 2018.

At the hardware store you could once again buy combi paints (2 or 3 layers) to realize this nice effect. giving your stairs an industrial look. Refurbishing your stairs can be done in many ways. Very expensive, for example with a staircase renovation with transfer steps, or traditionally covering a middle way with a floor covering, or, as has increasingly happened in recent years, painting it smooth with an opaque paint.

The old carpet that is often on it will have to come off and all glue residues then have to be removed, quite a job, but if you do this preparation properly, the end result will be beautiful.

Vintage look for your stairs, the trend for 2019, but how do you approach this?

It is a job that requires some patience, but a very nice winter job with an amazing result as you can see. I got these from the site shabbytreats.com. they sell chalk paints online, in different colors such as a white wash and gray wash and also tools to give your stairs this Vintage look. The chalk paint works a little differently than the regular paints, but with a little study this is not that difficult, it is said that working with a chalk paint is a lot easier. The price to treat your stairs in this way is approximately 170.00 euros in material.

Step 1 Sand away all glue residue and irregularities. Dampen the stairs and clean the stairs carefully with a degreaser. Allow the stairs to dry thoroughly and then sand the stairs lightly with 220 grit sandpaper. flexible permanent sealant. If your stairs locally creak, make sure this is solved first. you can buy special cracking screws for this that puts good pressure on the stair treads.

Step 2 You get the most beautiful and best result if you use a chalk paint. A chalk paint is a water-based paint with pigment and chalk/lime. You get the best result if you apply several thin layers on top of each other, where you have to let the layers dry well. As an example, you can choose a base layer that is white. You apply this in 2 thin layers without sanding in between. then choose a contrast color, there are many color options available. You also apply this layer twice, between the layers you sand the stair light with a grain of 220 and locally if you want to give the stairs a vintage look, you sand through the paint layer to the bottom layer of white. In this way the stairs get natural wear spots that give this vintage look. The more colors you dare to use in the underlayer, the better the result will be.

Step 3 If you are satisfied with the vintage look, you can give the stairs a treatment layer with a wax, this will deepen the shades and make the whole color uniform.

Step 4 You must also provide the stairs with 2 layers of matt lacquer especially for the chalk paint. The best way to do this is with a paint roller. If you find the stairs a bit too slippery for the socks, it is still good to think about applying a non-slip strip tape. There are different types for sale on the market, do not save on this but buy a good and strong quality. this will also make the paint wear less on the edges.

Have fun with this fun winter job...

Blog writer:

Dennis van den Berg