Staircases are a perfect place to showcase family memories with photo and art gallery walls!
I’m continuing to tick off my list of DIY updates I’ve wanted to make in our home. It’s been so fun to add charm and more detail to many of the spaces I’ve “completed” over the years.
A room is never “DONE” in our house, and I love that! It brings me so much joy to work on our home and share it with you here.
You can catch up on the bigger projects I’ve tackled here:
I’m currently working on our foyer and ohhhhh my goodness I can’t wait to show you! It’s gorgeous!
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I used stained luan, this saves a TON of money instead of wood tongue and groove planks.
A few weeks ago I decided it was time to finish that paint job on the rest of the staircase walls. I thought it would take a couple of days and shocker…it did not. 😂
Stair walls are a lot — so many angles to cut in, in such a small space. It didn’t help that I decided to paint the stair skirting to match the walls as well.
Here’s a quick tour of how this small space turned out!
I purposely have avoided hanging anything on the wall you see as you walk through our entryway, because the rest of the walls on the stairs have so much going on:
We LOVE the dark paint color with the warm wood stain!
Over the years we’ve started collecting artwork during our travels, as well as secondhand art I’ve found of places we’ve visited. I’ve also gathered some cool art pieces of spots around Indianapolis that we have a personal connection to:
A couple of these art pieces were purchased directly from the artist, like this amazing piece from James Cook that is created entirely with a typewriter:
Painting the skirting on the steps was especially difficult because of the carpet. I used this tip for painting baseboards to keep the paint from getting on the carpet:
Painter’s tape is a must and a straight edge helps to tuck that tape under the baseboard so no carpet gets painted.
Our wood wall looks almost exactly the same as when I installed it:
They come with a timer and look so great over the prints!
While painting the walls, I noticed the length of the wood planks were slightly inconsistent at each end. I stained a couple of thin pieces of molding and nailed them on each side.
This finished the wall off beautifully:
There are no mats in the frames — they come with two pieces of glass and the photo goes between them. I like the simplicity of these for a busy gallery wall like this. (I gathered these on and off over months — they’re on sale often!)
**Quick interlude about family photos.**
I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard interior designers say they don’t have or recommend personal photos in home decor. I couldn’t disagree with this more.
Your home shouldn’t be a showcase, it should be a showcase of your life, family and the things that you love.
There’s nothing I enjoy more than visiting a friend’s home and seeing photos of their friends, family and travels.
I believe homes should reflect the people that live in them, and what better way to do that than with photos?:
I will die on this hill. 🙂 Please display your framed photographs, you won’t regret it.
While I was endlessly painting the baseboards and stair skirting, I realized the stair balusters and newel post stood out like a sore thumb. So I spent a couple of days painting those as well:
This whole project was so satisfying — the staircase now fits in with the rest of the basement and really creates the mood for the moody and cozy space you walk into at the bottom of the stairs.
The best parts are the gallery walls, full of artwork and photos that tell the story of our family. They make me SO happy.
Do you have family photos hanging around your home?
