How To Transform Your Staircase

A tutorial sharing how I transformed my staircase in 7 days using wallpaper!!

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I was toying with the idea of painting my stairs for a while but couldn't make a firm decision on a colour. I then got my hands on some wallpaper that I used on an upcycle project and fell in love with it. Originally I was going to wallpaper the wall but I had this crazy idea to wallpaper the stairs instead. During the first lockdown I began my transformation which took me 7 days to complete.

(full how to video below)

What I used

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• Paint opener & mixer - Picked one up from poundland

• Pliers - From ikea tool box

• Wood filler

• Sander

• Frogtape

• Round paint brush

• Primer

• Paint

• Heavy duty extreme varnish

• Paint pad or brush to apply varnish

• Wallpaper

• Cutting mat

• Stanley knife - Picked one up from poundland

• Wallpaper paste

Here is a step by step guide on how I achieved this transformation.

Carefully remove the carpet and underlay.

I used a screwdriver to tease the carpet away from the grippers.

Then remove the staples and grippers.

I used pliers for the staples and created a lever with a hammer and a metal paint stirrer to lift up the grippers.

Fill the holes from the staples and any others with wood filler, leave to dry then sand.

Use a scrap piece of wallpaper to create a template of the riser and put it aside.

Hoover and clean the stairs with sugar soap before starting the next steps.

Now it is time to apply the primer

I applied 2 thin coats using a roller allowing 4 hours dry time between coats. Be sure to have everything you need downstairs.

Then on with the colour using a round brush

Again, apply 2 thin coats allowing 4 hours dry time between coats.

While waiting for the final coat to dry, you can use the template you created from the scrap wallpaper as a guide to cut out riser strips from your selected wallpaper.

If you have patterned paper don't forget to ensure that the pattern flows.

To avoid running out I split one length of wallpaper into 2 and alternated the pattern on the risers.

Once the final coat is dry you can now get the wallpaper pasted to the risers using wallpaper paste and a normal paintbrush.

I applied the paste to the riser and the back of the paper.

Allow to dry

When the wallpaper is dry carefully trim off the excess paper using a stanley knife

Protect the stairs by applying three coats of varnish.

Enjoy your stairs and the compliments to follow!!!