Transitional Staircase Renovation Part 1

Since the day we moved in, I had a vision for our staircases. But, I knew it would be a bit before we could tackle such a large project! Over the past 3.5 years, I’ve focused on our exterior spaces since we love to be outside as much as possible, all three of our kids’ bedrooms and some smaller spaces in between. I knew there would come a time when I wouldn’t be able to tackle any of the larger spaces in our home until we renovated the stairs and hallways and 2025 was our year! I wrapped this project up right before the holidays and want to take a moment to answer a lot of questions about our Transitional Staircase Renovation.

And in case you are wondering, no, I’m not 100 percent done just yet. I still have two more potential things I want to do in here, but those will come later down the road.

Transitional Staircase Renovation

We have two sets of staircases in our home that basically work in a big loop around our house. A set right up at the front entry (which is shown here) and a second set that connect the main family room to the upstairs. My vision for these spaces was to create a more updated, classic, timeless, design. A light and airy look with statement chandeliers, modern railings that also have a vintage charm and lots of unexpected design elements. Think of an apartment staircase in Paris type of feel.

BEFORE

Here is what our main staircase looked liked before. The leopard print runner was definitely a statement, it was fun while it lasted but ultimately it wasn’t our personal style. The wood railings had so much character but were actually a different stain than the hardwoods. At some point our hardwoods were refinished but they didn’t match the railings or trim anymore and they pulled way more yellow than I wanted. Painting them dark would have been too harsh and I really had my heart set on French inspired wrought iron railings.

Here is the after! We had all the walls skim coated and smoothed out to a level 5 finish. There is zero texture now. And then everything was painting a custom version of SW Creamy (see pic at bottom for formula). We had this done to both staircases, the upstairs hallway and the main family room. This was a massive project that will give us a big kickstart into a lot of my room renovations in 2026. This change alone, made the house feel brand new.

CUSTOM WROUGHT IRON RAILINGS

The railings were something I had dreamt of for so long. I gathered a lot of inspiration for a modern Parisian style railing and I really love how they turned out. There were definitely some hiccups along the way but in the end, I think the entire look came together. They are sleek, full of character and so unique. I had them custom made by a local company in Dallas so specialized in all things wrought iron. The craftsmanship is perfection.

I wanted a statement chandelier in this space, something that added a big of sparkled and “wow” moment when walking up the stairs or when peeking into the house from the courtyard. I went with this gorgeous 8-Light Glass Chandelier for an amazing price. It is glam with hint of vintage and looks amazing all lit up!

If you look close, you can see a hint of antique gold on the railings. They HAND PAINTED this on. Again, the work that went into these is just incredible.

CLASSIC HERRINGBONE STAIR RUNNER

Probably my top asked question about this project is about the runners. Where did I get them and how to go about this process. I actually first found this runner material on Pinterest and found a company back on the east coast that custom makes them. The runner material is called ‘Martinique Striped Carpet Runner in Silver‘. This pattern comes in four different neutral shades.

If I had two straight staircases, I would have been able to provide the measurements to them and I they would ship the runners out to me and I would have installed them myself. Instead, we have this complicated left turn in our staircases and I needed something local and experienced to tackle this.

I ended up finding a local flooring company who carried the same runner and I worked with them to have it measured, ordered and installed. I went down to the warehouse to pick out the trim color and I am so glad I did! The entire process with the runners was very smooth.

CUSTOM GOLD STAIR RODS

I ended up taking this staircase to very dark and beige, to very light and cream. While it feels so much fresher and newer, I did want to add some more character to it. I found these custom Gold Stair Rods on Etsy of all places and installed them myself. Very easy process and I love how they break up the neutral runner. They just add a little more elegance to them.

Ordering them through Etsy saved me THOUSANDS of dollars!

WHAT’S NEXT?!

I still have two more ideas to finish off this space. 1) Add picture frame moulding on the walls to add even more elegance. 2) Add a stone wall behind the mirror to make it feel even more European. Still taking my time to decide on these two! What do you think?

STAIRCASE SOURCES

• Customs Railings – Done by Solara Custom Doors in Dallas
• Custom Runners – Martinique Stripped Runner done by Signature Floors & Interiors in Addison
• Gold Stair Rods on Etsy
• 8-Light Glass Chandelier
• Black Tall Floor Mirror

CUSTOM CREAMY PAINT COLOR