Savin' the Stairway

Do you know what I love about our stairway? How wide it is, the lovely wood stairs, the way it sets the tone for our house (wood and cool and wow!) 

Do you know what I don't love about the stairway? The ugly risers. Now, obviously, we will refinish the stairs treads at some point. Although they are in great shape structurally, they are pretty stained in the middle (the part people walk on) But you don't see that just looking at the stairs when you walk in the door. 

What you do see are the risers. Are they as pretty as the stair treads? No sir, they are not. You'd be safe to assume that they are finished, as are the treads. No, wrong again. They were just plain wood, with exposed screws. Ew. 

I got my inspiration from this picture here, with the decorated risers. 

I thought about trying to find some pretty tiles to recreate this idea, but I was worried about how permanent it would be if I changed my mind, not to mention the expense of the tile and other necessary materials.  (Money is always a big factor in my many creative ideas.)

So, I went off  to the store to wait for inspiration to strike. I came home a little later with four rolls of wallpaper and a bottle of adhesive. Then I waited for a quiet day with not much else to do. 

As far as execution, it was a relatively simple project. The wallpaper border had to be trimmed down a little to fit the risers, and cut to the correct length. Then I used a cheap throwaway brush to spread the adhesive onto the back of the paper, and went about sticking it to the risers. The adhesive was easy to manipulate so I was able to move the piece around to get the best fit. Lastly, smooth out the bubbles, and voila! Easy peasy. 

Here's a few before and afters. I really like the effect, and I feel like the view is that much more calming and impressive as you walk in the front door. Yay for easy projects!