How do you paint the walls of a stairwell???

TUTORIAL

Painting a Stairwell-

It's already a pain to paint up to high-vaulted ceilings, right? But what do you do when there are stairs involved?

Hey, you don't have to call the painters! We're DIY-ers!

Are you scared?
Don't be!

I've got one word for ya: PLATFORM.

I have to give my dad ALL the credit here for this one.

I had no idea how to do this until he threw this bad boy together.

My dad's seriously the most inventive & talented craftsman I know.

This took him like 2 seconds to whip up. Okay, maybe 3 ;)

Anyway, I thought I'd share the solution with ya!

First, take a piece of OSB or any strong scrapboard (about 24"x27") and set it on a stair.

We've used two re-purposed pieces here.

Grab a couple of boards for the legs (these are 1x2's cut
to about 22.5" high **), and place them 4 stairs apart (for
stability). Cut them to the height needed to make the top
of the platform level.

 **Note: Stairs can vary in size, so make sure you build this to fit YOUR stairs.

Now add some support.
He's used another 1"x2" piece to go across the 24" width,
 and another piece of OSB about 14"x24".
Secure (with nails or screws) from the inside along
where the legs would be on the other side.

 You're ready to paint! Place an extension ladder securely to the height you need it & go!

Way to up-cycle! Those random pieces of scrap lumber have turned into something useful!

As you work your way up the stairs, have someone lift the ladder while you move the platform up as you go.

Here it is! We did this at my mom's house a few days ago.
She wanted to cover her muted Paprika walls
with a vibrant Bordeaux Cherry.

 Here's another tip that my neighbor (a manager & paint expert @ Kwal-Howell's) shared with me. If you have heavily textured walls & are having a hard time cutting in a straight line, caulk it FIRST. Doing that will smooth out your corners. Now cut in with a nice, angled brush. No need to tape here!

Use paintable caulk. You can also caulk AFTER you've
painted, but it doesn't work very well with deep colors---
the white will obviously stick out like a sore thumb.
Another drawback to caulking AFTER you've painted is
that it gets dirty unless it's coated with paint
(the paint seals the caulk).

So, you might be wondering, WHERE WERE ALL MY KIDS while we were doing this?

My older 3 kids were at school, and my babies were-



Enjoying a little picnic while watching some Tom & Jerry.

(Hey, check out the entertainment center & mantle!
My oh-so-handy dad designed & built them!)



Hey, you do what you've gotta do, right?

They were actually really good... and it really didn't take us very long since we didn't use tape.

Here's a picture of the finished rooms!
Mom was happy, and so was I.

I. LOVE. TO. PAINT.

Oh yes, I really do!