Stair Railing Makeover DIY Baluster

$32.84
1 Week
Medium
We live in a bi-level and guests enter our home and come up five stairs into the living room. The stair railing that is at the top of those stairs can be seen in this photo:
My living room recently underwent a major makeover, and so let me show you a more up-to-date photograph from a different angle.
That couch does permanently reside in front of the stair railing, but regardless I felt the outdated oak needed to go and I should make a change.
The first things I did was demolish the existing baluster, but I kept the newel post. I cut off the top and refaced it, adding a new post cap and post skirt.


Then I drilled into the newel post as well as created a half post to be against the wall that would hold horizontally placed conduit poles. This process is all pretty complicated to explain, but if you visit my blog, you can watch a 5-minute video of me completing the project step by step.
When I was all done, this was the new design! I did follow building regulations in my state with 4" measurements between railings and weight bearing requirements. Since this railing protects against falls down a very short flight of stairs, I felt comfortable constructing this horizontal design.
The transformation has been incredible. The look and feel of our house has completely changed when people enter up the steps.
Oh and by the way, doesn’t my sign of family values wall decor look awesome in the background!? You might have seen my last post on Hometalk where I painted my hallway trim white and the doors black, so now our stairs match!
Be sure to pin these images and visit my blog to watch the time lapse video! It is really cool to see how this transformation was done, all in one week!
Welcome to the Woods
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Sid28644728 Sid28644728 on Sep 19, 2018

    Love the look!!

    Parents teach your children, watch your children!!

    STOP ENABLING YOUR CHILDREN!!!

  • Dmotan Dmotan on Jan 12, 2021

    The look you have created is modern and contemporary. Your living room isn't, it is more traditional. Unless you are going to redo your home, this seems out of place but you love it, so go for it.

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