Present Joys

I haven’t posted about my stairs for a while here. It’s not because nothing is happening; it’s just that the progress I’m making is not terribly impressive. I’m waiting on the next phase of this project, where the spindles and remaining newel posts will be installed, and I can finally finish the platform floor. That will all happen in October, once the spindles are done and the built-in bookshelves in the foyer are in place.

In the mean time, I’ve spent a lot of time staining all the pieces (most of them in place, plus the stray newel posts and pieces of baseboard that aren’t in yet) to simultaneously match each other, to match the q/s white oak mantelpiece that will be installed nearby, and to match the stained fir trim that is present in the rest of the foyer. Basically, I’m trying to bring out the best qualities of the new quarter-sawn white oak pieces while making them feel old, to harmonize everything going on in the room. It’s been an infuriating process, in part due to the sheer amount of material that needs finished.

Everything needs to match—except the treads, that is: those need a different finishing schedule since they need to match the rest of my floor. Although the century-old white oak floor boards were recently refinished with a clear oil-based polyurethane, the old boards are so oxidized that new boards need a lot of toning to match. In the end, the colors aren’t that different from each other, but the difference is important, I think. It makes this whole thing look like it’s been here forever.

I also recently added panel molding underneath each stair tread. It’s such a small detail but it really goes a long way to making the whole project feel more ornamented.

We’re getting ready to leave for about two weeks of vacation, and we have a lot of progress to look forward to soon after we return!