Mabey She Made It

Welcome back to the Mabey Manor tour! I’m revealing all the changes we made to our home one room at a time. I’ve already shared the girls’ room, the master bedroom, the nursery, and the upstairs bathroom. And while it may seem strange, I’m really excited to show you the staircase remodel today. Yes, the hallway.

You can see heading up the stairs its going to be fun, right? Brown paint covering plywood patch jobs and of course wood paneling. It was bad. It’s even worse looking up and down the staircase. Ready?

Brown, paneling, oppressive. And a dropped ceiling that made you feel like you were entering a bomb shelter (built in the 70s obviously).

So here’s what we did to turn this staircase around.

Staircase Remodel Projects:

• Rip down that horrid ceiling and the paneling. Guys, they covered a beautiful window with that drop ceiling. All that lost light and vaulted ceiling. It was a shame.
• Reconfigure the hallway (since we added a third room/door the hallway had to be reconfigured to accommodate it). And I love that you no longer look RIGHT into a bedroom when you come up the stairs.
• New drywall, texture, and paint. This was a huge job, and luckily we had someone do the drywall and texture for us for this part.
• New base, trim, and carpet. Carpet may not be the first choice for a lot of people, but with such a steep staircase and little ones, it was the right choice for the house.

Can you believe the difference in this staircase remodel? I never even decorated the walls because I couldn’t stop thinking about all that light. Chad also built a ledge below the window that was just the perfect size for a vintage suitcase I found.

And of course the chandelier was a fun addition. I found it at a thrift store for $20 in this condition, so we didn’t have to do anything but install it. Chad didn’t want to put it in, but eventually gave in to my begging, and in the end he was glad. It finishes the space nicely.

Can you believe they covered that window? How would you have decorated the space?