My $25 Banister is BORN!

After a grueling 25+ hours of hard labor (I am talkin' sweating, huffing and puffing, tedious stuff) my $25 oak banister was transformed into a stunning beauty. If I knew how much labor was going to go into this, and how painful and hard it would be, I doubt I woulda tackled this project. But just like every birth, after all is said and done, I would do it all over again..... :)

Supplies (I had most of the paint and supplies in my garage, so all I purchased was the stain and small paint brushes):

• Old white T-shirt & gloves (for the staining)
  
• Wood stain: Ebony and Dark Walnut (oil based)
  
• Painter's Touch, Kiona Brown, paint.
• Primer
• White paint
• Wipe-on Poly
• Detailed artist paint brushes
• Tape
• Foam Roller and paint brush
• Sand paper: 320 Grit & 100 Grit (electric sander recommended, but optional)
  

After sanding and right before staining

First came sanding the handrail. I sanded the first (downstairs) handrail manually. That took me almost 2 hrs alone. I finally asked my husband to help and within 5 minutes of him helping me he ran to home depot to get us some "pain reliever"- my electric sander! HIGHLY recommended!

• Start with 100 grit to get the oak down to the bare bones. Sand until your hands go numb. This took me HOURS. You will know you are at the bare bones when the wood feels in its natural state.
  
• End with 320 grit, nice and soft, to smooth it out to perfection. This was just a finishing touch so it didn't take as long.
• Take a damp rag and clean all that fine sand off before you stain.

Staining. I have never stained anything before. I was very intimidated. But I reassure you, it is easier than painting.

• TIP: The girl at Home Depot told me to get oil based stain because the wood takes it better and the finish comes out nicer, so that is what I went with. I was pleased.
  
• Get an old T-shirt, dip it in the stain (hopefully wearing gloves), and wipe it on with the direction of the grain. Simple as that. Wait 4 hrs, do the next coat.
• I started with 1 coat of Ebony, then did the 2nd coat with Dark Walnut to warm it up.

• The Oak just wasn't lookin the way I wanted it to after the 2 coats of stain. I took my Kiona Brown paint and applied it the same way I applied the stain, with a t-shirt in the direction of the grain.
  

The paint top coat took the rail from dull, dark and blotchy to a nice sleek espresso color. Before I did this I have to admit I was almost crying because it wasn't looking the way I had imagined. The thought of having to re sand and retry was just more than I could bear, thank you Kiona Brown paint!!!

Painting. After the staining was complete (but before my poly went on) I started the massive job of painting the rest of the banister. I am talking at least 15 hours of labor including the prep, a coat of primer, and 2 coats of paint. Painful, grueling, terrible, never ending!
I didn't want to tape the newly stained handrail, so I had to do all the detail painting with a small, artistic, paint brush. With my attention to detail it worked really well for me (it just took years to finish).

Wipe-On Poly. Wipe this on the same way you did the stain.
TIP: I wiped this on a little part of my white banister to see if it would yellow and it DID! bad! Only use this for your stained wood. I will be looking for something else that doesn't yellow for my beautiful white banister!

Just with any birth, now I can rest, recover, and enjoy my finished product.

View from my front entry

From the top of the stairs

I am linking this to:
Its So Very Cheri
Metamorphosis Monday