our WANNABE staircase

My very good friend, Beth from The Stories of A to Z is having a party today. Since moving away from her and the rest of my friends I've found myself dreadfully "homesick" this past week, so I decided to join in on her fun.

For those of you who know Beth, know that she can take a nothing and turn it into something simply stunning in mere minutes and for practically no cost! For those of you who know me well, know that I was gifted with 110% of my right brain working, whereas the creative side is severely lacking. I guess to make up for that, God did bless me with the ability to appreciate beauty and to see potential in something. It's just bringing the potential to reality that I frequently find difficult.

Well, I've known about Beth's party for several weeks now, and decided that this was going to be my big chance to show the world (and our mutual friends) that Julia can do it too! We moved into Dogwood only two and a half weeks ago, and under normal circumstances, that should have been enough time for me to get a "simple" project like beautifying my staircases done. (After all, it only took 9 days to empty all the boxes.)

But my staircase hopes and dreams started before I was hospitalized twice in the past month, and before I was put on a new treatment that's been quite painful with severely inadequate pain killers. So, once again "real life" took preference, and my staircase is still waiting. Since I've been homesick for friends and familiar places this past week, I decided to join in on the party anyway. So, rather than you being impressed by my transformation, instead you'll be acquainted with my (almost) blank canvas, my inspiration pictures, and my plans for our staircase.

So - here's what came with the house. Before you start smirking, let me assure you that I already know that there are two different types of sconces, two murals that must be painted over, and stark white walls (except for the array of scuff marks all over them).

There is also a decorating box-thingy upstairs that I have simply no idea what to do with. Any suggestions?

My inspiration staircase belongs to Chris at Just A Girl. Beth first introduced me to Chris's amazing blog months ago, and I've been hooked ever since! She's a working mom of two who still finds time to create such stunning, simple beauty in her home. I figure if she can find the time and energy to create such a warm, loving home, then I should be able to also. (Please indulge me here for just a couple minutes as I try to forget that I'm struggling with PH.)

I absolutely love how she kept her rails and end posts the dark wood, but painted all the smaller rungs white. That's what I'm hoping to do with mine too. Right now when looking at my staircase all I can see is a sea of wood. I'd like the banister to accentuate the architecture, not overwhelm it. I think Chris did an excellent job with hers! (And the fact that it's decorated for Christmas makes it even more endearing to me!)

As you can see, she even has the carpet running up the middle of the steps like ours is already. So I think having the white rails with the wood and carpet steps will look great on ours - it's stunning on Chris's staircase.

I'm planning to paint the living room, entry, and stairs a beige - possibly a wheat color - definitely without too much yellow in it. But there's so much wood in the house already (95% of our furniture, most of the first floor floor, etc.) that I'm thinking I'd like to paint all the baseboards, doorway trim, and chair rails throughout the house white. The wood trim is quite beautiful, though. Is it a decorating sin to cover up something so pretty? Exposed wood trim just isn't me, but I don't want to ruin it either. Anyone have an opinion????

So - now you've seen our wannabe staircase. Hopefully it won't be too long till I can post about our beautified staircase. If you feel so inclined, I'd love to hear your opinion about what I should do with it. Since it's one of the first things seen when walking into Dogwood, it should make a pleasant statement. Right now the only statement it says is "whoa wood!"