DIY: Staining Front Banister

I hinted that we were going to stain our front staircase handrail in this post on the foyer a couple months ago and we finally did it!  Thank y'all by the way for all of your comments on decor for the foyer, I took them all to heart and you can see the finished product below!  This handrail project has been on our list since we moved in the house, since we had the floors stained a darker color and the handrail automatically looked out of place.  We both wanted to stain the handrail but the thought of that much sanding sounded horrible so we thought our only option was painting.  Thankfully, we were wrong!  There is this amazing product out there from Minwax called Polyshades that is a stain and polyurethane in one and you barely even have to sand the surface.  It seriously is a miracle worker... we went with the new shade, Honey Gloss, and the finished product matches our floors perfectly!

Kyle lightly sanded the banister then took Emery for a long play date while I got to work staining with a brush (I did tape around the top of the spindles so I didn't have to be as careful).  I definitely got better as I went along, the key is to put light layers on because if you try to put it on too heavy it'll bubble up and also drip.  I ended up doing 2 solid coats (a day apart b/c it takes a while to dry) and then a couple touch ups later.  So without further ado, here are the before and afters!

BEFORE:

 

 AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

These pictures make the handrail look a little lighter than they are in person, we love it! What a difference, I'm so glad we finally took the time to do it! See ya golden oak banisters!

Paint color makes such a difference too-- here is the true before and after from when we moved in to what it looks like now.  (Well we had replaced the carpet already but that's about it)  

While I had the stain out we also did our back staircase handrail.  Kyle spray painted the handrail supports from brass to oil rubbed bronze which makes a huge difference too! Check out this before and after-- WOAH that navy paint and dirty walls were so bad haha.

Little by little!

4th of July Neighborhood Celebration!

WOAH sorry for the blog break! We are in the middle of traveling mayhem -- but we'll get caught up eventually.

So back to where we left off, after spending 4th of July at Smith Mountain Lake with Kyle's family we headed home to celebrate over the weekend with our first neighborhood 4th of July party!  We had heard our neighborhood did it up big, and they did not disappoint!  A kids parade, full blown buffet, live music, bounce houses and fireworks all up at the neighborhood clubhouse... it was really fun!

We had fun walking to the clubhouse in our matching red, white and blue pulling Emery in the wagon!

We met up with our friends Mandy and Warren who also live in the neighborhood and had a great time catching up with them over dinner!

Family shot-- haha we are all doing Emery's cheese face:

Group shot:

We walked back to our house on the golf course and loved watching the fireworks from our backyard.  They weren't loud at all and Emery LOVED seeing all the fun colors in the sky.  A perfect night!

Smith Mountain Lake 4th of July

 

For July 4th, we headed up to Smith Mountain Lake to celebrate with Kyle's family!  We had such a great time watching all the kids play together and enjoyed relaxing in the sun with every one.

Such sweet pictures of Caleb & Emery together:

So much fun, thank you again for inviting us up y'all!

Boone with the Baker fam

The week before July 4th, Emery and I headed up to Boone to meet my parents, grandma and sister's whole family for a couple days.  Emery was on cloud 9 the whole time-- she loves being around her cousins and it's always so fun to watch her interact with them as she gets older. 

Mantha is such a "mommy" and her and Emery are literally attached at the hip... they did everything together -- including dancing around in their matching princess nightgowns that Tara brought for them.  Emery insisted on wearing it every night we were there!

We of course went to Valley Crusis numerous times to get the kiddos energy out and enjoy the cooler weather:

Can't forget bath time with the cousins as well!

One of our close friends from growing up in Florida, Bonnie, and her family drove in for a couple days to visit with us all too!  We had so much fun watching all the kids play together (9 total between all of us) and catch up!

We challenged Bonnie's husband, Dave, with making a fire with wet wood and no accelerant... he was not proud of it but it was perfect for smores!

We headed to Blowing Rock one afternoon to explore downtown, play on the playground and eat a picnic lunch.  So glad the rain held out until we were done!

Before we all left to go home our separate ways, we had to get some group shots!

We missed Nick, Jamie and Kyle but still had a great time with everyone!