Whew lawd! That’s all I have to say because I made quite a mess that I quickly had to figure out how to fix. Let me explain.
Let me clarify this: Don’t do it yourself without good help!
When you live in a home with a lot of kids, you have to STAY cleaning and revamping in order for it to stay fresh and up-to-date. Because if not, kids will surely run your house into the ground. No doubt.
So a few months ago, I had the novel idea to rip the carpet up off the stairs of our home and turn them into hardwood stairs. I’m always trying to revamp, refresh and change things around. It’s part of being a mom who has messy kids. You have to kind of change things up to KEEP UP your home. The carpet was looking kinda worn on the steps and I figured since the kids run up and down the stairs all the time it was a good idea to change it. AND because the rails were white and often get dirty because the kids constantly run their hands up and down it, I thought it would be great to paint it black. And here’s the kicker: I decided that I would paint the rails myself! I figured, how hard could this be? Well I soon found out the hard way!
Home Depot says “You can do it, we can help!” Well I should have sought their help!
So without telling my husband a thing, I pulled up the carpet myself while he was at work. And to my surprise here’s what I found underneath…
I found that that the contractors who built the house put in steps that were not the hard wooden ones like I thought would be under the carpet. 
The problem is that steps like these aren’t real wood. Well part of them aren’t and part of them are. Hell I don’t know what they are. I just call them a mess. And each step had a space in-between and that was a big problem too. So I let out a big sigh and tried to figure out what now. The only other solution was to rip out the steps and put in new ones. Well that wasn’t happening. So that meant that I had now ripped up the carpet only to have to put more carpet back down. Sigh. I not only made a mess, but I did it without consulting my husband and now had to tell him we have to spend money for carpet we didn’t really need had I left the carpet on. Well I’m lucky my husband doesn’t have a temper! LOL!
So then I commence to painting the rails black….MYSELF!
Hot. Damn Mess. What have I done! What have I gotten myself into! The problem is the paint was not “sticking” to the rails because of the paint it was going over. After the fact, I talked to a rep at Home Depot and found out I should have sanded the rails first before applying a new coat of paint.
Then if I hadn’t messed up enough, I decided that the chocolate wall along the stairs was too dark and it needed to be lightened so I painted it myself. Lord have mercy! This is too hard! HELP!!!!!
Okay so end result? I called a contractor to put in new carpet (that was darker) on the stairs. Then my husband found a man to paint the rails black and then my husband finished painting the wall along the stairs lighter for me and we added some black and white family photos. And drumroll please…
HALLELUJAH!
I turned a mess into a masterpiece! Well okay I worked to find the solutions to turn a mess into a masterpiece! I’m pretty sure I drove my husband crazy in the process but I want to thank him for putting up with my DIY project and for financing it too! (lol)
Shout out to all the moms who stay cleaning, picking up toys, tripping over trucks, finding old chicken bones in the corner and potato chip wrappers under the TV and washing loads of clothes only to find the next day they pile up again and cooking and washing down walls and vacuuming like a mom gone mad and taking care of kids and trying to maintain a beautiful home! IT’S NOT EASY! And I will always work to improve my home and make it better. But the kicker and lesson here is you HAVE to ask the pros so you don’t suffer these pitfalls. I would not have had some of these problems only I asked for help. It’s ok to do you yourself–and you can, but just like with anything, get the right guidance to see you through!
Have I learned my lesson? Nah. I’ve got a two-car garage that’s so full of stuff I can’t fit a car in there. I’ll be working on THAT sometime soon! 🙂
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