Postings from Germany

New Stairs

Of course the stairs aren't NEW.  There is nothing new about this house!  But they do look a lot different now.

When we moved in, there were a thousand things we wanted to do and no time to do them all. Compromise was the word of the day and we've done that more than a few times since.  Put off.  Wait.  Later. 

Later has finally arrived for the stairs.

They were uncovered when we moved in, which is not to say "usable."  There were coats of paint and old stuff from old carpet, so the emergency solution was more carpet.  It was never pretty and the rubber edges, though practical, were always offensive, both esthetically and visually (is that the same thing?).

Some years ago Werner found some brass stair rods, those charming things that hold down the carpet where the tread meets the riser.  Time to use them!

Off with the old!  It is never ever as easy as it looks and always takes at least twice as long to finish.  The old carpet backing and the old layers of paint took scraping and whacking and sanding.  There had to be wood under there somewhere!

And there it was!  Stressed wood.  Hard to believe that people actually pay for this look when they can get it for free with a 150-year-old house and three weeks' labor.  Before and after:

Isn't it pretty? I love the way it looks and feels.

So, time to go to the carpet store and order a runner.  Here's the kicker:  our precious brass stair rods are 60 cm. wide which means we can have carpet 50 cm wide.  HARD TO FIND. One store in Bremen offered limited choices in 50 cm; we special ordered it to only to be told a week later that the manufacturer no longer makes that width - not enough call for it.  Well.  Well.  Well.

Option 1:  leave them bare.  I kind of like it!

Option 2:  buy new cute brass stair rods for a wider carpet! 

We're putting off a decision.  Maybe we'll find a compromise.