Suit up! Banister Goes Black and White

You guys, I am BEYOND excited to share this transformation with you! 
Since Eric has been off of school for summer break, he has been KICKING BUTT AND TAKING NAMES! Words can't begin to express how grateful I am of him and his incredible handy-man skills. I know I don't thank him enough. So honey, if you're reading this THANK YOU!!!! 
Yeah, he's a keeper. 

This weekend we are hosting our first official house party! Yes I know, it only took an entire YEAR for us to get around to it, but better late than never right? 
Now I'm at that "anxious excited" level where I keep thinking of ridiculous things we need to do before everyone comes over. Do you ever get that way? I am fully aware that NO ONE will notice how our coffee table books are stacked...but that didn't stop me from rearranging everything last night and separating them by size and color. 

My absurd habits aside, this party has been a excellent motivator to get our butts in gear and complete some of the larger projects on our to-do list. I shared how we finally rid ourselves of all that unsightly brown trim in THIS POST, which was extremely satisfying, and Eric also painted all the doors upstairs white to match. 

One task that I didn't have on my radar, but Eric cranked out in a couple weeks anyhow (again, note the amazingness that is my husband) was the banister on our stairs! We knew we wanted to give it a paint job (especially with all of that new crisp white trim around it) and I've always been attracted to the dramatic effect of black and white stairs, so of course I pounced at the chance to reflect that look in our home!

Source / Source / Source / Source 

So armed with a plan (and some advice from his Dad) Eric went to town demolishing our stairs.

Since these stairs have been painted a dozen or so times, the detailing on the spindles was getting lost. To bring those details back to life, the strategy was to take everything apart, strip, paint, and then reassemble. 

Layers and layers of paint. 

Once everything was torn down, Eric started stripping *cue sexy music*  NO NO not that! Jeez you guys... 

I wish I knew more of what chemicals he used, or the exact process it took to get all the paint off, but I DO know that all his hard work left us with these wonderfully bare spindles.

One coat of primer + two coats of paint = one incredible dapper banister! 

You guys!!! I am OBSESSED! 

Every time I walk up the stairs, I run my hand over that sexy black banister in awe and whisper sweet nothings to it. 

Adios strange mix of wood, brown paint, and...well...more brown paint. Hello black and white tuxedo bliss! 

The next thing to conquer in the foyer is painting the backs of the steps white, and replacing that runner with something a little less brown and a little more "us". 

Seriously, there has been SO MUCH BROWN in this house.