Should I paint these bannisters? Pic incouded

[Bladders73]

Just that really. Am tempted to paint them white to help lighten up the hall and stairs but at the moment they are maintenance free and I suspect that children rubbing their grubby hands up and down them every day will render them dirty and needing painting every few months. I don't like gloss paint and tend to use satinwood on woodwork. Would this be up to the job?

Any recommendations? Or leave well alone?

[Gatekeeper]

another vote for paint the spindles but leave the bannisters- I've seen this done in a couple of houses and it looks good

[amarmai]

A bigger diff can be made by painting the wall or changing the stair covering.

[Bladders73]

The wall will be painted soon in dulux almond white ( very pale magnolia) everything else will be white. Unfortunately our budget won't stretch to a new carpet but it will be professionally cleaned.

I am really keen on painting it all white. I wonder if it's worth doing the it all in satinwood then painting a clear coat of a varnish over the handrail?

[TitsCrossed]

I vote paint the spindles, leave the banister and newel post. When the cat gets off my shoulder I'll go and take a photo of our new attic banister.

[TitsCrossed]

We went for a dark stain on the wood. Saving for carpet now.

[Bladders73]

That looks good too tits, hmm shall keep pondering

[TitsCrossed]

I used white satinwood in a previous house on bannister and I swore never again. It took about 10 mins for the hand rail to look grubby and was impossible to clean. Although it did look fabulous for those 10 mins.

[Roussette]

Why not gloss though? It doesn't look glossy if that makes sense. And it wears. We are 4 years in without a repainting

[Bladders73]

I was just saying to DH that we could satin everything but the handrail and gloss that. I'm keen to do it now, I think it will make a big difference

[PrimalLass]

We have similar stairs and are probably going to paint the spindles but stain the handrail darker.

[wickedwaterwitch]

I think they'll look great painted - we have White bannisters and they just need a wipe now and again

[Yellowaveo59]

Agree with thankfulforeveryday. I have left the handrail and painted the spindles and posts looks a lot better

[SwedishEdith]

Ours are the same - going for white spindles only. Eventually.

[Seriouslyffs]

Spindles only-
Def not the handrail.

[MrsTammySwanson]

We went for white. Not a fan of dark wood banisters generally.

[TheUnwillingNarcheska]

I have decorated bannisters 4 times now in 4 different houses. I have in 2 of them left the handrail varnished as it shows up chips less and painted the spindles white.

The bit that is the hardest is that bit near the very top of the stairs where you can no longer see through the spindles as there is the wall from downstairs coming up. Am I making sense?

You need to work out how you will get to that bit. I put up lining paper (feed it between the spindles to get it behind) to protect the wall from paint then use a mini roller to coat the back of the spindles. It doesn't have to be that neat you just don't want to see brown from downstairs in the hall.

I had mine professionally painted last year but that was white on white. Cost me £80. I bit their hands off. They used an acrylic primer as it dries fast (I use acrylic all the time due to lack of fumes) and then they used gloss as it is hard wearing. As I said the rest of my house is painted in acrylic white.

[SwedishEdith]

Is acrylic primer the Zinsser stuff?

[TheUnwillingNarcheska]

No, but that is a great primer.

The professionals brought their own primer which was the same as mine, Leyland acrylic primer. I got mine from Screwfix and then I usually use Leyland acrylic eggshell but I couldn't get it, not even to order it in. So I bought Valspar acrylic top coat paint from B&Q, they have a display of painted trim meaning you can see how shiny the finish is.

If you haven't used acrylic before be aware of a couple of things. Decant it into a paint kettle and a add a small amount of water to loosen it slightly. Start somewhere that will be behind furniture until you get a feel for it. When you are ready for a break, put the brush into a jam jar/coffee jar of water to cover to the top of the bristles. Don't wrap it up in cling film.

Dry it off on kitchen towel before you start painting again. Do the same with the top coat. It will show some brush marks but on the plus side I could get 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of top coat on in one day Once you get a feel for it you can minimise the brush marks but in all honesty, how close do you examine your paintwork? The smell doesn't linger either and doesn't give me a headache like oil based eggshell does.

[ShadyMyLady]

Tammy your stairs look amazing, it's how I want mine, our hallways are laid out pretty much the same. What flooring have you got on the landing?

[ChippyMinton]

Another vote for white spindles only. Here's mine - the handrail and newel posts are a glossy varnish , which is very hardwearing.

[MrsTammySwanson]

Thanks Shady. The floor in the landing and the floor in 80% of the house is a Scandinavian wooded floor which we put in when we moved in.

I can't really do carpets because of allergies so stick with wood and rugs.

[ShadyMyLady]

Thank you, I always wondered what people put on the landing as I think stripey carpet up there would look too much. Something I will consider for the future, it really does look lovely. And scary how similar our halls are!

[ohidoliketobe]

Another one to suggest painting the spindles! Our hallways tails and landing are looking bit tired but keep putting g off decorating it until we've decided on a loft conversion. . . . Getting twitchy again looking at these pictures!

[MrsTammySwanson]

Shady we aren't neighbours are we? The houses on my street are very similar in setup. I've tried to find some pictures of the floor so you can see what the wood looks like.

[ShadyMyLady]

It looks lovely.

Possibly . It is slightly different though, your doors on the left are closer together and looking at the view down your stairs you have a door on the left, mine's just a wall and my neighbours hall adjoined!