Hall stairs and landing

When we first moved in, we had talked about getting someone in to do the hall stairs and landing, partly because the ceilings are so high in parts and the woodwork was in such a state on every length of skirting and all 8 of the doorways. It was all a bit daunting, so we had decided to pay someone else.....well, I rarely pay someone else to do a job I can do myself, so when Mr D went off to work one day, I just got out the brushes and set to. There was one moment where I realised that I could seriously injure myself or indeed die if the ladder I was on slid sideways. You'll be pleased to hear that I got down until my son was around to stand guard! I might be a bit gung-ho but I'm not totally stupid!

By the time Mr D arrived home 2 days later, the pink wall had become a dark grey photo wall and the mint green walls (yes I know - an interesting and slightly unpleasant combo of minty-less-than-fresh-green and lurid pink) were an elegant pale grey. I hadn't managed to paint the high bits, but with him around, we finished them off in a jiffy.
I gritted my teeth, sanded, under coated and glossed all of the woodwork. Goodness what a difference it all made. The ceilings are white again and it all seems so much brighter.
One of the features I had initially loved about the house was the beautiful sweeping staircase. Sadly the previous owners had obviously got into the habit of draipsing their wet towels over the hand rails on the landing so they were looking decidedly lacklustre. I bought a tin of stain and three thin coats later it looked as good as new.

The front landing of the Edwardian part of the house with freshly stained stair rails. Luckily the carpet throughout the upstairs of the house is in good nick, so that's one expense less.

All that woodwork..... 

The colour I used is "down pipe" from Farrow and Ball - dark but not too dark.

The landing at the rear of the house. The previous owners had had this section of the  house reconfigured which is fortunate - it wouldn't have worked for us otherwise as originally you had to walk through one bedroom to get to the tiny bathroom, then through that to get to the toilet and then through the toilet to  get to the fourth bedroom could have been a bit awkward of you were on the toilet and someone decided to have a long soak in the bath!  The two bedrooms and good sized bathroom are all seperate entities with their own entrances now.  

Every time Mr D goes away, I get itchy fingers and start a new job around the house! I don't think he minds much :)