How To Paint Stair Railing Black And White
Painting stair railings can feel like a daunting task. I really wanted to change the color of the oak wood handrails on our stairs and decided to paint the handrails black and paint the spindles and base a fresh white. Here’s a look at what I did.
What I used:
Canvas Dropcloth (to protect the floor from dripping paint)
Small paint brush
Medium size paint brush
Sherwin-Williams Pure White paint
Sherwin-Williams Black Magic paint
I decided to paint the handrails first, and paint the spindles separately later. I sanded the handrails down, not too roughly, but enough to take the finish off of the oak wood. You need to sand the railing to scuff the finish so that the paint will adhere better.
First, I taped. I feel like taping takes longer than painting, but it’s worth taking extra time to ensure your paint job will look perfect! Make sure you firmly press the painter’s tape to the wall, so paint doesn’t leak underneath.
I taped off the walls where the handrail met them, and taped the top of the spindles that connected underneath the handrail.
I first painted the underside of the railing, starting around where the spindle meets the rail. Then I went back and painted the top and each side in one direction and worked my way along the rail. You will want your paintbrush strokes to continue in one direction smoothly while the paint is wet. Go slightly go over what you have just painted, and blend in essence. Painting around each spindle is time-consuming, I highly recommend painting underneath first as prep work, and painting the rest will go a lot quicker.
You will want to peel the painter’s tape off soon after you finish painting, so the paint on the tape doesn’t dry and sit for too long. If you wait too long, when you peel the tape off, dried on paint may peel or lift off of the surface you just painted. The tape may not lift as cleanly.
Once handrails were complete, I waited a couple days before taping off the underside of the handrail so I could paint the spindles. I painted the base of the staircase and spindles white. This was loads of fun (*sarcasm*) because I had to paint all around the spindle – which meant I had to switch from one side of the staircase to the other to paint 360 degrees while the paint was still wet as I worked my way along the stair case.
A M A Z I N G H A C K :
If you have to paint a handrail that is mounted to a wall (not free standing) here’s an amazing hack – tear off long pieces of Saran plastic wrap and tape the Saran plastic wrap to the wall next to the inside of the handrail. If your paint brush or paint roller touches the wall, no worries! The paint will just get on the Saran wrap, which you can easily remove and throw away! Now, you can really get in the hard-to-reach, awkward places to paint on a wall-mounted hand-rail. Using a really small paint roller is a great way to cover the inside of the hand rail with paint, then use a small a paint brush to apply paint to small areas or angles a roller can’t cover.
More phots below! Happy painting!
Xo
