The stairs

How did I do it? Did I do it myself?
Did I ever!!

I pulled up the carpet. It was hard, I had to do 2 or 3 steps a day to look after my hands.
I removed the carpet tacks as I went.
I sanded the stairs. 3 times. 3 different grades of sandpaper.
I put four coats of polyurethane on them.
I sanded the skirting boards.
I painted them, 1 undercoat and two top coats. They need another. I'll get to that.
The black and white wallpaper came from Resene (who have a great website and even better sales!).
Because the wallpaper isn't as wide as the stairs, I had to cut the strips from the length rather than the width. There wasn't enough repeats in one roll to make them all exactly the same so I cut two different versions and alternated them. I like how that made a new pattern. I used it all up though, so I think I might buy another roll, in case I need to make repairs.
I pasted the strips to the stairs, and I'm thinking I might seal them somehow to make them more hardy.
I still have skirting boards and a couple of hall walls to finish ....

The handyman came to visit for the weekend and he said I'd done a good job. He said it more than once. He's incredibly fussy, so that's high praise from him. I think he meant it!

The house is full of men this week. Builders, plumber, electrician......I told them they had to look after my stairs.