Frogtape Paintover Challenge - Entryway Reveal

I had the pleasure of being included in this year’s Frogtape Paintover Challenge, and I decided to tackle my (very neglected) entryway! The challenge was to use $500 and paint (along with Frogtape’s products) to transform a space. Challenge accepted!

Let’s start with some before photos!

I was stuck on what to do with these stairs, which is probably why they remained untouched for so long. My tight budget wouldn’t allow for much. But I also knew that paint would be my best bet to make these stairs into something special!

Goodbye carpet!

I started by ripping out the carpet on the stair case. This was dirty, but so easy. The, I started removing all of the staples and tack strips using my 15-in-one tool and a hammer. After all of these were removed, I swept up the mess and made a plan.

Prep

First I needed to fill holes/cracks/seams with wood filler. Then, I sanded it all down so that it was smooth. The landing areas on my stairs were just plywood. I grabbed a bundle of unfinished red oak hardwoods from Lowe’s and installed them (along with some stair nosing to finish it off). This was intimidating and new to me, but ended up going very smoothly!

I then began taping off all of my edges with Frogtape to prepare for paint. After much stress and deliberation, I decided to match the moulding along the staircase to the stairs for a bold and seamless look! Once everything was taped off, I used my Home Right paint sprayer to spray everything (except for the stair treads/risers) with Zinsser Bonding Primer.

Paint

I realized while applying the primer that my overspray was much more than I planned. So, I prepped the area heavily with plastic drop cloths to create a “tent” around the stair railings for the paint. Next, I sprayed on the black paint. I used Rustoleum Enamel Paint (flat black). This is an oil based paint and is very resilient, which is great for high traffic areas.

While the railings dried, I cleaned up the stairs in preparation for paint. I vacuumed several times and wiped it all down with damp rags. We also set up down in the basement guest room with the girl’s because the floor coating that we used needed to cure for a few days. Once everything was prepped and clean, I starting rolling on this Rustoleum Floor Coating kit (in matte black). This stuff is amazing! It went on smoothly and dried pretty quickly. After the recommended drying time, I rolled on the top coat and let it cure for 24 hrs.

DIY Art Project

While the stairs were drying I got to work on some DIY projects. The large wall on the stairs was begging for a big statement piece of art. I decided to make one! First, I started by building a canvas frame using some scrap pine 1×2’s that I had in the garage. Then, I nailed it all together with my brad nailer. Next, I used a canvas drop cloth to wrap the frame and stapled with my staple gun.

I wanted to use up ONLY leftover paint and materials for this artwork. So, I covered the entire thing with primer to give it a base. Next, I mixed up some Plaster of Paris and brushed it on thickly to give it texture. After that dried I began mixing up some craft paint to make some gold/beige colors to tie in with my rug. I lightly dabbed it on in areas until I was happy with it. Then I used some black black to add some contrast. After this dried, I blotted some areas with some leftover Limewash Glaze to give it more dimension. This artwork only cost me $15 to make!

I also used some clearance fabric to make my own roman shade for the window on the stairs! This project was under $20 and took me 20 minutes to make!

Hardware & Lighting

In addition to painting the basement door and adding more my new hardware (I already had this on hand after purchasing several on sale for the house), I hung some new lighting that I had been collecting for the entryway. The biggest stunner is the chandelier! I was DYING to splurge on the Farlane Chandelier that I had been drooling over for months. T his similar one I found was wayyyy less and swapped out the shades for some tapered ones that I found for $5 each (at my local At Home store)! I also traded a boob light out for this gorgeous glass pendant!

I finished up the space by decorating a little with this stunningggg Mcgee & Co rug that I got when I was on sale a few months ago. Also, I found this marble bistro table on Facebook Marketplace (it is sold at World Market) for super cheap! It was a perfect spot for my little tree and DIY aged pot! I mounted these perfect little brass hooks! And Painted my basement door Anew Gray by Sherwin Williams to match my other interior doors. I also swapped out the hardware for this Emtek knob in French Antique.