"Faith is taking the first step, even if you don't see the whole staircase"

A year ago today I painted what is probably my absolute favorite project yet - the staircase leading to my aunt's patio. Originally, she had shown me a picture she found online of a similar project, but wanted it for her basement stairs. I'm so glad we ended up going with the patio instead! Not only do they compliment her beautiful stamped concrete patio, but they make a great conversation piece and serve as a reminder that taking a leap of faith can be so rewarding - Something my aunt has done many times in her various (and successful!) careers.

My aunt chose a gray-ish color for the risers, which pulled together the colors in the concrete as well as the color of her house. While brainstorming what color to paint the letters, I had suggested leaving them "raw" so that they exposed the natural wood underneath. We picked a beautiful script font and I got to work editing it on my computer. I measured the risers and cut the words with my Cricut using several sheets of permanent vinyl.

Now it was time to get to work on the stairs. After cleaning them, I applied the vinyl letters using transfer tape and a plastic scraper. The scraper works well with getting the vinyl to adhere to the wood and ensures that no paint will seep underneath, ruining the raw wood lettering. As an extra precaution, I painted some Matte Mod Podge over the vinyl as well.

After the vinyl and a few coats of Mod Podge were applied.

Once the Mod Podge was dry, I used a roller and painted the risers, going over the vinyl several times. When the paint was dried completely, I peeled off the vinyl to reveal the exposed wood underneath. The stairs came out perfect and I must admit, it took almost a year before we sealed them (I can't remember why we didn't seal them to begin with). Although even after all that time of being exposed to this crazy New England weather, the stairs still look perfect a year later!

XO,

Bre