Remember how in my last post (How was that nearly two months ago? That was the fastest summer of my life!) I was optimistic about getting Juniper to nap, and thus being able to get some projects done? Well, neither of those things really happened. Napping hasn’t yet become a regular part of Juniper’s routine, and thus I haven’t been able to get much done. But thanks to some help from my family, I did make a little bit of progress on the stair landing railing. (And we’re back up to one nap a day lately!)

Part of the reason for the slow progress on this project, though, is that even when Juniper does nap, I’m limited in what I can do because the space is right outside our bedroom, where she sleeps. When you’ve finally gotten your nap-averse baby to sleep, you’d rather detail your toilet with a toothbrush than do anything to wake her up. It also means that I don’t have time to edit photos on my computer, so these are all shot with my phone.

So you don’t have to go back to my last post, this is a reminder of what the space looked like when I started. Not child-safe, or even adult-safe, with a 2-foot-high little railing.

And here’s the rough plan for a railing that goes all the way to the ceiling, and includes two openings for hanging plants. I know it might seem awkward that it goes in front of the window, but this seemed like the best option that didn’t involve moving and replacing the windows.

First step was to demo the old railing. I started by chopping one of the balustrades/rails in half so I could see how it was attached to the floor.

I was hoping that it might be attached with dowel screws that I could reuse, but nope, everything was just nailed together. So I pried the whole thing up in sections that I cut up with the jigsaw.

Unfortunately that left me with a lot of holes to fill, but a pass with my favorite filler (Plastic Wood) and a power sander improved the situation. I kind of felt like an archaeologist discovering the layers of previous paint colors. I wonder if all of the trim in this room was once that pink. Turns out Millennials didn’t invent it after all!

Under the window you can also see another problem I’ll have to deal with, though. The reason the old railing was so low was so that it would end beneath the windows. It was attached to the windowsill by cutting out a chunk of the sill and nailing in the railing.

I’ve learned that this part of the window is actually called the window “stool,” and since it’s over a hundred years old, I can’t just run out and buy a chunk of matching window stool from the store. But I’m going to try a trick on The Craftsman Blog for matching the trim using a bit of baseboard molding. Fingers crossed that it works!

But back to progress! I did get a new post put up. Using a 4×4, this newel post kit, and a level, it was pretty easy.

The slightly different angle below gives you a peek at another before and after in this room. But I didn’t photograph the before properly, so see that white grating on the floor behind my drill and screwdriver?

It used to be on the wall on the other wide of the room. But in our shed we found a vintage cast-iron register that seemed like it might have originally been on the wall here. It needed to be stripped of very old, chipped layers of brown paint (thanks Citristrip!) and repainted white, and then I fit it back on the wall with the help of some extra pieces of wood and baseboard molding.

Even though I don’t have a proper “before,” trust me, it looks way better. Plus, one of the biggest reasons to replace the other one is that HVAC professionals mentioned that it was bad for air flow. So it’s an aesthetic and functional win!

I think Juniper approves.

Enough cute baby, back to the railing. Next I just need to cut all of the 2x2s, sand them, prime them, paint them, and install them. Easy, right? Hopefully it won’t take me another two months to finish this up!