Staircase Makeover Part 2

One more weekend down and here is how our staircase has progressed:

(If you want to see Part 1 of our staircase makeover, go here)

We had to sand all of that white overspray off of the stair treads. That was not an easy task. I ended up having to buy an additional sander (a detail sander) so that I could get in those cracks and corners. I sanded the steps as much as I could with my regular sander and here is how they looked:

See the white paint still on the edges? Now you see it, now you don't: (thanks detail sander!)

So after all of that sanding, we vacuumed each step. I used a tack cloth to wipe off all of the dust and then I got to staining!! I couldn't wait for this part but I really wanted to make sure I did a thorough job with the prep work. I used Minwax stain in Red Oak to match our current flooring downstairs. 

The next step was adding a second coat of stain. 

The bottom step in the picture above doesn't have the second coat yet- big difference, right?!

Next steps:

-Adding polyurethane to the steps. I'm thinking this will take at least two to three coats. 

-Painting the risers and trim along the side of the steps with a fresh coat of white! 

Just a reminder, here is how the steps looked before:

And now:

What do you think so far?!! I'm so excited to see the end result!!! 

PS- I will also be painting the hand rail white. It looks so out of place now! 

Longstraw Farms Antique Show

A few weekends ago, my friend Lindsey and I headed to the annual Longstraw Farms Antique Show. We wanted to go last year, but Lindsey had to work and I think it ended up raining. We weren't sure what to expect but we were very excited! 

This place... was absolutely adorable! I never even knew it existed. It is right off the main highway in a town called Ayden, but still feels tucked away and quiet. It just reminds me of an old, southern home and I was in love. Unfortunately, it was not for sale. Another unfortunate thing is that I didn't know about this place when we got married. What a cute wedding venue this would be!!! 

Here are some pictures of the place: 

My favorite part, the old trees!

Obsessed. 

The antique show involved probably 10-15 various vendors from around eastern NC. They had lots of furniture (my favorite) and various other decorative antiques. There were also some vendors with homemade goods like candles, jewelry, etc. 

So... what did I buy?! 

Furniture, of course... :) I didn't (and still don't) know where I am going to put this piece but I couldn't pass it up with a $65 price tag. That is quite a deal for a piece of furniture! Here she is:

I love the legs and the curves and the fact that it has a drawer on the bottom. The wood on the sides is in pretty rough shape so I am planning to paint it. But before I can paint it, I have to figure out where I want to put it!! There are so many options! I will post the finished product when I tackle it. I should probably finish the staircase project before I attempt this one. I am so bad at starting a million things and not finishing them. Oops! :)