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Does your house need a basement stairs makeover? Basement staircases need love too! Maybe they need THE MOST attention? They’re often awful: steep, cheaply finished and barebones. Our DIY basement staircase makeover solved these problems and more – we also added storage!
And our basement stairs makeover was the definition of “magazine worthy”: It was published in the Summer 2022 edition of Farmhouse Style Magazine!
Or does the 2×4 makeshift baluster take the prize?
This staircase was more than a little bit embarrassing when Better Homes and Gardens magazine sent a photo shoot team for our basement bathroom feature. One of them said, “I think my Grandma had these exact same stairs!” It was a very stylish grandma right? No. No it wasn’t.
Using the power of DIY we completely transformed our basement stairs, including:
- covering the plywood with colour-matched oak stair treads,
- adding oak risers, on the upper part
- creating dramatic copper risers, on the lower part
- building a modern DIY railing and
- creating hidden under stairs storage.
A reader recently asked us questions about our DIY basement stair remodel. It was then that I realized, we didn’t have just one post I could refer them to. We had all our individual projects for the makeover spread over a few posts which made it tricky for people to follow. Not anymore!
Below you will find all of our basement stairs makeover posts in one place…
Our DIY Basement Stair Remodel Projects
First, here’s what we did to install new stair treads over the old vinyl-covered ones.
This is also how to remodel stairs from carpet to wood
1. Stair Makeover: Staining Stair Treads to Match New Floors (Comparing the Stair Flooring Options and more)
This post runs you through how to choose the best material for your stairs AND how we stained our wood treads too match our luxury vinyl floors perfectly!
2. DIY Stairs Makeover: How to Install Wood Treads & Risers Over Old Steps
If you’re looking for how to refinish plywood stairs that were carpeted – this project is it.
Next, the prettiest part of our basement stair ideas…
3. How to Make Copper Stair Risers (DIY Stair Makeover)
This project was featured in Farmhouse Style magazine! We found this perfect copper material for the risers and used this DIY method to give the copper patina.
Next, we used two different ways to carve out storage in our basement stairs…
4. Hidden Storage Under Stairs (with Modern DIY Basement Railing)
We needed a new railing – and we needed more storage – here’s how we combined the two in a pretty beautiful way!
6. Our basement staircase landing is also a tiny mudroom – Here’s how we built in mudroom storage in a TINY space
So many basement staircases are also entryways – every single house in our neighbourhood is like this. Entryways need storage – and here’s how to find some.
Last, we added the perfect flooring to our basement stairway landing…
6. When your staircase landing is an entry: DIY Herringbone Brick Tile Floor
If your basement staircase is also an entryway – you need to have durable flooring to handle the messes – especially in a northern climate with snow! Here’s how we solved our challenge.
You CAN have a beautiful basement!
Another one of our basement rooms was even featured in the Feb 2019 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.
Check out our Basement Made Beautiful DIY projects for ideas of how you could add style and function too.
How can I make my basement stairs look better?
Start with the ugliest part and work backwards. For us, there was no ‘one’ thing (see intro photo), but the treads themselves and the makeshift banister were definitely lead contenders. Maybe your stairs have old, worn carpet? Or perhaps the walls have been beaten up a bit over the years? Whatever offends you the most – start with that.
What is the cheapest way to renovate stairs?
The treads/structure of the stairs and the railing are the big ticket items. If you can refinish either with stain/clearcoat or paint, these are likely the cheapest options. Next cheapest would be covering them with a stair runner – which can be so beautiful! If the stairs are too far gone or just builder-grade wood, consider covering them with hardwood tread-and-riser kits. These are much cheaper than having full hardwood stairs installed and, when finished and installed correctly- are very durable long-term. If the railing & baluster are the issues, check out what we did and see if it could work for you.
How do you refurbish basement stairs?
As I mentioned above, sanding, staining/refinishing or painting, while labour-intensive, can yield fast and relatively affordable results. We loved the Varathane matte polyurethane we use. It has held up to multiple kids, pets, winter snow, spring mud, etc and basically still looks brand new. If seems like alien technology. I might actually put a coat of it on our next car (kidding… Maybe). If your stairs need more than a refurbish, consider a tread-riser-kit as your next affordable step.
You can find even more staircase project inspiration in our collection of 20+ Best DIY Stair Makeover Ideas
