Getting the Perfect Painted Stair Rails for Your Home in 5 Simple Steps

Adding painted stair rails is an easy way of making your hall or stairway pop, creating a gorgeous look for the space that you’ve got. On this page, we’ve written a guide on how to paint stair rails in your home, some tips to help take you through the work, and ideas you can use to enhance the look of the finished work.

How to Paint Stair Rails: A Step-by-Step Guide

This step-by-step guide on painting stair rails is specifically written to refer to wooden stairs. Metal stair rails will not need the same preparation work and will require a different type of paint. 

Tips Before You Begin Work

There will be some things to consider before you get started:

• Consider doing the work early in the day, when everyone is out of the house, or late at night when they’ve gone to bed. This prevents the paint from accidentally being touched or smeared. It might also mean painting over the course of a few days.
• The longer paint is left, the more hard-wearing it will be; keep an eye on the time and try to ensure that as much time has passed as possible before anyone needs to use the staircase.

What You’ll Need

• A good-quality paint of your choice
• A paint brush or small roller (and paint tray)
• A wood primer or undercoat (for the best finish)
• Sandpaper (a fine grit is preferred) and sander
• A dusk mask
• Dust sheets
• Masking tape
• Wood filler
• A filler or putty knife
• A broom or handheld vacuum cleaner
• A cloth
• Degreaser
• Warm water and a cleaning solution
  
  

1. Prepare the Area

Before you can begin any part of working on the rail, you will need to make sure the surrounding area is protected. Lay down the dust sheets and cover anything you don’t want to accidentally get painted. Use the dust sheets to cover things and have the masking tape hold it all in place.

2. Prepare the Rails

You will need to clean off and lightly sand the rails in order to paint them. Clean the surface with your chosen degreaser, sand off any varnish or top coating, and use the wood filler to fill in any cracks or holes that you see. Sand these spots down again after using the filler so that they’re level. 

Both coarse and medium-to-fine grit sandpaper is recommended for work on stair rails. Flat surfaces often benefit from a 120 grit sandpaper or using a sander, but you should always use sandpaper by itself on the spindles of your stair rail.

Clean the rail off using the vacuum or broom after this step, and wash them down lightly with the cloth, warm water, and the cleaning solution. You’ll need to leave it to dry completely after this step. This should normally take around 24 hours.

3. Prime Your Rails

Using the paint brush, add a layer of primer to the rails of your stairs. The brush doesn’t need to be overloaded, but make sure you’re getting all of the hard-to-reach areas. When this is done, wait for it to dry (the primer should come with instructions on how long this will take). 

The undercoat can be added to your rails once the primer is dry. Use a thin layer, let it dry, and then wipe it down and clean it. You can then decide whether or not the rails need more.

4. Paint Your Stair Rails

Once everything else is dry, you will be ready for the paint job itself. Experts recommend brushing two coats of paint onto your rails for full coverage. You should also brush with the grain, from one end to the other. Don’t go back over the paint if it starts to dry and always look out for places the paint could drip or unpainted spots that could be missed. 

Each coat should be left as long as possible to dry before the next is added. Once the last coat is on, it should ideally be left for 24 hours. If this isn’t possible, leave it for as long as you can or for at least the minimum amount of time recommended by the manufacturer.

5. Clean Up

When everything is dry, clean up one last time. Remove the sheets and the masking tape, sweep or vacuum, and enjoy your newly painted rail.

Ideas for Painted Stair Rails

Painting your stair rails is one of many ideas you can use to enhance the decorative appeal of your home. But you can even build on this with a range of other ideas:

Multi-Tone Options

Colour options don’t have to end at just painting your stair rails, or even painting your stairs and then painting the stair railing and bannister a colour that matches or stands out. 

Of course, you can choose to keep it simple with a two-tone colour system (for example, white paint on your stairs and then red, green, or blue paint on the rails). But you can also embellish and incorporate more colours than this. If it works for your decor, for instance, why not try creating a multi-tone staircase that gets lighter in shade as you move up the steps?

Stripes and Patterns

If you’ve chosen a colour for your stair rails that you’re not using on the rest of the stairs, why not match the rails to the rest of your staircase with a series of patterns in the same colour? By using a series of stencils and following the information we’ve already provided, you can add any decorative features you feel are missing.

Stencils should be taped in place while you work on them.

Stair Runners

Whether you are planning on leaving your staircase one colour, making it two-tone, or incorporating all sorts of stripes and patterns, you can always add another touch of colour by setting down some stair runners. These gorgeous stair carpets come in modern, traditional, plain, or even animal pattern designs that can be matched to any staircase of any shape or size.

Stair runners also act as an extra safety feature for slippery wooden staircases because they add grip, and they also help to protect the staircase itself from dirt, scrapes, and scratches. This means they won’t need as much maintenance over time as they might otherwise, so your staircase and its painted stair rails will stay looking nicer for longer.

Stair Rods

If you do decide that the look of your staircase and its newly-painted stair rails won’t be complete without some stair runners, you might also decide that these stair runners won’t be complete without some matching or contrasting stair rods. These accessories come in a range of modern and classic designs and are available in a range of finishes to suit any set of stairs.
An example of how this might work would be choosing white and dark blue two-tone painted stairs, paired with the 15503-42537 (Blue) runner from our Royal Aubusson collection and Royale stair rods in polished brass for a classical interior design.

Pair Your Perfect Painted Stair Rails with Accessories

If you are looking for further features to make your freshly-painted stair rails look even more decorative, ornate, and visually appealing in your home, Stair-Rods Direct can help. Our fantastic collections of stair runners and stair rods contain a myriad of options for adding complementing and contrasting features to any hallway, stairway, or standalone staircase. 

We’re more than confident that you’ll find what you need when you shop by colour or finish here on our website, but if there is anything you have in mind that you cannot find with us, please let us know. We’ll be glad to help and we’ll do everything we can to source the accessories you need to complete and perfect the look of your staircase.