An Upstairs Landing Update (With Some Drama)

The farmhouse upstairs landing has some updates that Emily wanted to talk through that involves a little drama. Come see what’s next!

UGH. This area is the perpetual apology zone. The area where when people come over and dare to go upstairs, I literally can’t help but say, “Ooh, the upstairs landing isn’t done yet, obviously, haha,” which is cringey and annoying. It’s empty on a good day, messy most days, and yet has a lot of potential. So this is one of those update posts that most of the world won’t care about, but those following this house closely will understand (and perhaps help).

Stay til the end for some rarely reported design drama that made me madder than I want to admit (but was totally warranted). This area was big and dark and full of potential. The new skylight brings in so much light, so that was a real “win,” and then I put up the sweetest ticking stripe wallpaper that you literally can’t see on camera (which I think I can consider that a “fail”). We kept the floor of the landing white because I was going to paint a mural or pattern, but I haven’t done that for three very distinct reasons.

Wanna hear my excuses? If I could go back in time, I’d invest in replacing the damaged wood of the stairs, the landing, and the kids’ rooms in our pretty wood flooring, but we were so financially drained that I was looking for any way to save like $18. So painting the super-damaged floor seemed better (and there was only linoleum under the kids’ carpet, so laying new carpet felt easy/fast). I don’t know.

Your brain really stops working well near the end of a major renovation, clouded with so much panic, desperate to turn off the firehose of cash and just wanting to move in SO BAD. I made choices that I have to live with, and that’s ok. I do really like the door color, though (although I wish I had invested in new knobs – those original antique knobs fall off every day, often with a random neighborhood kid locked inside, and I have to walk them through how to get out after minutes of screaming for help…).

So charming!! Now we did redo this laundry closet, which is a daily joy (not joking, it stays pretty organized). I want to mention the best accidental (and very specific) life/family hack – put your laundry machines outside and near your kids’ rooms. Here’s why: every night while the kids are brushing teeth and getting ready for bed, I turn over the laundry and usually fold a load. We used to do all laundry on Sunday, which took hours, and now we rarely have one load left since I keep it going all week.

Ok, remember that wallpaper that you can’t see in photos (but I actually loved – so calming!), well, turns out it’s the most fragile wallpaper ever made. We rented our house out to a huge photo shoot, and they used blue tape to attach protective corner boards to every corner so that moving furniture wouldn’t nick the walls (all standard). When they took it down, the tape ripped up the walls so badly (at eye level).

Like 6 different spots spanning all corners (so not easily fixable). I retested this on a leftover piece of the same paper to see if it was their tape, and sure enough, even after 10 seconds of me gently putting the blue tape on the paper, it ripped off the top layer. It’s like tissue paper!!!! The wallpaper also wasn’t very washable and was covered in gross kid finger marks, and you could see every single nail hole (and I was way too scared to put command strips on it).

So the production company and I were going to split re-papering the entire stairs and upper landing. I chose another barely there stripe that is far more durable (we tested it). While I want to be the person who does a super fun, colorful pattern up the stairs and the landing (because yes, would have to be all of it), I can not or will not. 🙂 iPhone pics at the end! For Christmas, we got our kid this Pop-A-Shot, and after debating for a while, this was the only place for it.

Listen, all you northern girlies can relate – in the winter, you want to offer your kids anything to do inside that involves moving their bodies (i.e., away from screens), so until we are done with the guest house, it’s living here. It’s honestly awesome. The kids and their friends play a lot, and it folds up to be compact. To me, it represents life with kids, tweens specifically. It says “We are a house for and about families”, so this wasn’t something Brian had to convince me of – all of us play it.

BTW, Elliot has the piano in her room for now, and we moved the world’s heaviest arched cabinet that you can’t take apart into the guest room for now (because we honestly didn’t know how to get it down the stairs besides sliding it – it’s CRAZY HEAVY). If you are wondering if this is the old striped wallpaper or the new one, it’s the old one. If you blow up your screen, you can see the slight striped pattern.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS WALLPAPER. I even looked up what it’s made of to avoid it for the rest of my life (and warn you), but it says the same as every other wallpaper, so I suppose there was no way of knowing. Bad, bad, bad. 2/10. So that’s the current state of the landing. I might just have someone paint the floor the same blue as the stairway this summer, and then if we do any DIY, it would just be a border.

It looks all white and clean here, but in person, it’s kinda gross (which barely bothers me, honestly). I am really excited to show you the new wallpaper, though. I love it already – what tiny bit we have hung up. It’s 1/10 installed because the company that was hired to repair the damage from the photo shoot and install the new paper had barely installed wallpaper before. They came over to quote, assured me that they were experienced, and quoted like $3,500 for the entire job.

I wasn’t really in charge since the production company was handling it (they were wonderful, BTW). Turns out they were painters, and these guys were so nice but totally stumped. The company owner should never have taken the job and put them in a really bad position. They primed with oil paint primer (no idea why), which was so toxic we all had to clear out the house for two days (unplanned), and then they were here for 2 additional days with three dudes and had only completed the bottom landing at the end of day 2.

Brian and I were dumbfounded, and the owner kept telling us that this is how they do it, etc. For reference, when it was originally installed, it was 2 days, with one person, and cost $1,800. After the second day with so little progress, I had a “clear and kind” conversation with the supervisor and owner, and they refunded everyone’s money and left the job (I made sure that the painters were complimented for being professional and hard working.

It was the obvious responsibility of the higher ups for taking the job and put them in that terrible position). I was angry that I was lied to over and over, and it was extremely disruptive to our house for three days (I had to work out in the garage with the dogs because they barked at them the whole time… blah blah, whatever). No one died, and I was glad that no one got charged. But y’all, if you don’t know how to do something, do not take the job just for the money.

I’ve always hated the phrase “fake it till you make it” for a reason. DO NOT FAKE IT. Admit what you know how to do, but when you don’t know, ask questions to show your willingness to learn. Don’t lie. Anyway, I called one of my installers that I should have called in the first place to come finish, so it should be done soon, and I’m really excited. THE END. Also… perhaps I was hormonal while writing this, lol.

All’s fine in the Henderson world, I promise. Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); I, too, have original door knobs that pop off. But ok for us because the old doors don’t close either. Ha. Good story today and who doesn’t love a pop-a-shot?! Way to keep it real.

I’m here for the pop-a-shot in the landing! We have 3 kids, and our playroom has a ping pong table, mini hoop, massive kid friendly sectional, and so many board games. It’s the opposite of a “designed” space, but my kids and their friends practically live in there! That is what a house is for! All that to say, would you consider a very durable wall to wall carpet in the landing? Maybe a sisal or jute floor covering?

I know finding a durable/ kid/pet friendly carpet can be almost impossible, but they really have made so many great ones now! Just a thought! I think you should sand and finish the floors on the landing. it would bring patina, age, color, life. not that there isn’t any now, but just more! I so love all of the honesty in this post and it makes me love you even more Emily! I think I would try to look for a durable family friendly/pet friendly wall to wall carpet for the landing.

Would soften and cozy things up and great for sitting on folding laundry! I agree that carrying the wood floors that you have in the rest of the house up the stairs and through the top landing was the way to go. You can still do it! Yes it’s a hassle while you’re living there, but you wouldn’t have to clear out rooms to do those areas and it would look so calming and contiguous with your living room.

It’s going to hold up much better than a painted floor, too. say go for it! I’m sorry for the drama and extra stress but this was a hilarious peek at real life coming face to face with design perfection pressure and I also loved it, especially the honesty about those charming doorknobs 🤣 (and the “maybe I was hormonal”…we’ve all been there!) There are still so many beautiful things about this space, especially the gorgeous peeks into the other rooms and how you’re prioritizing your family life above it all This is so relatable.

You will miss the chaos and noise and destruction, but it is pretty wild when you’re in the middle of it. They will always remember the popashot. Other than delaying smartphones as long as humanly possible, my best (unsolicted) advice is flor-style carpet tiles (purchased from an outlet). They are bombproof, reasonably comfortable to sit on, and quiet. Love this very real-life post! It is an indictment on the industry and/or the internet that when I got to the pop-a-shot my initial thought was “well that is not cute” – because of course, a designer’s house shown on the internet must be perfect at all times!

(sarcasm) I immediately followed that thought with how lovely it is that you are real with us here, and help all of us fellow hormonal moms of tweens/teens/young adults feel like we aren’t doing this alone. I don’t have good design suggestions, but I love that you are using your house to live in! This is why your blog is my first stop every day, you tell it like it is, which is refreshing. That’s really upsetting, you have to re-do all the wallpaper, but I love the new stripe.

Trust your gut with the upstairs landing, you always pull it together. I had a thought/question, what if you painted the vent grill/grate whatever it’s called on the upper wall, white? That may not be a popular choice, but it would blend into the space better. Just a thought – you’re the pro 🙂 Not denying its original charm and patina 🙂 Maybe because the rest of the space is so bright and white, it stands out.

I think even if it were painted white, it would still look charming. I just remembered that two similar vent covers in the sunroom are white. They do look cute. They are visible in this post: You know, just thanks for being real! Oh my gosh. Suburban mom truths. Bahahaha!!! Great advice about folding laundry while the kids get ready for bed and making that habit an easy one. I love those types of hacks!

What is the original wallpaper? What if someone buys and installs it without realizing how delicate it is? The blue painted steps look so good.. why not bring that up to the 2nd floor landing? Great story with many twists and turns! My vote is for painting the floor blue like the stairs OR stripping it back to wood. But the blue would look fantastic, and coordinate well with all the “sneak peeks” into the other rooms.

IMHO I’d skip any borders etc on the floor, because it might just feel too busy with the aforementioned glimpses into rooms that already have a lot of color and pattern. The current rug will look great on top of that. And the basketball set up will indeed create “forever memories” in the meantime. Once that phase is done, hmmm–could see incorporating a number of plants into whatever you do.

The skylight makes for a great “atrium” and might be restful and refreshing to have an otherwise fairly simple space with some serene greenery on a cool antique piece of furniture. Will look forward to seeing it all evolve! Came here to suggest the same thing re: the floor. I think a lot of times you tend to dream up a design first, then see what function can follow. In this case, the function has revealed itself: you need a durable, flexible space that can flow well with all of the other room “personalities” that are upstairs.

The blue floor will create a colorful (yet still neutral base) and won’t be too much work. Then, I would add wall decor that complements the playfulness of the area – maybe a chalkboard to keep running scores, a framed local sports flag/poster (even vintage), some playful modern art prints, etc. Your kids have great taste – ask for their help! Since you also fold laundry up there, perhaps a gateleg table that can fold up/down as needed.

Continuing the blue painted floor up to the landing seems like an ideal and relatively simple solution to me. Would look fantastic with the wallpaper and the sisal rug, and would bring a little more personality and warmth to the space. The white floor is fine, but maybe makes the space feel a little ungrounded and “floaty” (technical term)? Especially if the white is showing a lot of dirt, I say definitely go blue!

We have the antique doorknob issue as well (including kids locked in bedrooms!), and we have fixed the problem by supergluing one of the doorknobs to the spindle (not both, obviously, or you could never take the doorknob off if you needed to). That fix has worked on high traffic doors for multiple years now…worth a try. And very much appreciate the backstory on this area of the house. It’s a good illustration of how a family’s needs change over time and how various areas of the house need to change with them!

I have a 3 door landing very similar to yours, alas, no sky light. Since I firmly believe there is no such thing as left-over paint I ended up painting each door a different pale color. Colors used successfully elsewhere in the house. And maybe your new BigFoot painting could live on the landing. I think use the space as extension of the kids’ activity space. And maybe paint a 10″ border on the floor, same as the stairs.

I grew up in super old house and remember the hilarity/absurdity of the door handle dramas. Too funny. Love the new wallpaper! And also love these little updates – totally relatable! “Your brain really stops working well near the end of a major renovation”. That is so true. And sometimes it refuses to work in the middle of a renovation! Ditto what everyone said about painting the floor blue, and loving your willingness to be real.

(I might have to get a pop shot for the hub, keep him busy.) May I ask the height of those ceilings? We were suppose to buy the same basketball hoop for Christmas, but I was worried our basement ceilings might be too low to be fun (I know the hoop is adjustable). If ours are the same height as yours then I am pulling the trigger. Pop-a-shots are the best. Also, with that skylight, I am team carrying the blue on the stairs up to the landing.

I also love another comment which mentioned that landing one day being a plant atrium. Love that!

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