I agree with this, would look much nicer. Those railings, in any color, look 80's style.

IMO.

Maybe black. But in a house with all modern Nickle and stainless, I don't think brass would work. It's not just handrails. We have 30-40 feet of this to deal with.


Pardon the partial painting. Need to wash the extension ladder off and bring it in from outside.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1459094403.jpg


The hanging light is new. Gives you an idea of what we are trying for.

You'd have to redo the deck railing above to match the handrails, which would be costly. Didn't see that in the prior photos.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1459095287.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1459095298.jpg-I'm follwing this thread and this is what I thought of with the upside down pic:D

Yup and that's not all. We have more dividing two raised areas downstairs.

Here this house around the corner from us is the same floor plan. Gives you an idea of how much railing we have.


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They could do split rail sections on the flats.
Probably a custom order to fit.

(Sorry had to say it, but that paint is too gloomy and enclosing. I've repainted several large rooms in my own house about five times because I wanted to puke whenever I walked into a room. Paint is cheap. I would go with flat or satin max, much much lighter grey, maybe with a slight green or pastel tint to match furniture. Paint one accent wall that color if that's what you guys like. It's a big light open space to be shown off. That's just me. Sorry.)

Agree with 1990C4S, General Finishes,Java Gel stain can work wonders.Back in the 80's I
used to do alot of finish work on multi million dollar yachts,paints,stains,varnish etc. Old
school techniques. Traditional oil based stains,wipe on wipe off, are limited on depth of
coverage especially going darker on soft woods,fir ,pine ,etc. as well as going over oak
that already has been finished. The gel stains are high build,you can go over the wood
with multiple coats to get the level of darkness you want without wiping off what you
have already done.Pretty easy to use. Recently used the Java Stain,kind of a espresso
darker color to go over an older pine platform waterbed frame that I am converting to a
memory foam mattress use. I was able to get a darker richer look, that would have been
impossible with a traditional stain.I sprayed a satin poly clear coat over it to get the look
I wanted. You can also use a wipe on poly over the stain to make it easier if spraying is
not feasible. On the metal base you would be surprised how well the rattle can metallics
can give you great coverage,over existing paint,used as is or sanded down and spray a
different color over it.. Get a qt.of the Java,mask off everything and try it on the smaller
handrail. Pretty easy learning curve. Both Rustoleam and Krylon have metallic rattle can
colors, Nickel shimmer is very nice. If you have stainless in other area's of the house,
the Nickel Shimmer on the base,Java on the wood might be a very nice combination.

lotta strange angles. that must have been a bit of work.
i would re-do the handrails in stainless. re-do the deck railings in glass.
paint the walls white. including the vents.
is that a popcorn-style ceiling? if so, i would lose it.
if the budget allows for it. : )

You could always pony-wall the upstairs loft in, or even take it all the way up to the beam. Might make it feel more like a dedicated/purposeful space (and/or better at hiding clutter if it's a "play area").

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1459141764.jpg

Eric the eventual plan is to close part of the loft in to be another bedroom. The way ever seen this done still leaves some railing, but the pony wall isn't a bad idea. If I'm already slinging rock and studs up there it wouldn't cost much more.

So would be similar to this layout. Small loft area, and a bedroom up there. Would give us 3 bedrooms up, and one plus down. More usuable and gets both kids upstairs.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1459233294.jpg

What would you do for handrails? Still going to have to have something in those areas

Have you been to Industrial Metal Supply to see if any of their hand rail would fit over the top of the current white metal? Personally, I would try to get rid of that Oak all together.

Most applications look dated/old IMO, and I really don't like the look of rails with exposed drop-down "L" type mounts/brackets.
So, if rails are a must-have, I would probably just rip all the existing stuff out and replace it with simple/clean 2x6 or 2x8 railing with hidden/center mounts.
A dark cherry or walnut would probably look nice.

Something like this:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1459286548.jpg


You could also use the same material to cap the pony wall(s) for a bit of continuity.
If you want to go crazy, you could even route out a channel on the backside of the handrail planks for rope lights.

Hmmm. I'm liking where this is going. Need to do more research and see if I can get the missus on board.

Need to decide what to do with the dining room living room divide railing, and there is another chunk like that on the other side of the kitchen. Don't want to make those into walls and lose the open feel of the spac can't discharge them as they are over a 2ft drop! Stainless rail with cable maybe?