Last year I updated our unfinished basement but ran out of steam before painting the stairs black. After a few months of walking down the old staircase, I knew it was time to finish the last basement project on my list! I decided to do a zero-dollar makeover using paint we already owned and artwork sitting in my storage closet.
Here is what our basement looked like before the makeover:
And here is that same view after the basement makeover. You can see the unfinished stairs (and unpainted wood) in this image.
Table of Contents
- Basement Stairs Before
- How to Paint Basement Stairs Black
- Step 1 | Paint the Staircase Walls & Ceiling
- Step 2 | Clean the Stairs
- Step 3 | Trim the Edge of the Stairs with Paint
- Step 4 | Roll the Steps with Black Paint
- Step 5 | Apply the Clear Matte Top Coat
- Step 6 | Hang the Gallery Wall
- Project Source List
- More Budget-Friendly DIYs You Will Love
Basement Stairs Before
When we brought the furniture back into the basement, the couch became stuck in the stairwell and we had to remove a few stairs to get the couch into the space. The stairwell has always had drywall, but it needed a fresh coat of paint.
The basement stairs are wood and were painted gray sometime before we purchased the property. Along with the steps needing to be cleaned and painted, the repaired stairs needed to match!
How to Paint Basement Stairs Black
[Affiliate links included in this blog post, thanks for supporting Building Bluebird! For a complete list of project sources, scroll to the bottom of the post.]
Using materials that we already owned, I was determined to give our basement staircase a fresh and modern look without spending money. Our updated basement has a clean and crisp look with black ceilings, white walls, and light gray floors.
The plan for the staircase was a fresh coat of white paint on the walls and clean, black stairs. This simple color palette works perfectly with the style of the basement makeover. To add some personality to the space, I created a gallery wall with frames and photos in storage.
Step 1 | Paint the Staircase Walls & Ceiling
If you are planning on painting the ceiling and walls, tackle this before painting the stairs. If you don’t need to paint the walls and ceiling, skip to step 2.
To prepare the walls for paint, I used spackle to fill any holes in the walls. When the holes were filled, I sanded the area for a smooth finish. Using a rag and spray cleaner, I wiped down the walls to remove any dust and dirt to ensure the paint will adhere properly.
We have a good amount of flat ceiling paint leftover in storage so I decided to use it for the walls. Normally I prefer an eggshell or satin finish on the walls for easier cleaning. Flat paint sheens are harder to clean compared to the glossier paint sheen options, but it’s just the basement stairwell and it’s free, so I am ok with it!
I painted the gas line at the bottom of the stairs to provide a little camouflage. If you paint a gas line, make sure to avoid the levers so that they can turn properly. Here is the gas line before.
And here it is after being painted. It definitely helps to blend it into the wall a bit more.
Step 2 | Clean the Stairs
Once the walls are dry, sweep the basement stairs and scrub the floor with cleaner.
I used a putty knife to scrape off any hard-to-remove dirt and gunk.
Step 3 | Trim the Edge of the Stairs with Paint
In our storage room, I found leftover black paint that is specifically for floors. A few years ago I painted our old linoleum in our laundry room in a black and white pattern and had plenty of paint left over!
**Check out the complete laundry room makeover that cost less than $300!
Using an angled paintbrush, I painted the edges of the steps. Once the first coat was dry to the touch, which was basically the time it took me to trim the entire staircase, I went back and gave it a second coat of paint.
The handrail for the stairs needed a little love too. I used the paintbrush to give the handrail a fresh coat of black paint. I applied a second coat once the first coat dried.
Step 4 | Roll the Steps with Black Paint
For this part of the project, I recommend painting in your socks. You will have to walk on paint that has not completely cured when painting a second coat. Figuring out the easiest way to paint the stair treads without getting stuck in the basement was a bit of a challenge. I decided to begin at the top of the staircase and used the roller to paint every stair riser and every other tread.
After 30 minutes, I went back to the top of the staircase and began applying the second coat. I painted a second coat on all of the risers and half of the stair treads.
As I worked my way down the stairs, I also applied the first coat of paint on unpainted treads. I waited another 30 minutes and gently walked on the painted stairs to give the second coat of paint to the remaining treads.
Step 5 | Apply the Clear Matte Top Coat
The product I used for the staircase requires a final clear topcoat to make the floor paint extremely durable.
I let the black paint cure for 24 hours and then applied the clear matte topcoat. The matte topcoat only requires a single coat. Unfortunately, the clear coat did not age as well as the black paint while sitting in storage. I shook the can vigorously and stirred it as best as I could, but it was still pretty chunky.
Because I couldn’t get rid of the chunks floating in the can, I only used a paintbrush to apply the clear topcoat (no roller). I couldn’t find a stir stick so I used chopsticks to stir the can before I dipped the paintbrush! Like I said earlier, my goal was to spend zero dollars and use only what we had in our home. I had to get scrappy, ha!
First, I applied the topcoat to the handrail, then I tackled the stairs.
I started at the top of the stairwell again and applied the coating evenly.
When I got to the bottom of the stairwell, I let the topcoat dry for 30 minutes. I gently stepped on the recently painted stairs and applied the topcoat to the remaining stairs. The Rust-Oleum HOME product recommends three days for the clear coat to dry. I walked on it a few hours after painting the topcoat and it held up just as well! However, I would not recommend wearing shoes or letting dogs scratch up the stairs for those three days.
Step 6 | Hang the Gallery Wall
With the entire stairwell painted, it was time to add the gallery wall. To create a cohesive look, I tried to only use black and light wood picture frames. I played around with the layout on the floor before hanging the frames on the wall.
I included sweet photos of our kids we already had printed and peppered in a few posters of places that we love. Our friend owns a print shop (D&W Elements) and sent us awesome city prints for Toledo (where we live) and Denver (where we used to live). It all came together perfectly!
I am so pleased with how this zero-dollar makeover turned out! One project that I have added to my list, however, is installing a rug runner. I realize now that black basement stairs can be intimidating for some people to walk down. My little black dog also gets quite scared walking down the black steps!
I hope you enjoyed hearing about this project as I reused items found in storage! You can easily recreate this using your own paint or purchasing various items at your hardware store.
Project Source List
- Spackle
- Putty Knife
- Krud Kutter
- Black Base Floor Paint
- Matte Topcoat Floor Paint
- Paintbrush
- Paint Roller
