We not only finished up the railing–installing the bell we rescued from this cabin, sandblasted, and repainted–but also finished the side stairs off the porch today. We took a page from our last house, and riffed off a Greene and Greene style set of steps we loved in a bungalow book, and made using square risers at the old house. I cannot find a photo of the originals, but they are somewhere in Pasadena! The stairs are a perfectly simple design, no stringers, and you have to use beefy lumber. Here we used logs, but of course! Our stairs were absolutely free except for a few screws, since we used short log scraps and hemlock scraps from previous projects. We love a cost-effective, custom project! A lot of site work, gravel hauling, etc. has occurred prior to today, making this all possible. As a bonus, we originally planned and mocked up 3 steps but ultimately only needed 2, so the extra top step was fashioned into an awesome plant bench on the porch, housing my collection of mid-century pots.
- Both railings stained (one coat anyways)
- The old bell, restored.
- And from the top.
- New side stairs!
- Planter collection – scattered all over the house, they came together beautifully.
- I was a bit too excited about this leftover plant bench. But hey. it was a long winter.
The work you’re doing is really beautiful! It makes me excited to undertake a similar project some day. I hope that you continue to get time for it over the summer!