How to Choose the Right Paint for Interior Stairs

Choose stairway paint that coordinates with your home decor.

Interior paint comes in several different sheens and an almost endless array of colors. Choosing the correct paint for your stairway depends on the colors of the rooms surrounding it and the amount of use the stairs receive. Establish a budget to determine what level of paint quality you can afford, and work within those parameters to find the right paint for your project.

Things You'll Need

• Foam board

Instructions

1. Choose a color that fits your home decor. If you can see the stairs from the adjoining room, use the same color you used in the room for continuity, or opt for a complementary shade to define and divide the space.

2. Select the paint sheen that best fits your use of the space. For most living areas, an eggshell or satin sheen works well. Choose a semi-gloss if the stairs are in a high-traffic area that requires frequent scrubbing, such as near the garage or mudroom.

3. Use latex paint unless you have a strong reason for preferring oil-based paint. Latex carries fewer fumes and offers easier cleanup than oil paints, and it is most commonly used indoors. Oil paint is better for exterior projects that require weatherproofing.

4. Paint a swatch of your chosen color on the wall or on a piece of foam board and mount it to the wall. Observe it in natural and artificial light at different times of day to make sure it's the shade you want, before you paint the whole stairwell.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a primer if your wall is stained or if you're covering a dark color with a lighter one. Ask your paint supplier to tint your primer the same color as your paint to maintain the color integrity on the wall.

References

• Curtis Lumber: Choosing the Right Paint
• This Old House; How to Pick a Paint; Jennifer Stimpson
• Hometime: Choosing Paint

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish