As someone who’s always looking for their next house project (and enjoys painting), I thought I’d give my bannister a go.

I’d originally painted it white when we moved in more than eight years ago. Back then it was dark wood and made the hallway (which lacks light anyway) even darker.

I needed the light to flood in so I painted the walls in a pale yellow silk paint to bounce the light around – and the banister was painted white.

The mistake I first made was not prepping the banister beforehand, especially as I was using interior wood paint.

In hindsight I should have sanded the banister and spindles, cleaned them, given them a couple of mist coats and then painted them.

As I failed to do all of the above (apart from the painting), eight years on and the paint has worn off in places and the dark wood is starting to make a reappearance.

I knew that repainting it was going to be a mission and I’ve been putting it off ever since. That is, until I heard about the magic powers of chalk paint…

Superior Finish Paint

I kept seeing the name Everlong Paint pop up online and on social media, so I decided to play detective and see what it was all about. Here’s what I found out.

Everlong’s tag is ‘Superior Finish Paint’ and they supply chalk paint, which is often used for professionals. Why? Well, as the name suggests, it offers a superior finish to paint jobs AND (here’s my favourite bit) no prepping for the paint area is required.

Bingo! NO PREPPING! I simply had to try them out!

The before and after shots

Okay, so when I said no prepping, all I did was use my magic sponge to get the kids’ fingerprints off the banister (more on that in the video below!), but using Everlong’s chalk paint meant that I didn’t have to do any mist coats first, saving me heaps of time and effort.

I used a 1litre pot of paint (the colour was Cricket Pitch) from Everlong’s Country Range.

Here’s what the banisters looked like before:

 

Here’s what they looked like with one coat of Everlong chalk paint:

 

And here’s the finished result!

What I loved

• First of all I absolutely love the colour. It’s called Cricket Pitch and it’s a subtle sage colour. It makes the hallway look much more welcoming (it’s warmer and more homely).Everyone seems to have white banisters and spindles these days, so going for something that little bit different makes it stand out – and when people come to visit, it’s the first thing they notice.
• The second thing to note is that I am incredibly sensitive to smells – and I usually end up getting migraines from them. But Everlong’s chalk paint did not omit any strong odours, which made painting my banister much more pleasurable.
• The paint is environmentally friendly and safe to use on children’s toys and indoors. It’s ideal for allergy suffers and families with young children and pets, due to its low VOC content (volatile organic compounds). Nice.
• Using the paint is so simple; there’s no prior sanding or any waxing – you just paint and go! You can get a more distressed look to projects by lightly sanding over the areas that would be naturally worn away over time, if that’s the look you are going for, but with my project – it was very much a case of paint and go. Plus the paint dried really quickly too – and with kids in the house, this is especially important!
• The product does what it says on the tin – the end result was a smooth finish with no chalky bits.

Top tips for the professional look

There are some tips that I followed along the way to make the job easier (and get a great, professional finish!)

1. It is better to apply two thin coats of paint than one thick coat (this avoids overloading the brush and having to deal with dried drips on the project too!)
2. Use a good quality paint brush. This is essential for any paint project – it’s such a pain using cheap paint brushes – the bristles fall out and you don’t get even coverage (you can see paint strokes) – if you’re using a superior paint, then don’t scrimp on the tools.
3. If you’re looking for a shinier finish to your project all you need to do is buff it up (once dried) with a soft, dry cloth. Simples.

All in all, this was a great interior project to get stuck into. I really enjoyed seeing my banister transformed – and the fact that it was so easy to do made life that much easier – and I’ve always been a big fan of life hacks!

Looking to upcycle a project of your own – large or small? Check out where you can find Everlong Paint near you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Everlong Paint supplied me with a pot of Cricket Pitch for my large interior project in return for an honest review of their product.