Not what I hoped for

There are a lot of different kinds of wood in this house, and it didn't look very good to me. Normally, I like wood; but it's not the good kind of wood. Aspen 1x3s slapped up around the perimeter of the room and windows does not make for a rich, warm look. It looks like you've tried to skimp by using your leftover building materials.

(This is what I started with, five years ago.)

Some day, I hope to replace the trim entirely; but in the meantime I decided to paint it in the hopes it would be an improvement. (I think it is.) I've slowly been painting the baseboard and trim, and the banister was the last bit. I questioned whether it should be painted, but eventually decided that it looked too bare as it was.

I forgot to take before pictures - these are "after I sanded the snot out of it" pictures.

It turned into a much bigger job than I expected, and - even worse - I don't think I like the results.

I really thought I would. I've always liked the look of the dark brown trim against the suede wall. Actually, I'm pretty much loved the brown anywhere I've put it so far... except this time.

This time, it looks a little too dark, and maybe a little too... DIY.

(It'll be the same colour as the rest of the trim once it cures.)

I couldn't have done it - you can't stain over lacquer - but I'm wishing that I could have stained the banister in dark brown instead of painting it.

Now I'm thinking of painting the spindles a lighter colour, like cream or beige.

My dad says I should live with it for a while, to see if I get used to it.

No doubt that I'll wait a while (It took three days to do this) but I suspect that I'll be painting it again soon.