Now that I look at this photo again, I can use it as a good example of another facet of old house reality ... so many unfinished details. The stair skirtboard and the treads are finished. The balusters on the stair rail are stripped and sanded and ready for primer and paint. The other half of the balusters are in a pile on a shelf in my basement workshop. (I removed half of the balusters in 2007, to make it easier for the floor finishing crew to work on the stairs.) The mitered return ends of each stair tread are in the workshop, too ... sanded and varnished and ready to be reinstalled once the balusters are put back into place.
All of this will be finished one day ... I keep telling myself this ... it's my own little personal pep talk.
