A crafty mother has revealed how she turned her wooden staircase into an incredible giant bookshelf.
Carrie Preston, 31, from Cornwall, who is a mother to Maisy, 11, Oliver, nine, and two-year-old Henry with husband Michael, is an artist and illustrator. Having made a career out of the painting, she has now turned to apply her artistic talents around the house. Carrie, who has a degree in early childhood studies, took to picture sharing site Bored Panda to share her success story. Sharing a snap of the staircase, she revealed a different book painted onto every step - including Roald Dahl's The BFG, Charlotte's Web, Harry Potter, Stephen King's IT, Rupert Bear, Lord Treasure Island, Bad Dad and A Little Princess. Explaining the inspiration behind her clever idea, Carrie wrote: 'After stalking Pinterest late into one evening (my usual pastime) I came across lots of ways to decorate and make your house a home.' But what took my eye the most was that it was possible to create art onto the most walked part of the house.' She added: 'Now, I paint for a living but don’t always get the time to beautify my own home. So I thought now’s the time to bite the bullet and do something for me.'
Explaining how she created the arduous work of art, Carrie revealed that she ripped up the carpet tacks, sanded and filled the stairs before painting the books on. She continued: 'Next step- rip up the carpet. Now, I’m not going to lie, it was a little more work than I had anticipated, the preparation itself was so tedious.' Revealing that they made it a family affair, she said: 'With a little (a lot) of help from the hubby, the sanding and filling was finished after three days, working around our three children.' Then it was up to the kiddies and myself to pick our favourite books and for me to get to work. I can just about stand up straight now, but it was definitely worth it, we just love our stairs,' she concluded. Admitting it was more work than expected, Carrie explained that she used her paint supply to paint the books, before varnishing the stairs with dark wood varnish for the tops and clear varnish over the book fronts.
In 2014 Carrie spoke to Femail about her incredible baby bump paintings, which she frequently shares to her Instagram account. The busy mother-of-three taught herself how to paint and set up her website, My Little Sweet Pea, to display her artistic talent and services. She explained: 'My business started with murals, creating spaces for children to play in and it progressed to face painting, gifts, watercolours and then bumps.' Carrie said the bigger the bump the better the canvas so she usually paints on women when they are 32-36 weeks pregnant. She only uses safe face paint designed for the skin and says the two-hour painting sessions can be a pampering experience for the mothers-to-be. She said: 'The two hours are very relaxing, the brush strokes and sponges sooth the bump. A lot of mums say that they have nearly fallen asleep. Babies also kick lots during the session which is obviously a comfort for the mum.'