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Woman steps up her love for books with beautifully hand-painted staircase

Like many of us, Pippa Branham loves books. But she has an artistic bent, and took that love to new heights with a home project.
/ Source: TODAY

You may think you love books, but one Liverpool, UK-based woman has a step up on you. Literally!

Pippa Branham is a serious book lover, and decided to share that love with an extensive hand-painted project ... on her staircase.

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As her husband Jon told Reddit recently, she was inspired by a Pinterest post to paint the risers on her home staircase to resemble the spines of her favorite books.

"It took her quite a while," he wrote, noting she decided to paint the stairs rather than invest in expensive carpeting. Also, he quipped, "[She] didn't trust me to lay carpet on [the] stairs."

"I think this looks 100x better than any carpet," he added.

As Pippa told Mashable, she used a whole lot of masking tape and painted the tread of the step with gloss, then added a small amount of sand so it would grip.

Each riser then got a unique color, and she took the design inspirations from the real book spines. The steps include books by authors including J.R.R. Tolkien, Stephen King, Emily Bronte and Ernest Hemingway. (We're only sad there isn't a spine for "The 39 Steps" or "House of Stairs.")

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"Our daughter was delighted and would chat with me about the different books asking what they were about," Pippa said, and noted that she's hoping the presence of the books will inspire her little one to read when she's older.

Added Pippa, "It has made all that upside down and sideways writing and subsequent aches and pains all worthwhile!"

Well done, and well read!

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