Our story so far: After we moved into the old Methodist church that became our home, we entertained a few early guests without the benefit of vanity mirrors or door handles or even some doors.

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Thankfully, our early guests tolerated these not-quite-finished touches. We did manage to install one finishing touch which, if it didn’t make things cozier, certainly made the guest bedroom safer: Railings.

When we purchased the church, the back stair was protected with not a railing, but a picket fence. Perhaps a clever reuse of suburban nostalgia, but it was not pretty. We couldn’t get rid of it fast enough, and during construction, we navigated the back stair without any railing at all.

To replace the fence, we relied on the same fabricator who did our balcony railing. The railing in the guest room was similar but without the basket spindles. Additionally, they made a coordinating handrail, also in basic black, for the stairway.

We also installed a short railing next to the two steps leading to the balcony to prevent anyone from getting out of bed and falling into the steps.

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Tomorrow: Marriage advice. Read it here.