It’s remarkable how creative juices flow when you decide to start from scratch, rip out drywall and redesign a Spanish stair landing with classic materials.
Today I’m posting a Spanish interior design transformation project here in Santa Barbara, CA. Listen in as describe the series of designer moves we made, and why we thought our efforts were worth doing. More posts on this whole house remodel, to follow.
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Listen to the many thoughts and details that went into completely changing the look of this second story stair landing and hallway that leads to three bedroom ensuites.
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“Hey guys, today I’m posting a Spanish stair landing transformation. Listen in as I share before and after photos, and steps we took to customize the interior of this Santa Barbara home.
This was a tract house and we completely transformed the inside and the outside into this beautiful Spanish Revival home. I’ll share links to some of the other posts on this home.
But today, we’re focusing in on the various steps that our team took. So, if you scroll down, you’ll see the before photo which was just a basic “vanilla white” hallway stair landing. With the drywall pony walls and, you know… cheap six panel hollow core doors with brass hardware and wood trim around them.
We removed all of that, and started from scratch! And so, by removing the pony wall, we were able to open up the feel. We made the hallway feel more open with this custom wrought iron railing. That we had an ironworker come and meet with us and designed on the site, and then he welded panels up at his shop- and then brought them in. I’ll link to that storyline (HERE).
We also thought by removing the middle closet we could psychologically widen this hallway. By putting in this oversized niche- so the little bench with the painting, and then the corbeled top, to make the niche look like that.
And then above that, we put in a thick plaster grille- HVAC grille. We just wanted to, you know (that was inside the closet before), but we wanted to kind of emphasize it.
And then we had some custom wood doors made in Mexico, and they got some special mirrored glass with a neat texture on them. And then we had handmade wall sconces made. We brought in wood beams and spaced them about 4 feet apart- all the way across the ceiling. So, as you climb the stairs… you see beams and you see railings, and you see the new wood floors that we’ve installed.
And overall, it just completely transformed the house. I’ll be sharing more interior shots- different locations. We renovated a couple of different fireplaces. We completely gutted the house and started over, with a new kitchen and new bathrooms and all that sort of thing.
So, keep tuning in. I’ll be bringing you more stuff that I think is cool… I hope you do too!”—Jeff Doubet, September 13, 2025
Remodeling a Spanish Stair Landing in Santa Barbara: Before & After Photos
Stair landings can be designed to be a beautiful journey and transitional space leading to bedrooms and other important rooms in your house.
After photo: by removing a substantial amount of drywall that clad short walls of the two story landing, it opened up the view. Now you can enjoy quality iron railings as the decorative elements come alive as you climb the stairs.
Handmade iron light sconces flank an oversized niche with small bench. A thick decorative (and functional) plaster HVAC grille becomes wall art to be enjoyed. Hand carved wood doors from Mexico were fitted with patterned mirror glass for an extra touch of magic.
Before photo: A very “Vanilla” stair landing had framed pony walls and drywall as the railing. As you can see, it has zero Spanish character. Enclosing an upper hallway like this makes the space feel tight and small.
The hollow six panel doors were framed with painted moldings. Another “faux pas” to be avoided when designing authentic Santa Barbara Spanish-style interiors.