Stairs reveal!

Remember when my stairs looked like this?

Well, now they look like this:

I'm happy it's (sort of) done but there are still problems that need to be addressed. For example: I haven't even done the stretch from the landing to the top of the stairs (about 4-5 stairs) because you can't see them when you walk in the door (so on the back burner they shall go), and I have a multitude of paint/stain touch ups that must be completed for it to look less sloppy, as well as the fact that I still need to protect my stain with a few coats of poly.

For now, I'm taking a break. Overall I'm pleased with the how they turned out though they certainly are not perfect. No, much like everything else in my house, it's a thrown-together dirty job. But it was definitely inexpensive (my number 1 criteria for this project).

Here's the breakdown (all prices are rounded to approx as I remember them):

1) Sand paper:                  12.00-15.00            (sooo much sandpaper needed!)
2) 1/4 round:                      5.00                       (I think I had 6-8 pieces of 8ft 1/4 round)
3) shims:                            2.00    
3) stain:                              8.00                        (stain color is Jacobean)
4) paint:                            12.00                       (this is where I went really cheap and bought basic builder's white paint-I could have spent 25-30.00 for a better quality paint but, you know, cheap is how I roll so....)
5) blood, sweat, tears     +2,532,264.00            (okay, there's no monetary equivalent to this)

GRAND TOTAL: 
(excl. my emotional/physical well-being)
                                       =$42.00  (approximate)

Not a bad amount for such a labor intensive transformation.

I tell you this was a test of my wills (and it isn't even over yet! ::::whiiiiiiinnnne::::)
But I had to show you the almost, pretty much, close as I'll get for awhile, oh hell-I'm done look of my stairs.

It's pretty accurate to the look I wanted (my inspiration pics):

(all pics courtesy of pinterest)