Newel--who knew!

Ever wonder what the parts of the stair railings were really called?  We needed to secure the railing to the brick wall in the hallway.  Previously, it had been attached to the plaster lath and the furring strips underneath.  So I figured I could place a post in there to close the gap.  When googling around for stair posts, I came up with the proper name, newel.  Who knew?

Newels or Newel Post- A solid rectangular, or circular section of vertical post at the center and at regular turns and junctions of a rail system. The newels provide the main support for the rail system. There is a starting newel at the base of the stairs and a landing newel at the turns or top of the stair.  Other newels are described as: center turned newel. Box newel . Pin top newel

5/8" holes drilled for anchors mated with 3/8" lag bolts

Bottom anchors.

Newel is true and plumb, but the balusters are not...

I may have over-engineered the installation.  ;]  On the top, I installed two "L" brackets attached with button-top screws and anchored to the wall with the lag bolts.

Here is how the door trim looks finished with the "crown"

This was a pain to cut the angles correctly--mostly due to my learning curve.  Once I read that you need to hold the crown molding upside-down in the saw, then I finally "got it."

Tangerine Tango, the 2012 color of the year, by Pantone.  Gives it an overall "Asian-inspired" feel, although that look was not our intention, but rather a nice coincidence.