May 7, 2020, 1:12 pm | Read time: 5 minutes
The design of a staircase often receives little attention. Yet, it’s a place frequently traversed daily, making it an excellent stage for flea market finds, a unique paint job, or other creative decor ideas.
A staircase–as part of the hallway–should primarily be one thing: functional. It must allow quick and easy movement from one floor to another. As a result, this area is often somewhat neglected in home design. However, a staircase can be made much more inviting with a few items, color accents, or decorative articles–here are seven tips.
1. Hang Pictures
Pictures in the staircase are a classic. The frames are quickly mounted, look decorative, and reveal a very personal side to guests. Various mounting styles are possible, but the Petersburg hanging remains particularly popular. Wall murals placed parallel to the handrail are also in demand. With each step, there’s a new motif to admire.
It’s important that the type of hanging shows a line, shape, or specific pattern to avoid a chaotic look. With all the mentioned hangings, a certain potpourri of photographs, self-painted pictures, posters, or graphics brings visual excitement to the space. If that’s too chaotic, black-and-white photographs are a good alternative.
Also interesting: 6 styles for hanging pictures
2. Illuminate the Staircase
Clearly, lighting is essential for a homely staircase design. Often, it is in the dark with few natural light sources nearby. If windows or skylights are far away, functional lighting is necessary–for safety reasons alone. Potential tripping hazards must be clearly visible.
A continuous light is a good option here. Step by step, spots illuminate the way. Even more seamless is the so-called light strip, which is simple and efficient in function.
For a particularly cozy lighting concept, mood lights are ideal. Usually, these are wall lights that provide indirect lighting with their diffusely scattered light. They can be installed in an organic shape like a wave or as a pattern for a decorative effect, creating an artistically inspired look.
The light color should always remain the same, as different light colors can become a hazard and make contours disappear. Especially for people with impaired vision, this can lead to missing a step and stumbling.
Also appealing and impressive, but more complex to install, are lights hanging from the ceiling. They are recommended mainly for large, spacious stairwells.
3. Cozy Wall Design Around the Staircase
If you want to make the staircase cozy, a quick option is a coat of paint. However, you must first come up with a concept. Angles, corners, and edges are complicated to paint. It’s advisable to seek professional help from a painter.
Suitable are light, natural shades like beige, greige, light gray, or taupe. They all give the staircase a pleasant, warm touch. A partial coat on a single wall or on opposite walls is also advisable.
The decision for patterned wallpaper should also be well-considered. Such a wall covering is most effective when the staircase itself is very simple and monochromatic.
4. Involve the Steps
Increasingly, the staircase itself is involved in the design process. Either all steps receive a coat of paint, or specifically the vertical part of a step is colored. This form of design is not only more accessible if you want to do the work yourself, but it also creates a visual highlight on the staircase. There are many possibilities for a cozy staircase design: Besides a coat of paint that follows the rainbow, you can alternate between two different tones step by step. Popular patterns often seen on tiles also create a decorative effect.
5. Accessories as Highlights
There should be only a few accessories on a staircase, as they can quickly become tripping hazards. However, accents are necessary to make the staircase cozy. Large items like a floor vase, a picture leaning against the wall, or a decorative stool are ideal, preferably on the landing where the staircase makes a 90-degree turn.
Accessories on the wall are even better. They should be relatively flat in shape to avoid becoming hazards when moving quickly up and down. A mirror in an unusual shape and size is conceivable. Large items like a feather, an old paddle, or a non-functional guitar are also popular.
Also interesting: 13 tips for properly setting up your hallway
6. Plants Make Stairs Cozier
If you want to make a staircase cozy, plants are a good choice. To place them on the staircase, there must be enough light from windows or skylights–or plants that don’t need much light. Ivy can beautifully trail along the railing. A cast-iron plant is particularly suitable as a larger representative of its kind on a landing. Small succulents can be decoratively hung from the railing or ceiling in appropriate containers or macrame hangers.
7 Creative Ideas for a Unique Hallway
10 Ideas for More Storage Space in the Hallway
How to Properly Set Up Your Hallway – 13 Tips
7. Design the Staircase as a Bookshelf
A rather bold and original idea is to integrate books into a staircase. Those with many books can “offload” them from an overflowing bookshelf. This can be done by integrating them into the railing, beneath a step, or as a stack on a larger landing where the staircase turns.