My Stairs

I have a nerdy confession… I’m super obsessed with staircases. I absolutely love them!

Image above via Pinterest

I’ve always fantasized about having an older home with a stunning spiral staircase. Who doesn’t, right?! Have you ever dreamed of being Annie Banks from Father of the Bride flying down that stunning banister in their grand hallway? Or walking slowly down the stairs in an amazing dress as your prom date or fiance can’t stop staring at you? Come on! It’s definitely been a fantasy of mine! Staircases can be so stunning and dramatic. I’m also a huge hopeless romantic, if you haven’t noticed.

Image of the house from Father of the Bride

Well, then there’s my stairs… bubble busted! They don’t exactly give off the magical Gone with the Wind vibe as I described above, but I think they could with a few adjustments.

They won’t be spiral or grand, but there are still ways to make them look better. Oh yeah, and we have to do something about that annoying support beam.

Here’s some inspiration…

Images above via Pinterest

Here’s the first round of ideas for my stairs.

Design A

The staircase really needs to be opened up. It makes the room feel bigger and gives it more depth. I turned the support beam into a pillar, which makes it more attractive.  It also helps lead your eyes upward, making the ceilings feel even taller (which I love). There’s not a lot of interior trim on this design. I wanted to keep this look more clean and minimal. There’s always the option of adding white trim on the opposite stair wall, but I also like the focus being on the linear black rods. You can’t see it in this shot, but the rods would compliment the black in my fireplace.

Design B

With this look I went more trim heavy just to see how it would look. Nate likes this look best. I think I would adjust the thickness of the balusters and make them thinner, still keeping them white. I’m not loving how thick they look in my image (again, this is just a quick mock-up I threw together just to play). I really like the vertical trim on the opposite stair wall. It makes you want to see what’s upstairs. Overall, I think this design feels very cohesive with my built-in bookcases and gives this wall so much more definition and texture.

I’m still playing with it, but I like the direction it’s heading.

Which design do you like better? A or B? Or is there another look I should be chasing? I’d love to know!

XOXO

Melessa