6 Factors You Need To Know When Choosing A Staircase Design
There are key design elements you need to know when it comes to choosing the right staircase design for your home or business. Fortunately, there are many styles and options to choose from, and it’s essential to understand what they are. So before you start planning your budget, it’s a good idea to choose from the wide array of styles available.
1 – How To Plan And Design Your Staircase Design
Whether you need to create your stairway design from scratch or plan for a renovation, it’s always a good idea to plan and prepare. After all, staircases typically can look the same but don’t need to. Instead, you can give your staircase a unique and style appearance and keep the cost down.
Fortunately, with an abundance of styles to choose from, you can create a unique and stylish flair. Usually, stairs can appear tucked away in the dark corners of our homes and with poor lighting as well. We want our stairs safe and easy to access but still look chic and well thought out.
First, ask yourself if you want your design to invite or conceal. For example, some homes require staircases right at our entryways and some hidden around corners. It’s essential to understand what type of design your home calls for and then work with your contractor to ensure your plans meet their mark.
2 – Ensuring Your Staircase Design Is Safe And Effective
When designing your stairs, you always want to ensure that the design meets all safety requirements. For example, ship ladder stairs need to meet OSHA and IBC standards. OSHA requires that all ladders between 60 and 90 degrees be device-facing, so any ship ladder angled 60 degrees or steeper must allow descending backing down.
While narrow or short stairs can look modern and more stylish, these types of stairs can cause accidents and injury. Therefore, always ensure your design includes safety protocols first and design elements last. In addition, you want to make sure you follow all safety guidelines regardless of the presence of children on the property.
Always add safety railings to your staircase as well. Doing so will ensure your family and friends will feel comfortable and safe when using your stairs. More so, you can find very stylish railing designs to fit any decor in your home. For example, if your staircase design includes short narrow steps, a railing will help prevent injuries and help keep everyone safe.
3 – Increase Lighting For Safety And Elegance Decor
One way to increase the overall safety of your new staircase is to improve lighting. You can add beautiful lighting elements to any design and often without spending over your budget. Illuminating your stairs is also great for homes without a lot of natural lighting.
Furthermore, you can add stairway light fixtures to the top, bottom, or middle of your stairs or on the stairs themselves. Many of the lighting designs feature motion sensors like dusk-to-dawn to turn on automatically.
Another great option is adding LED rope lights to your stairs. These lights are a DIY option and make it affordable as well. You can place them in the base of your stair or tuck them to the ledge of the steps as well. Doing so will ensure they are out of the way and will not create a safety hazard. LED lights make a great alternative to your staircase design and always look elegant and decorative.
4 – Know Your Stair Lingo And Design Elements
When choosing your staircase design, it’s essential to know the various types of stairs to choose. Typically, you can choose from eight styles. However, depending on the layout of your home, your choices might seem less varied, and you’ll need to make that assessment ahead of time.
Below, you can choose from various staircases styles:
- Straight Design – No change in direction. Straight from top to bottom.
- L-Shaped or Quarter-Turn – Typically, a 90-degree turn in direction after a landing
- Winder – Stair treads are wider on one side versus the other.
- U-Shaped or Half-Turn – U-Shaped or Half-Turn – A landing separates the two parallel flights of stairs.
- Spiral – A design with a single pole in the center. Not the safest choice and not the best strategy for most homes.
- Curved – An attractive option if you have the architectural space. It consists of an L-shaped curved style with no landing.
- Bifurcated – An extremely grand and opulent staircase. Image the stairs in the Titanic. These stairs split off into two smaller flights that typically split off into opposite directions.
- Ladder – Mostly, ladder stairs make a good fit for smaller spaces. Not always the safest choice, but, at times, the only option.
5 – The Materials Your Use On Your Stairs
Additionally, it’s essential to make sure you choose the right materials for your stairs. After all, you don’t want them to feel slippery upon the step as it can be a safety concern. Ask yourself what “slip factor” the material you choose will have when folks walk on them.
For example, wood or stone stairs can often be slippery, especially after cleaning or if it’s damp. If you own pets, this can also cause a safety hazard for them as well. That’s why many folks add carpeted runners to their stairs. These runners can look elegant and add a decorative element to your home.
As an option, you can add non-slip stair runners that are great for kids, pets, and anyone else going up or down. These runners add a non-slip backing on the entire support of each tread for easy installation. Also, you can DIY the installation to save money on installation fees.
When you plan for your staircase design, always consider adding decorative runners or non-slip backing for added safety. Plus, think about how beautiful your stairs will look with elegant and decorative runners as well. They make the perfect option for any staircase in your home.
6 – Your Staircases Are A Powerful Design Feature In Your Home
It can seem overwhelming to choose your staircase design but don’t fret. It doesn’t need to be that way. Of course, you’ll set your budget accordingly and make sure you do this first. However, you can try to think of your new renovations as a way to add depth and character to your home.
Using the design elements above, you can now feel empowered to prepare your beautiful stairs and knowing you did your due diligence! More so, try adding some flair to your home and avoid the temptation to go with something safe and boring—instead, design with your heart and not only your head. We know our budgets tend to control a lot of what we do in our homes, but you can still get what you want with a little creative bargaining.
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