Up and down them several times a day, we don’t always see our useful staircases as a thing of beauty. However, this utilitarian part of the home can become the most showstopping piece to an interior design, using imagination and calculation. Consider the sheer size of this installation, and how by making it more sculptural, more personally styled and unique to the space we can manifest something magnificent. If when visualising a staircase you see straight treads and solid risers, compliant spindles and dutiful banisters, then this enlightening gallery of 53 awesome staircase designs will open up you up to a whole new way of linking the levels.
Beautifully Baroque. At The Romanian Athenaeum, Bucharest, Romania, four pink Carrara marble spiral staircases create a magnificent spectacle. The building was designed by the French architect Albert Galleron and opened in 1888.
Split materials break up the bulk of an open-plan staircase. This example features luxe black marble on the lower three treads and glossy white marble for the remainder of the climb.
Snake it to make it. Sharp metallic treads, linked by oblique alternating sides, are suspended on barely there balustrades. The single continuous piece of metal folds into itself like the ‘Snake’ in the old computer game - always twisting but never touching.
The secretive staircase. Cubism flows through the metal veins and wooden organs of this body of work. Planks, panels, and wooden cuboids are suspended on black framework to fashion an offbeat tower with secretive sections.
Linework meets metalwork. This skinny staircase appears like thin black linework on a blank white page. Iron rungs aren’t really a thing of comfort underfoot, but the simple structure fulfills its purpose in a restricted footprint.
Cat ladder style staircases are good solution in limited space, like when access to a mezzanine level is required from a main living area.
Clever cubes. The balustrades of this modern staircase design are a pattern of overlapping cubes, which form shelves for books and display items beneath the treads, and handrails above.
Integrate a staircase into the room by combining it with furniture. This black suspended staircase design stops short of the floor, where a last few wooden treads are amalgamated into a low slung storage cabinet with book nooks.
Get canny with curves. These wooden treads arc and slide between the upper and lower levels of the stairway to stunning effect.
Another curvaceous triumph.
These curving white treads are pieced together in a more modular manner. Each white piece forms a vertebrae in a smooth spine.
Talking of spine-like concepts, check out this backbone of fine design…
… Or the ribs of this striking black number.
Two tone tricks. Alternating white treads with deep wood tone volumes gives this structure strong personality.
Fulfill a futuristic fantasy. Glossy white steps merge with light reflective wall panels in this futuristic home design. Softly glowing stair lights accentuate the recessed risers.
Minimalist minded. These quietly camouflaged open sided steps are assisted by an understated staircase railing against the wall.
Create a look of weightlessness by omitting the first riser. When only a shadow can be seen touching the floor, even the heaviest of staircases will seem to float.
Let your staircase be something else - or several things. A platform, a bench, a desk, a small table; this staircase appears to be all of those things before fulfilling its final destiny.
This suspended staircase rises from just above the end of a dining bench, which leaves the floor layout of the room feeling uninterrupted.
A reading nook makes use of the natural light at this stairwell with a view.
Colour yourself happy. If you have a favourite colour then don’t reserve it just for the walls or the furniture of your home. Put it right at the heart, like this bright pink powder coated staircase.
Let your favourite colour spill from the stairwell out onto the floor of your entryway for artistic effect.
Be brave and go all in with your chosen colour - no half measures.
For a multicoloured version, take inspiration from Mondrian inspired interior design. Block in black outlined cubes with primary yellow, blue and red for your own piece of De Stijl.
Alternatively, paint a watercolour rainbow, altering the gentle hue at every single step.
Break down the design to only what is needed. Individual floating treads appear to extrude directly from the wall of this minimalist home. The uncomplicated banister is like a line drawn with a ruler - no flourishes, no visible fixings.
Illustrate optical illusion. Each section of this staircase slopes away at an increasing angle until they are no more than treads at the top, creating a twisting illusion.
Banisters and balustrades can be beautiful. Yes, staircase barriers are a safety aspect, and modern interior design often seems dead set on making them as invisible as possible, or eliminating them entirely. However, these panels can also be viewed as an opportunity to inject beauty and elegance.
Taller times. Many modern staircases are now favouring taller balustrades that connect the treads directly to the ceiling, creating an encased effect that still lets the visual and the light pass through.
Create a zen stairwell with a courtyard. Some plants and pebbles are all you need to get started. Add soft lighting for extra soothing effect.
Cacti make an easy low maintenance garden for areas beneath a stairwell that have limited access.
Stack it with storage. Floor level storage volumes and bookshelves stack the underbelly of this wooden installation - some of which run off along the full width of the room to form a desk and home office shelving.
Another home workspace is tucked at the base of this much smaller storage staircase. This one includes a plant stand too.
isn’t a new thing, but there are always new ideas on how to do it. Book lovers will adore this extensive library staircase.
Wanna go even bigger? How about this giant library stairwell.
Entertain the child in you - or the children in the family - by incorporating a fun slide into the design. This doesn’t have to look clumsy or garish in childish colours, explore the possibilities in your favoured staircase material.
Many open plan dreams are thwarted by the awkward placement of an immovable staircase, but don’t be discouraged. With some coercing your stubborn central staircase could become a mere accent in the room. Think blending wall panels on the lower half, and low profile open treads to the ceiling space.
Wood and concrete make a harmonious pairing - and these concrete planters allow for the perfect touch of greenery too.
Another employment of indoor plants, this time tracking all the way up sweeping banisters.
String it out. Wires can be crisscrossed to form an attractive pattern down the side of an open staircase. This dark metal design has great contrast with the warm wooden treads showing through it.
Take sides. Solid sides sweep around this modern spiral staircase design, shrouding it from an open plan living room.
A second take on the solid sided theme.
And a third. This time the solid sides sweep along the mezzanine landing level too, like one piece of wide white ribbon.
Forget everything that you thought you knew about staircases in order to bring about the birth of a new concept, like this egg shaped vision.
Lighting, lighting, lighting. After stepping up and installing a stunning piece, give it life with the right illumination.
The rounded treads of this contemporary spiral staircase open up like the petals of a flower.
Bring peace to a stairwell with the sound of trickling water into an ornamental pool. The gentle sound will carry up the stairwell to the next floor too.
Construct a deconstruction. Like a deconstructed rattan basket, the outer fins of this natural looking staircase is a riot of angles and lengths.
Another freeform piece. Wild waves of material create a colossal undulating surface around this spectacular staircase.
Create contrast. Delicately thin wirework is paired with crudely carved steps here, each forming curves in their own way.
Love layers. Rather than joining shallow steps at their edges, this design layers large flat square platforms one on top of the next, sliding away in the direction meant to climb.
In this entirely different layered look, great wooden volumes have been stacked like a dangerously giant game of Jenga gone rogue. The resulting recesses make perfect storage nooks for books. The uppermost block is utilised as a desk on the mezzanine home office.
Work with what you have. Whether or not this staircase was built from actual architectural offcuts, this chunky tread staircase would make the perfect addition to a home filled with upcycled curiosities. The heavy wooden steps would also be at home in a modern rustic setting, or in an industrial vibe pad where raw concrete reins alongside a plethora of plants.
