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 51 awesome staircase designs will open up you up to a whole new way of linking the levels.
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… 
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- Visualizer: Andrew McConnell
… 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. 
