Stairs are no longer just stairs; they are more and more becoming a design element in a home. Whether you are doing a major update of your home, or just giving it a minor facelift, replacing the flooring on your stairs can make a major impact.
“One of the most popular looks for stairs right now,” said City Tile Design Consultant Sydney Watkins, “is a medium to dark wood tread with a white painted riser. It is what most of our customers are asking for currently.”
Another option, according to Watkins, is to have a natural wood tread and riser, then place a runner down the stairs.
“Right now carpet with diamond and other geometric designs are the carpets of choice,” added Watkins. “We can have carpets made and bound to be placed on stairs.”
With the interest in repurposing, it is worthwhile to see what is under old carpeted stairs. In homes built previous to the mid-1970s beautiful old hardwood may lurk that simply needs to be refinished.
Homes built in the late fifties and early sixties frequently have hardwood stairs. Architects today are copying something else from these mid-century modern homes, floating staircases. These are beautiful wood stairs that have no walls on one side, and frequently no handrails. Lighter colored woods are employed when creating a floating staircase.
While all-wood stairs are the most frequent request, followed by carpeted wood stairs, with all of the new tiles on the market, some designers are having risers tiled with beautiful hand-painted tiles or specialty tiles with unique designs. The only limit to options is imagination.
If you do not want to replace your whole staircase, paint the stairs. Black treads with white risers fit in well with the continuing interest in the use of black and white in interior design. Instead of replacing the stairs, modernize the black and white staircase with an ultra-cool black metal handrail.
You can be a little daring and paint your risers different colors, for example increasingly darker shades of blue as you go up. Using lots of blue in the home is another current design practice.
For those wishing to place their own personal mark on their stairs, another unique painting feature is to stencil your initials on to the risers.
Getting away from cookie-cutter style and putting your own twist on the design of your stairs is what replacing your old staircase is all about.
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