When it comes to the lighting in your home, you don’t always have to go for the standard approach. Indeed, many people these days decide to go beyond the norm and get creative with the lights installed in their hallway and above the stairs.

As the hallway is the entrance to your home and usually the first thing a visitor will come across, you need to take more care in making this space inviting than other areas.

This connecting space needs to be light and welcoming, so lights are able to provide this, especially at night. However, the lights you opt for can be whatever style you like. Wall lights are proving quite popular as they do not take up room on the floor. These lights are also able to create the perfect mood in the hallway.

Moving on to the stairs, you might want to use floor level lighting to illuminate the steps you need to take on your ascent up the staircase. Alternatively, track or spot lights can offer directed lights to certain areas and these can be wall or ceiling mounted according to your preference.

There are many ways to accentuate your stairs and make more of a statement in your hallway, with lights being one of the most effective.

In addition to the creation of the staircase itself, there are a number of other things for you to think about. These include safety features like railings as well as decorative objects to place around these structures to improve the look and appeal of the stairs.

One thing that is able to provide both of these benefits is staircase lighting. This is because they can be used to illuminate the way as a person goes up or down the steps, thus making it safer for them to do this at night.

Many people do not contemplate the lighting until their stairs are already fitted and in place, meaning that their choice of lights is limited to what is on the landing as well as on the ground floor below.

These days, there are all sorts of bespoke lights that can be installed within steps themselves or the wall next to where the staircase is to go. This means that in addition to providing lights to make the stairs safer, they can also be used for decorative purposes too. You can opt for wall lights, chandeliers or even downlights placed at certain angles to guide people.

In the last article we explained how you can use garlands to great effect when placing them around your stairs and stairway as Christmas decorations. We will now consider other things you can do to spruce up your stairs, making them look more festive.

Door swags or wreaths are not just good for hanging on the door outside your home as they can be placed on the stairs as well. You can position the swags at intervals going up the steps, with wreaths tied to the stairs using pretty ribbons.

Ribbon of various textures can be tied to each railing, with a bow or cluster of flowers placed on each top point. You can also decide to space out fruit or flower clusters along the banister, with each tied with these decorative ribbons.

If you have a wide enough stairway, you might wish to think about placing small potted Christmas trees or plants by the side of the steps. Bows can be added which conform to the décor of your home.

Whatever you do, make sure that it is all carried out with safety in mind, as you wouldn’t want to create hazards for those using the stairs.

Decorating the home at Christmas is one of people’s favourite pastimes as they can get their house looking all festive and right for the occasion. As families can usually expect visitors around this time of the year, it is worthwhile making your property as inviting as possible.

When it comes to staircases, there are ways you can make it appear even more welcoming. You do not even have to spend a fortune decorating it either as some of these tips are fairly cheap to do.

The rest of this article and the following one will be discussing what decorations can be used to make it look more beautiful and dramatic in keeping with the Christmas festivities.

Firstly, if your stairs are fitted with a railing, you can decorate it with stairway creations that are perfect for this wonderful occasion.

Garlands are an option you can consider as these can be made out of various materials such as ivy, pine and other decorative objects. You can always choose to add a few simple touches like ornaments and metallic berries, plus ribbons made out of satin or velvet. Flowers are another nice touch you can include on the railings or newel post.

In this last article on what to consider when opting for a modern staircase to be fitted in your house, we will be looking at other things which should be looked at as you go through the design process.

The decision on whether to go for open or closed tread stairs is an important one as you need to think carefully about the practical aspects involved. With an open-tread design, you might feel a bit more exposed and uneasy about the fact you are more likely to fall up or down them.

This is why the majority of people opt for closed-tread stairs as they give you more peace of mind when ascending or descending the steps.

When you think of stairs, you don’t usually consider storage. However, in many homes stairs are left untidy, with all kinds of things like clothes and books left lying around. Nowadays, you can get staircase storage solutions which fit in neatly around your stairs or below them, helping you to make the best use of the space you have available.

As you go through the main points of your staircase design, these are all things you might want to bear in mind.

Making the decision to install a contemporary staircase in your home will be something you will look upon later as a positive move. You don’t need to have just bought the property either in order to get new stairs.

Replacing your old stairs with a more modern design is a viable option for many homeowners. Feature stairs are nice, but you don’t have to spend a fortune creating fashionable styles like the elliptical staircase, basically spiral stairs without the central column.

Glass staircases may be the new trend but these aren’t really practical for most buildings as they can be dangerous whenever liquids are spilt on them. They also require more in the way of maintenance too and so you’d have to get ready for the regular cleaning of the stairs. Privacy is something else the latest glass stairs lack.

This is why oak staircases are still proving popular for the homes of today as they can provide a spacious feel to the hallway.

These wooden stairs make for the smarter option and you can design the staircase yourself, while arranging for them to be delivered ready to fit within just a short space of time.

A staircase is unique in a home as it is able to set the tone more than anything else. In modern society, many people are looking to the designing of their stairs as an opportunity to create something that will make a real difference to the appeal of their property.

When stairs have been designed in the right way, they are able to really give the home a true sense of proportion as well as style, so this is a process that should be taken very seriously.

If you want to ensure that it all goes to plan, you need to think carefully about the type of stairs that would go well in your contemporary house. The final design needs to be stylish and safe to use.

Having a staircase fitted is not all that expensive, depending on where you turn for assistance. It all depends on the age of your property though, as putting new stairs in a Victorian or Georgian style home would be a bigger job for the installers.

So if you have a more modern home, you can benefit from all kinds of economic options with regards to your staircase.

The size of staircase you wish to design will depend on the size of the residential or commercial property where it will be installed. The type of staircase you want to be constructed also depends on the requirements of your project and the objective.

When you are looking at building stairs for a larger sized home or commercial development project, one of the most popular designs to go for is a grand staircase.

These staircases have been used in traditional settings for hundreds of years and have been crafted by some of the world’s most renowned architects and builders.

Grand staircases can still be made today, but they are usually reserved for those with a bigger budget to work with, not to mention the space required for these magnificent creations.

These stairs can still be made to certain design specifications, with many style choices available including spiral, helical and curved options. This is in addition to the straight flight stairs you can get.

When you are working on a smaller scale, you can still create something to admire. So even if you don’t have the resources to build a grand staircase, you will still be able to find a solution that satisfies your needs.

A staircase can be made from a number of different materials, so there is no standard for what can be used. Timber wood staircases are probably the most popular for installation in traditional as well as contemporary properties.

Today’s designs could make use of glass, stainless steel and a combination with wood to create the perfect style for a certain home.

Even if you are going for the up-to-date look, do not discount wooden stairs as this material may have been used for a long time now, but this is because it is often still the best choice.

You can use the materials mentioned above to come up with a model that provides the best effect in your home, but it also depends on the type of stairs you go for as well.

When you go to an established staircase manufacturer they will be able to suggest the best type of stairs that would provide you with the focal point you were hoping for at the outset.

This may take the form of cut string or housed string designs, or it might be something simple such as a half turn timber staircase.

A loft conversion has many things going for it and can make for a really sound investment, but you need to make sure that it is practical viable for the house in which you live.

Once you have had it checked out and the space you have at the top of your home is suitable for conversion, you can now start to enjoy the process of planning what you are going to do.

The first decision you will have to make is to the type of loft conversion you wish to have built. You may have a general idea, but it might be worth speaking with the professionals at this stage.

As well as being able to find tools online to help you to gauge what the finished loft might look like once built, you can also get all sorts of information over the internet to help you with the design.

An important component of this project you’d better not forget is the solution which will provide the connection between the original part of the house and the newly built area: the staircase.

Space saver stairs are an excellent way to utilise the space you have available and these can be ordered from an online supplier and installed without any trouble.