Stairs in Small Spaces

Stairs are hard. Not walking up or down them, but rather integrating them into a small floor plan. Our home has a unique set up with the stairs floating in the center of our home. There are no walls around the stairs on the first floor, which makes that level seem bigger than that of similar homes.

Floating or not, they very much limit the area around them. It is our intention to move the stairs back against the wall to open up more precious floor space. If it were one set of stairs it would be easy, but we also need the basement, second floor and attic. I suppose when the time is right we will consult an architect.

I do however find myself looking at the many available stair options on the internet. I am constantly looking for that perfect stair and how it could integrate into our home.

The picture at the top of the post is an industrial indoor or outdoor aluminum alternating-tread unit that I have been seeing everywhere. It is in projects in several books I own and I remember seeing it in no less than four magazine spreads lately. If I lived in an ultra slick bachelor pad, I’d consider slapping it on every floor. The wife would never go for it and I’m sure after one slip I’d hate it too.

I do come across cool stairs very often and here is a gallery of my favorites. Have a great stairs in your home? I’d love to see them — send it my way.