With a little care and sympathy in design and positioning, the stairway to the stars is not heaven sent, but in your hands!
It’s hard to refute the saying windows make the outside of a house and the staircase the inside. As a focal point, it’s very important to match the staircase to the size and style of your house; too small makes it look stuck on and insignificant, too big and it dominates the space. It can even add a dramatic sculptural feature and, at the top end, a piece of art in the structural make up of your home. But before you get too carried away with design, remember that you are constrained by Building Regulations and many traditional designs are now no longer acceptable, particularly those with gaps through which children might fall or catch legs and arms. On the plus side, a well constructed and designed staircase adds greatly to the value and interest of your house so pay attention to the lighting, not just for reasons of safety, but also to make the most of this feature.
Planning ahead
Your first design decision is whether it is to be simple but elegant, solid and traditional, decorated or plain. For contemporary houses ash is one of the most popular woods because it is very light in colour. Beech is another light coloured wood but it is not as stable as ash.
Long straight flights are more expensive to build than one that is split with a small landing. Most expensive of all are curved geometric stairs, that is a flying stair with an inner edge forming a continuous curve. The technical name for a spiral stair is a helical stair.
