Four Elements of a Beautiful Staircase

There are so many components that go into the building or remodeling a home. While we were building our new home, we made sure to plan out every single part of our staircase, all the way from the treads to the decor. It was all so important.

We knew this was one of the first things that would be seen when entering our front door. It is also visible before even entering our front door. It had to be strategically planned out to make sure the design all came together in the way we had envisioned.

Finding the perfect products that would make our design come to life was easy for us. We partnered up with Love the Room and L.J. Smith Stair Systems. You can find most of these products at your local Lowes Home Improvement.

Treads

One of the most important elements in creating a beautiful staircase is the treads. The stair treads will be installed first, so you want to make sure you get this piece of the puzzle right before moving on. This can be tricky if you have used prefinished hardwood for your flooring, but we did write an article all about how to match solid hardwood treads to prefinished hardwood.

It is important to make sure the treads either match pretty closely or you go darker or much lighter to create contrast. If the treads are just a little off they will look as though you tried to match them, but didn’t really make it happen. This could be a pretty big sore thumb for this area and your staircase. So, I recommend either trying to get it super close or going completely different.

Since our prefinished hardwood is white oak, we made sure to choose white oak for the treads. This made matching the color much easier.

Railing

Probably the most important aspect of a staircase, in my opinion, is the railing! This can also be where the bulk of your stair budget is spent, but if you do it right, it is so worth it.

As we were planning our staircase as a whole, we put lots of thought into what we wanted the railing to look like.

In our previous home which was a modern farmhouse, we went with more of a modern look and installed black metal railing. We loved this look, but in this house, we chose something a little different. We knew we wanted to incorporate the black metal somewhere, so we chose a simple square black metal baluster. But, for the handrail and newel posts, we decided to do wood, white oak to be specific. We agreed that this would bring in more of a clean look while keeping with the cozy cottage feel.

Wall Sconces

Wall sconces are an element that many tend to overlook or even skip within the staircase design. In my opinion, they really set the mood for the area. Wall sconces will create interest in the space while also providing extra lighting. They are nice to turn on to create mood lighting in the evening or early morning.

Wall scones are very versatile and come in several different design options and even single, double, or triple lights. You can even choose to place multiple fixtures in your stair area. We went with one on the landing area and another above the longest run of stairs.

Decor

Of course, the icing on the cake or the last piece of the puzzle would be the decor. This is one area we have yet to complete, but we do have in mind what we want to do. Many use the wall sconces to serve as the light above a beautiful piece of art or even a family gallery wall. It is also nice to add in a rug where you can for some texture and maybe even color. And as always, baskets add in some warmth and texture if you have room.

List of Stair Parts

Below are links to all of the stair parts that we used.

• Treads
• Balusters
• Hand Rail
• Newel Posts
• Risers
• Stair Landing Tread