Top Staircase Tips For Dark Spaces

When you buy a home it is likely to have a staircase already fitted, unless you are taking on a complete renovation or building a new home. Most people will simply accept these stairs and use them until they fall down. However, this does not have to be the only option. There is a staircase design to suit you and your home and you can have them created at the right price! In fact, there are hundreds of different designs; you might find it hard to choose the one you like the most!

One of the toughest spaces to build a stunning staircase is when you have a dark narrow hallway or a corner without a lot of light. Of course, you might be able to add some additional artificial lighting but the following tips will help the stairs to look stunning, even in a dark corner.

Balustrades

You need to opt for open balustrades to allow as much light in as possible. In fact, glass balustrades are the best option as they will appear invisible, allowing the light to illuminate the stairs properly.

You can choose from a huge range of glass balustrades as the handrails and support mechanisms can be wood or metal and virtually any design.

Open the Stairs

Instead of opting for traditional stairs you can choose to have treads only. Without any risers you will find there are less shadows in your dark corner and more light available on your stairs. You can even couple them with lights under the stairs to really make the staircase look like it glows; no matter how dark the corner was before.

Twisted

Stairs which wind like a spiral or have a landing half way up will take up less space and allow more light from the upstairs to hit the stairs; helping to banish the dark corner. Of course, this type of stair will usually require a wider space although it is shorter. You will need to consider whether this is an option as it might require you to adjust the upstairs layout slightly.

Paint

The color you choose t paint your stairs and the walls round them will make a big difference to the appearance of that dark corner. Wood clad walls with a heavy brown or black paint will make the area dark and possibly gloomy. On the other hand, white walls will flood the area with light and help it to seem brighter.

If white is not an option for you then it is possible to use any pale color, as long as it helps to bounce light round the corner.

Mirror

Finally, you can also position mirrors on your stairs to bounce any available light round the room. This might mean positioning the mirrors at the top of the stairs or at the sides; fundamentally the placement will depend where you can bounce the light best. You might even want to cover the walls in mirrors to make the stairs appear wider as well as brighter! However more mirrors will mean more expert cleaning.