TIME TO STEP UP
Tired of your scruffy old staircase? Making it a star attraction could transform your home, says Laura Latham
STAIrcASES need not be dull, upand-down affairs. Of course, we can’t all aspire to a spiralling silver job and not every home would suit a floating set piece. But you can easily improve the look of your stairs and a complete overhaul isn’t as expensive as you might think.
‘ People simply accept their staircases,’ says roberta Jervis, design manager at the bespoke furniture company Neville Johnson (nevillejohnson.co. uk). ‘ But stairs can be a beautiful piece of furniture in their own right.’
STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
WHEN it comes to reinventing yours, there is more choice than ever. If you own a historic home such as a Victorian terrace, changing old, chipped or worn rails and spindles for replica period fittings will instantly smarten things up.
From classic and elegant Georgian- styles or decorative barley-twist spindles to polished oak or glossy white- painted handrails, there is a range of options. You can even go for a mixed metaphor with, for example, contemporary wooden handrails and newel posts with metal spindles and fittings.
Or try a transformative new look. The sort of sleek, glasspanelled staircases that you might associate with a chic London loft can work in modest homes, too. ‘You can combine glass with metal or wood to get a very contemporary look,’ says Scott Storey, director of staircase specialist James Grace ( jamesgrace.co.uk). ‘This style can work in any type of home.’
Prices vary, depending on the size, complexity or materials used for a job. If you commission a specialist, Storey says you should expect to pay from £2,500 for a simple staircase with wooden spindles and handrail in a standard, two-floor home.
For larger or more elaborate projects, particularly those involving glass panels, which have to be custom-made for most staircases, you could be looking upwards of £10,000.
Glass panels come in a range of decorative options, including coloured, smoked and etched, or with a shattered effect.
‘Glass can brighten a dark hallway,’ says Jervis. ‘ It will transform a space you simply pass through into a new room.’
Stair treads and balustrades can also be fitted with small lights, which give a cuttingedge look and make it more practical at night.
If you want to inject fun, why not add a slide?
Alex Michaelis, of architect firm Michaelis Boyd Associates ( michaelisboyd.com), designed one to run alongside a traditional staircase in a London home. Apparently, the adults love it as much as the children. The cost is £10,000.
Those wanting to really cause a stir could opt for something strikingly sculptural.
One client of the Nottinghambased company, Philip Watts Design ( philipwattsdesign.com) commissioned a spinal staircase which, rendered in cast aluminium, looks more like something you’d expect to find in the Natural History Museum. That would set you back £40,000.
‘We’ve become known for that dripping style — part spine, past sea monster,’ says Philip Watts, founder of the company.
‘One of the first ones we did was for a Swiss client, whose house overlooked a glacier. Part of the brief was for the stairs to imitate the glacier’s changing shape. We even included puddles of metal on the floor. Our staircases suit simple interiors and act as a piece of art’, he adds.
DO IT YOURSELF
For those on a budget, there is the DIY option, which can end up being much cheaper. You could replace the spindles and handrails, for example, for under £500.
But bear in mind that badly-built stair furniture can be dangerous, so unless you are sure of what you are doing, you should hire an expert carpenter or joiner to advise and ensure any work is done to a safe standard.
research and measure up thoroughly before you buy any materials. Stair parts can be bought from trade merchants, such as Howdens ( howdens. com), or DIY outlets like B&Q ( diy.com) or Wickes ( wickes.co.uk). They can cost from about £2.50 for a standard softwood hemlock or pine spindle and from about £20 for a pine handrail.
Building regulations state that spindles must be close enough that a 100 mm sphere cannot fit between them and designed so that the rail cannot be easily climbed. Handrails need to be a minimum of 900 mm to 1,000 mm from the floor or pitch line of the stair treads, and any glass used must be the toughened safety variety.
Supporting structures, such as base and hand rails and newel posts, need to be properly fitted so that they don’t give way when someone leans on them. Ensure you have accurately measured and plotted the angle of your stairs as it may be uneven.
One benefit of hiring a professional firm is that they work fast. Neville Johnson and James Grace say their teams can remove and replace the entire bannister within 48 hours.
They also know the required building regulations to ensure everything is built to legal standards, and have the expertise to ensure stairs remains safe and secure.
As for style, get it right, and your staircase could become a talking, as well as a walking, point.