Collaborative Post¦ Last year when we found out we were expecting Reuben, we almost immediately started looking for a larger house. Autumn’s old room simply wasn’t big enough for two children to share! After some searching, we found one just around the corner. Thankfully, this meant we had to make absolutely no changes to our lifestyle! So far, my brother has got most of the way through rewiring the house. Soon we’ll be able to start on the decorating jobs. Our old house had a staircase as soon as you opened the front door, with walls either side and no hand rail. We could have fitted one, but it would have made it hard to get large items up and down the stairs. In this house, however, the staircase is in the living room. It’s nice to have a proper bannister and hand rail again.
Our current staircase
For some reason, the last homeowners painted it in the most terrible paint. I think they used literally the cheapest matt emulsion they could lay their hands on to white wash the whole house before selling it. As such, any dirt or dust just sticks to all the woodwork. I’ve used a magic eraser countless times to clean it. However, with the rewire currently in progress, it’s never long before it looks really grubby again.
I’m also a bit unsure about how they look aesthetically. It’s a very traditional kind of style of bannister and hand rail. I’ve been looking on Insta to try and get ideas as I’m not sure if it’s fashionable and if there’s some kind of alternative I should think about replacing it with.
I’ve also been looking at a beautiful cantilevered staircase on Fontanot shop. My sister-in-law recently bought a house which has a cantilevered staircase. It looks really lovely and modern, as well as making the space feel more open. However, with two small children it’s probably not the best option for us!
Perhaps if we do replace anything, we should go less traditional and go for straight spindles!
Hand railing
I’ve also been looking at our options for stair hand railing, as we definitely need a hand rail of some description. At the age of 4, Autumn always feels like she needs to hold on to something as she walks up and down stairs. With no hand rail in our old house, this resulted in lots of dirty marks on the wall! Inevitably she held on to the wall with chocolatey fingers! We also have several relatives in their 70s or 80s who need the extra support of a hand rail when they come to visit. I think it might look more modern to have a metal hand rail rather than a wooden one. Although, if we stick with the wooden bannisters it would look out of keeping so it’ll depend on that! Perhaps something similar to this would work well for us?
As the staircase is quite prominent in our living room I’m keen for us to get it right. With the right kind of design and carpet on it, it will make a really nice feature. Once we’ve filled the holes in the walls and decorated around it, anyway!
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post with Fontanot shop. As always, all views and opinions are honest and my own.