Six Ways to Decorate Your Staircase
Stairs and staircases are a central part of our homes, but they're often not central to our interior decorating. Because staircases are all different shapes, sizes, and designs, it can be easy to leave them alone. Fair enough, but decorating your staircase, even just a little bit, can make a massive difference to your interior space. Decorating it is a sure way to bring the decor and aesthetic of your whole home together. How you choose to decorate your staircase depends on your taste, the architecture of your home, and how it will fit into the aesthetic or design of the rest of the house.
Here are some ideas of ways to decorate your staircase to make it an eye-catching part of your home.
Artwork and Family Photos
Hanging personal items on the walls of the staircase goes a long way to making your home more "you." Get creative here with ways you want to express yourself through your walls. Staircases are also a great place to hang items because you can really see them from up close when walking up and down the stairs. If you have some paintings or artwork that you love, then hang them on the walls along the stairs. Whether it’s a coherent set of pieces that match one another, random pieces that don’t, or just one statement piece such as a woven rug or large painting, the stairwell can be dressed up with some artwork.
It’s also a great place to hang masterpieces done by your kids. Frame drawings and paintings made by your children, and hang this unique art along the staircase for something truly personal and special. Pull your children’s art out of the canvas storage bins, and frame these pieces for the walls to make your stairwell look truly special.
Family photos are another great framed item to hang on staircases. Choose some special photos, such as photos with your kids, your wedding photos, or just you somewhere special wearing your favorite summer dress. Choose the frames carefully to make sure the wall looks coherent, aesthetically pleasing, and not too busy.
For Christmas
Even if you’ve decorated your staircase for daily life, you may want to decorate it even more for the holidays. There are a lot of great Christmas decorations that can look spectacular on your staircase. Try wrapping white Christmas lights or wreath around your banister, bringing in some birch tree logs and wrapping lights around them, or hanging stockings along the staircase. Decorating your staircase for the holidays is a sure way to have your whole home feeling festive.
A Runner
Sometimes all your staircase may need to make it more interesting is a runner. A runner is a long rug designed to fit your stairs. Here is where you have some space to get creative. The rug you choose for your runner should match the aesthetic of the rest of your home. For a more modern and minimalist look, choose a solid or simple geometric runner with a neutral color. For a more eclectic home, choose a tribal, floral, classic, or colorful rug to decorate your stairs a little more. If your staircase is in a living room or other already furnished and decorated space, be sure to match the preexisting decor. For example, try to match the rug to the accent throw pillows on the sofa for a more uniform look.
Wallpaper
Wallpaper is an interesting throwback decor option that can change the whole feel of a space for the better. While wallpaper had gone out of style over the past 50 years or so, like everything else vintage, it’s been making a strong comeback. Wallpaper is perfect for adding an interesting flair to your home. Choose from all kinds of styles and designs that are charmingly vintage, sophisticated modern, or fabulously Victorian. You can wallpaper the walls in your stairwell or get creative and apply wallpaper to the stair rises so that the interesting design of the wallpaper peeps out to you as you’re walking up the stairs.
Built-in Storage Shelf
If you have the space on a landing and in your walls, decorate your staircase by building in a built-in storage shelf along the stairs. This is a great way to integrate more space for decor on your staircase. Fill the shelf with memorabilia, decorative items, photos, houseplants, seagrass baskets, or anything else that accentuates your aesthetic.
Paint
If you’re looking to update the look of your staircase, then perhaps a new paint job is the way to go. It’s easy to make your staircase a part of your decor by giving it a fresh coat of paint. Feel free to get creative. You can paint the wall of the staircase, the banisters, the treads or stair risers, or everything to give your staircase a more decorative feel.
For a beach feel, try a light green or baby blue. For a cottage feel, paint it all white. For something sleek and minimal, go for something like dark blue or black. If you want something rustic, sand off the paint and add a varnish to the exposed wood. Be sure to match the surrounding decor and accent pieces such as rugs, sofas, paintings, throw blankets, and anything else. What you choose depends on your style, but whatever you decide, you are sure to end up with a more decorative staircase.
With a little thought and creativity, you can soon be designing a remarkable staircase that will bring the decor and design of your home together perfectly.