50 Elegant Staircase Design Ideas

While we often don’t see our practical wooden steps as something of beauty, they can still become a show-stopping feature in a home. With some imagination and calculation, staircases can be transformed into something exceptional. For instance, by making these staircase design ideas more sculptural and unique, we can create a personal and unique space.

When you think about a staircase design, you might see solid risers, straightforward steps, and dutiful banisters. This gallery of 50 inspiring staircase designs will allow you to connect the levels.

01. Snake It To Make It.

Sharp metallic treads, linked by oblique alternating sides, are suspended on barely there balustrades. The single continuous piece of metal folds into itself like the ‘Snake’ in the old computer game – constantly twisting but never touching.

Visualizer: MLab

02. The Secretive Staircase.

Cubism flows through this body of work’s metal veins and wooden organs. Planks, panels, and wooden cuboids are suspended on a black framework to fashion an offbeat tower with secretive sections.

Designer: Francesco Librizzi

03. Linework Meets Metalwork.

This skinny staircase appears like thin black linework on a blank white page. Iron rungs aren’t a thing of comfort underfoot, but the straightforward structure fulfills its purpose in a restricted footprint.

Designer: Francesco Librizzi studio

04. Cat Ladder-Style Staircase

A good solution in limited space, like when access to a mezzanine level is required from a central living area.

Visualizer: SoNo Arhitekti

05. Clever cubes.

The balustrades of this modern staircase design are a pattern of overlapping cubes, which form shelves for books and display items beneath the treads and handrails above.

Visualizer: Design + Weld

06. Integrate A Staircase Into The Room By Combining It With Furniture.

This black suspended staircase design stops short of the floor, where the last few wooden treads are amalgamated into a low-slung storage cabinet with book nooks.

Designer: Edouard Brunet & François Martens; P – Dennis De Smet

07. Get Canny With Curves.

These wooden treads arc and slide between the upper and lower levels of the stairway to stunning effect.

Designer: Arquitectura en Movimiento Workshop

08. Another Curvaceous Triumph.

Visualizer: Eisa Ghasemian

09. These Curving White Treads Are Pieced Together In A More Modular Manner. Each White Piece Forms A Vertebra In A Smooth Spine.

Designer: Zaha Hadid

10. Talking Of Spine-Like Concepts, Check Out This Backbone Of Fine Design.

Designer: Disguincio & Co | Visualizer: Giuliano Primi

11. Or The Ribs Of This Striking Black Number.

Visualizer: Andrew McConnell

12. Two-Tone Tricks.

Alternating white treads with deep wood tone volumes give this structure a strong personality.

Visualizer: Andrii Ortynskyi

13. Fulfill A Futuristic Fantasy.

Glossy white steps merge with light reflective wall panels in this futuristic home design. Softly glowing stair lights accentuate the recessed risers.

Visualizer: Lucas S.H

14. Minimalist Minded.

An understated staircase railing assists these quietly camouflaged open-sided steps against the wall.

Visualizer: 5AM

15. Create A Look Of Weightlessness By Omitting The First Riser.

When only a shadow can be seen touching the floor, even the heaviest staircases will seem to float.

Visualizer: O.M. Shumelda

16. Let Your Staircase Be Something Else – Or Several Things.

A platform, a bench, a desk, a small table; this staircase appears to be all of those things before fulfilling its final destiny.

Visualizer: Jac Studios

17. This Suspended Staircase Rises From Just Above The End Of A Dining Bench, Which Leaves The Floor Layout Of The Room Feeling Uninterrupted.

Designer: Haptic Architects

18. A Reading Nook Makes Use Of The Natural Light At This Stairwell With A View.

Designer: NU Architectuuratelier

19. Color Yourself Happy.

If you have a favorite color, don’t reserve it just for the walls or the furniture of your home. Put it right at heart, like this bright pink powder-coated staircase.

Visualizer: Studio Open

20. Let Your Favorite Color Spill From The Stairwell Onto The Floor Of Your Entryway For Artistic Effect.

Designer: Sphere8

21. Be Brave And Go All In With Your Chosen Color – No Half Measures.

Designer: Diapo

22. For A Multicolored Version, Take Inspiration From Mondrian-Inspired Interior Design. Block In Black Outlined Cubes With Primary Yellow, Blue, And Red For Your Piece Of De Stijl.

Source: Amsterdam’s Welvaren

23. Alternatively, Paint A Watercolour Rainbow, Altering The Gentle Hue At Every Step.

Designer: Cooley & Rose

24. Break Down The Design To Only What Is Needed.

Individual floating treads appear to extrude directly from the wall of this minimalist home. The uncomplicated banister is like a line drawn with a ruler – no flourishes, no visible fixings.

Visualizer: Photonic Studio

25. Illustrate Optical Illusion.

Each section of this staircase slopes away at an increasing angle until they are no more than treads at the top, creating a twisting illusion.

Visualizer: Pavel Voytov

26. Banisters And Balustrades Can Be Beautiful.

Yes, staircase barriers are a safety aspect, and modern interior design often seems dead set on making them as invisible as possible or eliminating them. However, these panels can also be an opportunity to inject beauty and elegance.

Designer: DeCurtis Design

27. Taller Times.

Many modern staircases are now favoring taller balustrades that connect the treads directly to the ceiling, creating an encased effect that still lets the visual and the light pass through.

Designer: SAOTA

28. Create A Zen Stairwell With A Courtyard.

Some plants and pebbles are all you need to get started. Add soft lighting for an extra soothing effect.

Visualizer: Hausmax Design

29. Cacti Make An Easy Low Maintenance Garden For Areas Beneath A Stairwell That Have Limited Access.

Visualizer: Diff Studio

30. Stack It With Storage.

Floor-level storage volumes and bookshelves stack the underbelly of this wooden installation – some of which run off along the entire width of the room to form a desk and home office shelving.

Visualizer: Andrés Rosón

31. Another Home Workspace Is Tucked At The Base Of This Much Smaller Storage Staircase. This One Includes A Plant Stand Too.

Designer: Studio Mieke Meijer

32. Book Storage In And Around Stairs Isn’t A New Thing, But There Are Always New Ideas On How To Do It. Book Lovers Will Adore This Extensive Library Staircase.

Designer: Moon Hoon

Do you want a Go Even Bigger? How About This Giant Library Stairwell?

Visualizer: Jianxiong Liu

33. Entertain The Child In You – Or The Children In The Family – By Incorporating A Fun Slide Into The Design.

This doesn’t have to look clumsy or garish in childish colors; explore the possibilities in your favored staircase material.

Designer: FC Studio

34. Many Open Plan Dreams Are Thwarted By The Awkward Placement Of An Immovable Staircase, But Don’t Be Discouraged.

With some coercing, your stubborn central staircase could become a mere accent in the room. Think blending wall panels on the lower half and low-profile open treads to the ceiling space.

Designer: Benn & Penna | Photographer: Tom Ferguson

35. Wood And Concrete Make A Harmonious Pairing – And These Concrete Planters Allow For The Perfect Touch Of Greenery Too.

Visualizer: dpVIZ STUDIO

36. Another Employment Of Indoor Plants, This Time Tracking All The Way Up Sweeping Banisters.

Designer: Paul Cocksedge

37. String It Out.

Wires can be crisscrossed to form an attractive pattern down the side of an open staircase. This dark metal design contrasts significantly with the warm wooden treads showContrastugh it.

Visualizer: Jakub Komrska

38. Take Sides.

Solid sides sweep around this modern spiral staircase design, shrouding it from an open-plan living room.

Visualizer: Pulva

39. A Second Take On The Solid-Sided Theme.

Photographer: Felix Meyer

40. And A Third.

This time the solid sides sweep along the mezzanine landing level, too, like one piece of wide white ribbon.

Visualizer: Kaminskyi Interiors

41. Forget Everything You Thought You Knew About Staircases To Bring About The Birth Of A New Concept, Like This Egg-Shaped Vision.

Designer: eeStairs

42. Lighting, Lighting, Lighting.

After stepping up and installing a stunning piece, give it life with the proper illumination.

Source: Edition Hotels

43. The Rounded Treads Of This Contemporary Spiral Staircase Open Up Like The Petals Of A Flower.

Designer: Patrick Jouin

44. Bring Peace To A Stairwell With The Sound Of Trickling Water Into An Ornamental Pool. The Gentle Sound Will Carry Up The Stairwell To The Next Floor Too.

Designer: Park Associates

45. Construct A Deconstruction.

Like a deconstructed rattan basket, the outer fins of this natural-looking staircase are a riot of angles and lengths.

Source: Le Haras Hotel

46. Another Freeform Piece.

Wild waves of material create a colossal undulating surface around this spectacular staircase.

Designer: Cun Design

47. Create Contrast.

Delicately thin wirework is paired with contrast carved steps here, each forming curves in its way.

Designer: Amin Taha Architects

48. Love Layers.

Rather than joining shallow steps at their edges, this design layers large flat square platforms one on top of the next, sliding away in the direction meant to climb.

Designer: Patricia Urquiola

49. In This Entirely Different Layered Look, Great Wooden Volumes Have Been Stacked Like A Dangerously Giant Game Of Jenga Gone Rogue.

The resulting recesses make perfect storage nooks for books. The uppermost block is utilized as a desk on the mezzanine home office.

Designer: Studio Farris

50. Work With What You Have.

Whether or not this staircase was built from actual architectural offcuts, this chunky tread staircase would make the perfect addition to a home filled with upcycled curiosities. The heavy wooden steps would also be at home in a modern rustic setting or in an industrial vibe pad where raw concrete reins alongside many plants.

Designer: Lucjan Kuc, QC Architects

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