A Whole Post About Staircases

The strangest thing about owning a home is that things you never thought you would spend time thinking about, end up being things that consume your every thought (hmmm... maybe it's just me and my obsessive compulsive tendencies). I guess it's also the strangest thing about being an adult in general, as you suddenly find yourself contemplating and taking great pleasure in all kind of things that you never imagined you would (I'm looking at your Costco and your free samples and super-sized ketchup). Take staircases for instance. I never really considered them. Who knew all the parts of a staircase had names.

via tradestairs

Here I was walking around thinking everything was called a railing or my other made-up technical term "a staircase thing-y." Then you end up owning a house that has a staircase that looks like it came out of a spanish colonial revival and you promptly decide that since you can't afford to get the matching handmade encaustic tile from California that costs half of your renovation budget you should just rip it all out.

The good news is, there was indeed hardwood under the carpet and the little old lady did not lie to us. The bad news is, we don't have a railing and I am not the most coordinated person. The other bad news was that I made my father take all the nails and staples out like a sweatshop worker. (Thanks Dad!) 

Obviously the staircase option I would like to have involves modern glass and steel. This is also the most expensive custom option. It may also end up seeming out of place with a 1950s cottage style home.

via desiretoinspire

via desiretoinspire

Back to reality and a trip to the good old Home Depot was in order. Shockingly, the only-in stock balusters are hideous. Okay, maybe that's too strong a word, let's just say they are all a bit too ornate for my taste. I was thinking something simple with straight white posts like this:

via twoellie

via riescolapres

It turns out a straight, simple balusters are special order and $25 each versus the ornate ones that are $5 each. Chad also found a tutorial online where someone had made a staircase out of steel conduits and it looked kinda cool and seemed kinda cheap. Then we realized that we'd have to buy some piece of equipment to drill holes (a drill press maybe?), I obviously stopped paying attention. So it seems that the more modern option and the more traditional option would be the same price. So, what do you think? 

Should we do something classic, like this?

via bowerpower

Or something modern, like this?

via diymoderndesign