Overlooked Design Opportunity: Stair Risers

laura mcleod Love these photos! I just recently tackled my risers with wallpaper from Anthropologie -

mandy78 laura girl..please post a photo...I need to tackle my stairs too and I don't want to pay BIG money to have someone redo them in the traditoinal way. These photos are fabulous. Thanks Becky for another fantastic ideabook! :-)

Dytecture Putting tiles on riser is a neat idea. Stenciling numbers on them ..... not so sure.

Jaime Costiglio I added stars and stripes to my basement stairs, complete post with how-to here:

http://thatsmyletter.blogspot.com/2011/04/s-is-for-stairs-2.html

Casart Coverings Personalized stair risers add interest to an otherwise overlooked potential decorative space as well as improve the safety of climbing the stairs for anyone with a perception problem because each stair step is easily defined. And, if you want to change the look periodically, use a removable, reuseable wallcovering for your project! Here are some examples. The Woodland Stream "tells a story' as it rises and the Faux Tile is far less costly than installing real tile.

JEANIE Saw these basement stairs with motivational words for the kids.

Carolyn Zone9alady Steps outside in the rear of the house.....

kate skouros take a SHARPIE to the stair risers? ...omg, no.
while i love to look at these pics and idea book, i don't know a lot of people who would actually do this. and of course if you did and then plan to sell, be forewarned, you'll have to undo all the fun you've had.

Fine Art & Portraits by Laurel I'm always looking for new ideas from other cultures. Here are a few examples of adobe homes in Southern Arabia, which women paint themselves. I've limited the examples to stairs, but they decorate all the walls, inside and out.

Fine Art & Portraits by Laurel These stairs are in the home of an art collector. The patterns were based on an antique Japanese Imari bowl.
The second set incorporates a variety of images found in the Scrovegni Chapel in Italy.

Karen My favorite stairs are Donna's from Funky Junk Interiors

Valerie Kilpatrick I love this collection -- I agree that stair risers are overlooked. And when they are painted white, they show scuff marks. so adding a touch of whimsy or seriousness seems like a great idea.

Also, in connection to both this and to your DISCO collection : I found a picture of stair risers that had been mirrored. A bit over the top, but fun! I hope I can successfully upload it. Great ideas! ~ Valerie

Joy Overstreet After I removed an ugly old carpet from the steep stairs to my bedroom and scraped off decades worth of glue and mastic, the stairs were still too funky for anything but fun. I painted the risers with five different colors (leftover paint from other rooms). Even though the colors are far from primary, the effect was kind of nursery schoolish. My solution was to paint a vine up the risers to break up the block effect and add the whimsy I wanted. The story of the project is here: http://creatingjoyfulspaces.com/transform-your-stairs-with-paint/

dancingfish kateskouros1 -- you must know my husband. Thats his excuse for anything alittle different... whoever buys this house next... well let me tell you after living in my home for 20 years I finally started decorating it for ME and not that mystery shopper.. I have orange walls and closets without doors and gardens that meander... and that mystery shopper???? who cares what they think!!
Love the idea of making stairs show alittle personality.

Beth OK--I want to know what Grandma's quote was on those stairs--what does it say?

Joy Overstreet I meant to upload a photo of the vine on my risers mentioned above... let me try again. As I said, the full story is here: http://creatingjoyfulspaces.com/transform-your-stairs-with-paint/

Becky Harris bdwirka, I remember doing a post on another blog, long before Houzz existed, offering to house sit for those architects anytime, and they found the post and said I was welcome to anytime. I'll see if I can track them down and find out - the home wound up having a big feature in (RIP) Met Home magazine - I remember it being beautiful but it was years ago and my memory is not what it used to be - stay tuned...