This fun peekaboo stairway can be found inside the same house as the kitchen in the top photo.

Postgreen's use of nontraditional finish materials such as plywood and concrete keeps costs down and reflects their clients' style. "We tried to create a minimalist, modern look that is well liked but generally unavailable, particularly in single family housing," Nic says. "Using an open floorplan and non-traditional finish materials, we captured a look that appealed to our demographic while also shaving down construction costs."

Go for broke. Thinking outside the box is easy when you make the space conform to your immediate need. Whether it's a bonus bath or a place for bike storage, your new-found nook is waiting to become something spectacular. Have you found a creative use for your stairway? We'd love to see it! More: How to Turn a Closet Into an Office Secret Passages and Hideaways

Another easy way to get your bikes out of the way is to use up the space under a flight of stairs. This is an area that often gets forgotten about. This prevents it from becoming a waste of space.

Or, install a stair wall. For maximum safety, outfit your staircase with a wall. The cut-outs are a fun addition and keep the staircase from feeling too entrapped.

And make the way to the basement fun and interesting with a different type of railing.

Now we'll head over to the fifth borough, Philadelphia. The $100K House demonstrates how one can create an eco-friendly home without blowing the budget. Nic Darling kept the labor and construction costs capped $100,000. Here the staircase plays peek-a-boo with plywood, creating a unique accent wall.

Another approach to building a rail is to let it rise from stair to ceiling. This encloses the space of the stair, making it into a room. See more of this house

The stairs in this Philly house have quite a different character than those in the previous example. The sturdy wood construction allows bikes to be hung from them, and the cuts in the solid guardrails are playful for both the kids and grown-ups.

Funny BonesA plywood peephole wall is a playful take on the wooden banister. You can tell this family is fun.

When creating stringers, the challenge for the carpenter is doing the math to create steps that are equal in height (rise) and travel on a diagonal (run).

This peekaboo plywood wall is an inexpensive, fun way to keep kids from falling off an open staircase. It's also great for playing spies.

UsesPlywood is too useful to end up only cladding buildings and getting covered up by other building materials. It has many uses inside, too. Here, plywood is used to create a unique railing for the stairs. When you take into account the labor saved by using large, strong, straight sheets of wood in building products, plywood is an economical solution to many problems. You are limited only by your imagination. Tip: Make sure to use the right thickness. Plywood that's 3/4 inch is very rigid and good for walking on, shelving etc. If you are applying a layer of plywood over another surface and you just want a smooth surface — say a luan plywood underlayment for flooring — 1/4 inch will do the trick.

escalier plywood

Like the bikes under the stairs

Apartment Stairs

nothing to do with our steel stair or is it? an idea for a wall that isn't totally closing in the tread/riser

и для хостела

basement

Staircase

Cuelgue para bici

bicycle storage under stairs

For the basement???

Plywood

escalera-madera

Cool inexpensive idea

Stairs

Stairs

escalera de madera

Escaleras

Unfinished/cheap stairs

Ply stairs

Hmmm

Seperating living spaces

staircase

interesting take on stair railings

Clever with peep holes!

Concrete pattern with light coutouts?

basement

PLYWOOD staircase

Great stair for richard

plywood unt tangga

Stair

Велики

new place for my bike

Sleep out cladding

Stairs

Escalera

Plywood screen

Bike parking

מדרגות קלות

Stairwall

Interesting use of plywood

guest rooms staircases plywood

Holes

Stairs wall

stairs

Fun for basement stairs - especially if open from above

garage stairs

Cheap wood stairs

Naimhouse

Ideas for my new house

central

Escalier

Plywood!

what a fun 'railing'!

Лестница

Storage

Stairs

creating some openings in the staircase wall

stairs

This peekaboo plywood wall is an inexpensive, fun way to keep kids from falling off an open staircase. It's also great for playing spies.

bike storage, under stair

color of stair, modern, light look

without the peekaboo wall

studio

Garage space on top

Understated storage

Love the idea!

stairs

Love the faces in the windows!!!

Plywood stairs

Stairway wood wall

Plywood wall

funky basement stairs

Bike storage

Staircasr

stairs

Bike storage

YUCK!!!!!!!

bikes

Bikes Hanging from stairs

temp?

bicycle storage under stairs

Stairs

Marches contreplaqué

Ibrahim Shabbir

plywood panel to enclose stair

plywood stairs

Oh yes! Love this. Only I would make round holes, including some down low for the cats to peek through.

peek-a-boo plywood as stairrail.

Fun

wall

This peekaboo plywood wall is an inexpensive, fun way to keep kids from falling off an open staircase. It's also great for playing spies.

bike storage?

stair plywood

nice

Bike

Storage under stairs

fun for basement!

raw look of wood

escalera de triplay

strairs

Bikes under stairs

Ja!

Bike storage?

Ply

Clever storage

Tangga dahsyat

Es

great stair idea for garage

hueco en la pared de la escalera con adorno para ver de ambos lados

Escalera

stairs

coolest stairs ever

garage stairs

plywood

Staircase plywood rail

finertrapp

great if it was painted a fun color

stairs interesting

use of plywood

This peekaboo plywood wall is an inexpensive, fun way to keep kids from falling off an open staircase. It's also great for playing spies.

Fun for the grandkids

Safety &fun

Kid cool

biclicletas penduradas debaixo da escada

love this

makes the stairway into it's own space

η σκάλα

樓梯造型

Peekaboo wall of plywood is inexpensive and fun.

basement

yes to this so cuteee

Cool stairs

stairs - fun peek a boo but love the bike storage for the basement too

Good idea for basement steps

can we use this?

peekaboo wall, upside down bikes

neat for basement or even outdoors

Security for those walking the stairs and the adventure of "peeking".

playful,affordable,practical!!!

korlát

peek a boo holes

Stairs2

stairway

Fun, too!

Stairs

playful stair

stairway

idea wha

garage stairs

Wall

Love!

Great idea!

basement stairway

for driggs garage/room

Hanging bikes under stairs

stirs

I like this look. Could we wrap around the furnace in basement.

fun way to keep kids safe on stairs, if stairs are going to a walkout basement.

Algo diferente y económico

stair wall with peek throughs

wall! basement stairs

love this for the garage!!! Up to attic

Treppe

This peekaboo plywood wall is an inexpensive, fun way to keep kids from falling off an open staircase. It's also great for playing spies.

Baranda

Fun for the kids

fun

wood stairs wall slot cut out

Plywood wall

fun

it's fun and cheap

stairs

Clever yet inexpensive design.

apartment in Bangalore...storage of bikes

BASEMENT WALL

wow!!!

for drews room

Just cool!

wooden construction

plywood stair railing

peekaboo plywood wall

Stairs

Railing

Interesting

stairs

Garage

Fabulous fun