Small, upstairs landing in a condo

9 years ago

This landing & hallway is proving to be an absolute design brain-teaser! The condo itself is three flights with a huge skylight down the middle -- the skylight is probably pretty necessary or I'd not get much light in the house (otherwise I'd close it off and have more space, two extra rooms of space! so tempting). But the landing between the first & third floors is killing me.

As you're coming up the stairs... Obviously this set up doesn't work. I think a lower/longer bookcase against that back wall would be okay, but it still feels like just so much lost space.

The second flight up -- that's about the space necessary for it to feel comfortable coming down the stairs, maybe a little less.

Standing at the base of the second flight up, in the "landing area" looking down into the hallway to the second bedroom. Another awkward space where nothing can live. There's a strange turn there at the end, the hallway gets narrow.

That weird aforementioned turn + washer/dryer. And ugly water heater covered by ugly closet door.

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Comments (4)

acm
9 years ago
Well, this isn't really a whole room. Your main constraint is not blocking the stairs going up. You might be able to put a small chair in the corner with a reading light, if anybody would ever hang out there (maybe while laundry running?); otherwise, I think a shorter bookcase, pressed into the corner, with a picture hanging above, and maybe another on the wall you see coming down (to left of bookcase), larger. Could also be a great place for a medium-sized cat hangout.
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Kate Hackett
Original Author
9 years ago
My worry with a second bookcase on the 'coming down' side is that when you're coming UP the stairs, won't it look funny/disrupt the flow? You'd basically be seeing the side of a bookcase that way.
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acm
9 years ago
I wasn't suggesting two bookcases -- just one bookcase and two pieces of art.

But, for comparison, how do you feel about coming down toward the current bookcase now?

(We have a landing larger than this where we have a row of bookcases and a loveseat. I tend to notice only the loveseat and art on the way down (both things in the direction I'm turning) and the bookcases more on the way up...)
Kate Hackett
Original Author
9 years ago
OHHHH. Gotcha.

I don't mind the bookcase now when I come down, but it's less intrusive from that angle.

I was thinking a lower, longer book case, art, and maybe a comfy chair on the other wall, to keep things lower / less towering.