Help with stairwell design/layout

3 years ago

Help us figure out staircase ideas and options for some wacky design flaws. We are redoing flooring (lighter brown wood), white trim.

At the top we have a weird bump out so the banister coming out from the wall doesn’t line up with the newel post. It currently has the banister curving to meet the back side of the newell post vs the side. New designer says that’s wacky and we should bring newel post straight across from wall - but then it will not align with the other newel post at the top of the stairs (which is weird to me). Is it ok to not have your newel posts aligned? Or would you keep the curved banister to back of the newell?
Banister by entryway of same staircase also has to curve to get to the wall. Should we keep this curve as is? Or add another newel post by the wall?
Any color combo recommendations? Very open floor plan and kitchen will be white with some black. Gray walls. Lighter brown LVP flooring. We were initially thinking black horizontal “spindles” parallel to wooden banisters instead of traditional vertical spindles… is that just a trend that is going out of style?

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BeverlyFLADeziner

3 years ago

When a staircase is designed there are lots of moving parts and variables that determine where railings, stairs, landings, and balusters begin and end. Your installation is the best solution for all the variables.

Yes if you move the newel post it won't line up with the other one. SO DON'T MOVE THE NEWEL POST!

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Comments (8)

Megan Dague
Original Author
3 years ago
Here are pics of where the opposite banister hits the wall by the door.
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DeWayne
3 years ago
LEAVE IT ALONE! Stairs are covered by a huge number of codes, and you can not redo them without a huge amount of expense. As in tens of thousands. The handrail must be graspable and continuous, which is why it is the way it is.
RedRyder
3 years ago
About the color change - wait until your new floors are in. And no to the horizontal cables. If you were to paint the banister white, your current iron spindles will look sharp and modern. (Known as an unnecessary expense in homeowner language).

What color will the floors be?
shirlpp
3 years ago
Horizontal spindles are not a trend. Your home does not have a transitional or modern feel from what you're showing so the horizontal spindles would look out of place.
Rachel Lee
3 years ago
I agree with other posters that you don’t need to redo the whole thing. Painting the wood to match your trim would make a huge difference, and you could swap out just the spindles with the birdcage detail for more of the plain ones. It would look much more up to date for minimal cost.
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Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
Leave it alone the horizontal cables would look ridiculous on that stair well You could I guess get a new staicase built with less bulky pieces so if you have money to burn do that before you do the floors otherwise leave it alone other than paint .
tozmo1
3 years ago
As others have said, no to changing the flow of the railing and no to horizontal cables, won't fit the style of your house and in many building codes, a spacing of over 4" is not allowed, so even if horizontal did fit your home style, horizontal "lines" 4" apart would not be very appealing.

One thing you can do if you want to update the current spindles is to replace the ones with the "balls" and go with all straight spindles.