Photo: Lucy Call © 2014 Houzz
Bedroom - eclectic dark wood floor bedroom idea in Salt Lake City with no fireplace

Aesthetic Value: This stunning stair design complete with a "floating landing" was designed for a high end production builder as an optional upgrade. Eleven of this stair design have been installed in the community with more underway. Stair Safety: These stairs were designed and built to comply with all local building codes. Quality: From the metal fabrication to the finish carpentry the quality of this turnkey stair design is above and beyond, especially when considering the production environment they are being installed in. Technical Challenge: The balance between high-end design aesthetic and value engineering on these optional production stairs is the challenge. They have to be beautiful so buyers select the option but also cost effective and efficient to install.

Building on the Stamford coastline is technically challenging and tricky. RAC’s experience in waterfront design came in very handy while developing this 3500 s.f. beach cottage. Our client wanted an open floor plan with room to entertain, as well as spaces to retreat. Numerous discussions over many months resulted in a well-thought-out custom designed modern home that will provide comfort and beauty for years to come.

Aesthetic Value: The freestanding stairway features extensive stringer details. Compound transitions for several moulding details and handrail provide continuous flow of the stringers and balustrade from the cylinders at the bottom throughout the stair and balconies. Stair Safety: The project required spanning of greater run than normal. Additional treads and risers were added to create a nice rise to run ratio for a more comfortable stride at the walk path. Quality of Workmanship: Seamless joinery of mouldings throughout curves and transitions. Technical Challenge: Designing a stair that laid out to fit the well and span. Providing sufficient structure in the freestanding stairway to tie into the floating 2nd floor at the top of the stair.

Building on the Stamford coastline is technically challenging and tricky. RAC’s experience in waterfront design came in very handy while developing this 3500 s.f. beach cottage. Our client wanted an open floor plan with room to entertain, as well as spaces to retreat. Numerous discussions over many months resulted in a well-thought-out custom designed modern home that will provide comfort and beauty for years to come.

Building on the Stamford coastline is technically challenging and tricky. RAC’s experience in waterfront design came in very handy while developing this 3500 s.f. beach cottage. Our client wanted an open floor plan with room to entertain, as well as spaces to retreat. Numerous discussions over many months resulted in a well-thought-out custom designed modern home that will provide comfort and beauty for years to come.

This is a technically challenging and labor intensive piece to create, but hopefully the results speak for themselves. The S curved panels in the head and footboards are veneered in beautifully figured curly walnut and then surrounded by similarly curved solid wood frames. The goose necked posts have thin stringing inlaid into their sides. The side rails are frame & panel construction which adds to the overall elegance of this piece. This might be the most beautiful sleigh bed in the world! Photo by Louis Fry

2010 NARI CAPITAL COTY FINALIST AWARD WINNER Project Scope: Transform a little-used room in the client’s lower level into an entertainment center, featuring a 1,500-bottle refrigerated wine cabinet, a wet bar, a custom-made bookshelves surround for existing hearth, and television hanging built-ins. Challenges: Primary technical challenge was to find a way to unobtrusively install a large “split system” chilling unit to service the wine cooler. Solutions The contractor started with a rectangular space that was appreciably stripped down, except for the fireplace at the far end. An adjacent room housed a professional pool table. The client’s primary concern was how to situate the custom-built wine rack were to specify and fabricate. Although there was plenty of space in niche to the left of the stairway, there was no obvious way to locate the wine rack’s chilling unit for ducting and chiller unit. Both client and contractor agreed that the logical setting for the rack would be along the short wall adjacent to the room’s entrance. But the short wall afforded no room for the chiller, a “split system” unit that needed adequate “breathing room” to avoid overheating After many design sketches, the contractor had a tentative solution: house the chilling unit in a utility room behind the stairs leading to the basement. This would keep the unit out of sight and muffle the sound of the compressor. Then question was how to “circumnavigate” the stairwell and run plumbing lines from the utility room – which was about 20 feet away — to the rack. A floor-level path would be exposed to possible damage and aesthetically unpleasing. Installing the line in the concrete slab flooring would be difficult and expensive – and any repairs to the line would mean tearing up the floor.The only alternative, the contractor suggested, would be to route the lines overhead – run them straight up from the chilling unit, over the joists above, and around the back of the stair case. Once past the staircase, it was straight shot above the joists to the short wall; the lines would then run behind the wall to the wine cooler resting on the floor. This highly creative solution pleased the client greatly: it not only isolated the chilling unit, but allowed it to be easily serviced; the lines were protected and out of sight; and the wine rack – situated as it was in the room – seemed like it was part of the original house design. At that point, the contractor needed a wine rack design that seemed equally “original” to the home – and here, too, the challenge was met. Custom-built cabinetry span the length of the wall, with two floor-level cabinets flanking the wine cooler. Above, twin glass-facing walnut displays – lighted and rising nearly to the ceiling – rest on a black marble countertop, showcasing the client’s impressive wine collection. On the long wall perpendicular to the rack, a widescreen television hangs between two built-in bookcases designed by the contractor. The firm also fabricated the two bookcases now flanking the original fireplace in the far end wall – as well as the glass-faced hanging cabinets which are lighted above the newly installed wet bar.

Aesthetic Value: The freestanding stairway features extensive stringer details. Compound transitions for several moulding details and handrail provide continuous flow of the stringers and balustrade from the cylinders at the bottom throughout the stair and balconies. Stair Safety: The project required spanning of greater run than normal. Additional treads and risers were added to create a nice rise to run ratio for a more comfortable stride at the walk path. Quality of Workmanship: Seamless joinery of mouldings throughout curves and transitions. Technical Challenge: Designing a stair that laid out to fit the well and span. Providing sufficient structure in the freestanding stairway to tie into the floating 2nd floor at the top of the stair.

Aesthetic Value: The subtle lines and light color of the radiata pine stringer model spiral provide nice contrast with the eccentric iron balustrade. Laser cut Tinkerbells and abstract Mickey Mouse and fireworks elements contribute unique detail. Stair Safety: The balustrade rejects a 4" sphere in all areas despite the complex detail of the components and floating rail above the laser cut elements. Quality: The balustrade features predominantly laser cut sections fabricated with minimal visible welds and custom finished in-house with a three step guilders paste application. Technical Challenge: Creating the complex ironwork design in a way that has aesthetically pleasing sections that fit the theme and space. Attention to meticulous details that convey the theme even at deepest levels of observing the stair.

Aesthetic Value: The subtle lines and light color of the radiata pine stringer model spiral provide nice contrast with the eccentric iron balustrade. Laser cut Tinkerbells and abstract Mickey Mouse and fireworks elements contribute unique detail. Stair Safety: The balustrade rejects a 4" sphere in all areas despite the complex detail of the components and floating rail above the laser cut elements. Quality: The balustrade features predominantly laser cut sections fabricated with minimal visible welds and custom finished in-house with a three step guilders paste application. Technical Challenge: Creating the complex ironwork design in a way that has aesthetically pleasing sections that fit the theme and space. Attention to meticulous details that convey the theme even at deepest levels of observing the stair.

Aesthetic Value: Owner requested a manor gothic “Munsters” show vibe. We achieved this look with a spider body balustrade panel design. Stair Safety: Meets local residential codes. Quality of Workmanship: Spider railing was created helical at mid-landing in order to keep the pattern contiguous. Technical Challenge: Fabricating the wood panelized spider railing system required precision compounding uniform accuracy. The balcony also had to blend with the rake spiders.

Family Room | This has by far been our most technically challenging house, and I can't be more proud of the work Clay, Matt and Will did! This house had tons of challenges - rounded tile at the entry, rounded upstairs hallway exposed to the downstairs, floor to ceiling posts that intersected our work throughout the home, and very few walls with right angles. Clay Anderson, of Anderson Service, made all of the custom radius pieces for the entry and upstairs hallway, and installed this beautiful staircase. Matt installed the 5" long length casa hickory. Will stained the floor with Nutmeg stain and applied the polyurethane finish. The least challenging part - our wonderful homeowners! Thank you so much for the opportunity to work on your beautiful home!

Aesthetic Value: The subtle lines and light color of the radiata pine stringer model spiral provide nice contrast with the eccentric iron balustrade. Laser cut Tinkerbells and abstract Mickey Mouse and fireworks elements contribute unique detail. Stair Safety: The balustrade rejects a 4" sphere in all areas despite the complex detail of the components and floating rail above the laser cut elements. Quality: The balustrade features predominantly laser cut sections fabricated with minimal visible welds and custom finished in-house with a three step guilders paste application. Technical Challenge: Creating the complex ironwork design in a way that has aesthetically pleasing sections that fit the theme and space. Attention to meticulous details that convey the theme even at deepest levels of observing the stair.

Aesthetic Value: This rustic stairway and balustrade provide a dramatic focal point to the entry area of a mountain home. The burnt treads and metal oiled iron accent the stone wall and water feature under the stair. Stair Safety: Consistent run at the walk line throughout the dancing winders offers comfortable stride on an asymmetrical stair layout. An additional hammered iron handrail provides continuous graspability despite the oversized guard rail. Lighting under each tread. Quality: All solid white oak construction of wood components. Hand forged iron newel caps in conjunction with intricate tree bark design elements and custom twisted hammered balusters. Custom finish provided on the wood and iron components. Technical Challenge: Complex geometry of asymmetrical stair layout, complicated tread notches into the stringer, concealed lighting chases, sand blasted and torched wood prior to application of finish, intense design consultation, and distant jobsite for turnkey project.

Aesthetic Value: This rustic stairway and balustrade provide a dramatic focal point to the entry area of a mountain home. The burnt treads and metal oiled iron accent the stone wall and water feature under the stair. Stair Safety: Consistent run at the walk line throughout the dancing winders offers comfortable stride on an asymmetrical stair layout. An additional hammered iron handrail provides continuous graspability despite the oversized guard rail. Lighting under each tread. Quality: All solid white oak construction of wood components. Hand forged iron newel caps in conjunction with intricate tree bark design elements and custom twisted hammered balusters. Custom finish provided on the wood and iron components. Technical Challenge: Complex geometry of asymmetrical stair layout, complicated tread notches into the stringer, concealed lighting chases, sand blasted and torched wood prior to application of finish, intense design consultation, and distant jobsite for turnkey project.

Aesthetic Value: This double helical spiral stair is stained and visible on all sides. The lattice style platform at the top compliments the nautical style of the room, as well as the balcony with ocean view above. Stair Safety: This stair complies fully with spiral stair codes, and has an outside radius of 76”, much wider than a typical spiral, making it feel less confining and comfortable than a traditional spiral staircase. Quality of Workmanship: The stair is made entirely from African mahogany and is finished on all sides. Custom turned balusters were designed to meet the challenge of the tight quickly climbing radius of inside handrail and stringer. Technical Challenge: The stringers were transported fully assembled as one unit. The structure is supported only by the lattice landing at the top and free-standing concentric stringers. Inside volute was designed to nest inside the inner stringer.

Aesthetic Value: Great effort was spent creating a design fulfilling the Architect and homeowner's dream for a " Rustic Modern Floating Stair " that was " Rock Solid " and harmoniously combine wood and steel into a functional piece of art. Stair Safety: The balustrade system has 35" rake height and 37" balcony height and can withstand a 400 lbs. side load with only .0425" deflection. The balustrade and stair complies with the 4" sphere rule Throughout. Quality: The entire balustrade system is " Blind Welded " so there is no visible welds. The Rustic White Oak has all knots and character marks filled with colored epoxy and sanded to perfection. Technical Challenge: To design and engineer a fully cantilevered landing and tread system that is suspended from a single support beam and can withstand a direct load of 450 lbs with less than .0625" deflection.

Aesthetic Value: This stunning stair design complete with a "floating landing" was designed for a high end production builder as an optional upgrade. Eleven of this stair design have been installed in the community with more underway. Stair Safety: These stairs were designed and built to comply with all local building codes. Quality: From the metal fabrication to the finish carpentry the quality of this turnkey stair design is above and beyond, especially when considering the production environment they are being installed in. Technical Challenge: The balance between high-end design aesthetic and value engineering on these optional production stairs is the challenge. They have to be beautiful so buyers select the option but also cost effective and efficient to install.