How to Style Your Staircase: Expert Tips for Handrails, Finishes & Staircase Design.

Your staircase isn’t just a way to get from A to B; it’s a key feature of your home, and understanding how to style your staircase can make a huge difference to your interior. Often, it’s the last thing we think about when decorating, but the right handrail brackets, finishes, and design touches can turn your stairs into a real statement piece that ties your whole home together.

Choose Complementary Handrail Finishes to Style Your Staircase

The first place to start when styling your staircase is with your handrail itself. We suggest a handrail designed to complement both modern living and timeless interiors. And luckily, we've got just what you need! Handrails Direct offers a selection of handrails and bracket finishes:

• Loxley Antique Brass
• Edstone Matt White
• Kineton Matt Black
• Harbury Brushed Effect

It's important when choosing your handrail to consider the walls of your staircase too. If your walls are mostly white, incorporate a striking Matt Black handrail to really grab attention, and if your walls are quite dark, do the opposite. A gold tone of Antique Brass would beautifully complement your space, giving it a sophisticated glow.

A styling tip we recommend is letting the metal handrail become a design accent, keeping your walls quite neutral to let your handrail stand out.

Use Brackets To Mount The Handrail To The Wall

So, you've chosen what handrail finish you want, but what about how you're going to install it? Did you know there's two ways to install a handrail? Either directly to the wall or supported by spindles or a balustrade. A wall-mounted handrail is the best for in a home, as the staircase can be quite slim, which will help with saving on space.

At Handrails Direct, our handrail kits include the correct brackets and components you need to install your handrail directly onto the wall. What's better is that our kits can be trimmed on-site to fit perfectly, which helps if any of you have one of those awkward staircase design types. We've got a great selection of handrail kits available on our website, for a multitude of staircase types, including Straight Flight, Single Winder, T-Shape, and more. Make sure to head to our website to check out the available kits.

Add A Stair Runner

A stair runner is a clever way to bring your staircase together. It's a long stretch of carpet that runs across the centre of the staircase, leaving the edges exposed. It's a cheap solution to make your home look expensive. They look gorgeous because (if you choose the right carpet colour, this is a key factor) they complement your stairs, handrail, and walls perfectly. But it isn't only about looks. Stair runners are VERY practical. They:

• Enhance safety by providing traction.
• Decrease the noise of running up and down the stairs - we know how annoying this can be
• Protect the staircase floor
• Stop your feet getting cold - perfect for those winter mornings

Mix The Handrail Material With Your Surroundings For Contrast

Now we've styled the stairs themselves, let's look at the bigger picture and focus on the rest of the staircase. According to an interior design article from Habitari Interior Design, 'mixing and matching textures is one of the easiest and most impactful ways to elevate your space'.

Our handrails are all metal, which provides durability, strength, low maintenance, and so much more to your staircase. So, we suggest keeping the metal aspect of your staircase purely to the handrail only, and when it comes to the rest of the staircase, focus on other textures. Wooden treads, timber banisters, wooden wall panelling, wall murals, and paintings are all great ways to introduce other materials to the space. If you've got exposed wooden stair treads or newel posts, why not choose a handrail finish that keeps some warmth to the room like brushed silver or antique brass, so it ties in with the wood.

Decorate The Wood

You spend a lot of time walking up and downstairs, staring at those blank walls; it can get very boring. Let's give them a little personality! Turn your staircase wall into an art gallery, use photos of your friends and family, buy artwork and prints to hang up, accessorise with mirrors and lights, or try murals and statement wallpaper. It'll open the space and make your small, bland staircase feel brighter and bigger.

Style The Staircase Landing or Under-Stair Space

And finally, we've focused on the handrail itself, the stairs, and now the walls. What's left is the top and bottom of the staircase; these spots need love too! Make use of those overlooked areas, add storage at the bottom of your stairs (bonus if it doubles as a bench to put your shoes on with), or place a statement plant or sculpture on the landing as a welcoming point.  

Other ways to style your staircase:

• Make sure all handrail components are the same finish
• Add an LED light strip for a modern glow
• Make sure the handrail is the correct height (check out our blog 5 Common Handrail Installation Mistakes for further details)
• Install floating stairs
• Add a small bench at the bottom of the stairs

Your staircase is like its own room in your home; you can go crazy with designing and styling to adapt the space to match your aesthetic as much as possible. How will you go about styling your staircase? It's completely up to you!

Check out our previous blog: Simple Guide To Staircase Types