problem solving a staircase

11 years ago

We've now been in the house just three years, and we're finally getting to the floors and staircase. We're hoping to refinish the floors this summer. In a couple rooms upstairs we just used waterlox and no stain. I think we'd like to continue that. On the stair, it looks like the risers were stained to match the trim. In looking at some restored homes online, it looks like that might have been typical (1912, craftsman elements). Does that seem accurate?

The stairs are pretty slippery now, and the rooms upstairs were very slick when first refinished. Before thinking through the contrasting riser, I'd planned on getting a runner, but I'm afraid that would look goofy. Though now that I look back at an inspiration pic, I guess they having the contrasting risers (ours would be stained, not painted)

The stairs don't look like they've ever had a runner. The home never had children before, either, though. And the older residents had bedrooms on the first floor.

How have others dealt with slippery stairs? Would a runner be too much?

Here is a link that might be useful: our staircase

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Comments (7)

cookingofjoy
Original Author
11 years ago
And here's a picture of the runner I'd liked.

Here is a link that might be useful: [runner[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/classic-straight-run-millmade-staircase-with-carpet-runner-in-traditional-family-traditional-staircase-chicago-phvw-vp~805906)
lazy_gardens
11 years ago
The runner would look great.
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User
11 years ago
I think it looks harsh and uncomfortable without a runner not to mention noisy. I'm not sure the one you selected would be appropriate for the dark stair but you need to put some samples on it to know.
columbusguy1
11 years ago
The risers and treads on my 1908 staircase are all stained to match the woodwork, and have the metal triangular corners as well. I put an oriental pattern runner with a red background on and it looks great!

If your house IS craftsman style, then that runner you show would liik okay, but not ideal--I'm thinking a different palette and stripe pattern. Think more in the art nouveau direction than a large deco stripe.
cookingofjoy
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the replies! This is great news! I guess I was nervous since I'd not seen any sign that they'd had one before, and we're basically reading up as we go. When I was browsing, the examples I saw with the same colors as our trim and the refinished floor didn't have runners
no runner
craftsman bungalow
third pic on tour

Renovator - no kidding on the noise! We're reading up on how to fix some of the steps, too. They are creaky old stairs. The bottom half we can get into from that panel, but the rest had been plastered over in a closet. We obviously have to do something about that panel, too, but we'd like to keep it so we can remove it kind of easily if necessary.

Columbusguy and all: I am very open to suggestions for style. I liked the one I linked I think because it looks so clean and open. I'm so tired of our dingy floors. From a quick search, I like something like this one . What do you think?

Also, I'm pretty sure we've got craftsman influences, but I'd love to hear other information! In my flickr, you can see our porch, the board and batten and the edge of the glass of the built-in in the dining room (it's all a mess from when we working on the kitchen and we were tearing off the seventies paneling).

This post was edited by cookingofjoy on Mon, Apr 1, 13 at 14:03
columbusguy1
11 years ago
Cooking, I love the runner in your second suggestion much more--it would fit very well with your style, even the colors.

The porch is definitely inspired by Craftsman, but not so much the rest of the house from the outside...and forgive me for saying this--but that railing has to go! It's far too tall for the house--and the wrong style. Try to match the stair rail from inside the house. :)
cookingofjoy
Original Author
11 years ago
The home was an estate, and was pretty much left to go for quite a few years. The foundation that was selling the home painted and put up the railing just before selling (and you can see the paint was peeling just a few months later). One of the handrails going up the stairs warped so some of the stiles are loose. So it's been added to the "to-do" list :) A neighbor said the railing was originally metal, but we didn't get any more details than that. Are you familiar with any metal railings that might work?

What might be the style of the home (does it have a style)? Originally we just thought of it as a farmhouse, but it never had a farm. It feels pretty generic except for the porch and dining room. I guess I'm just wondering what I could best/most accurately call this place....
Thanks for talking through this!