contemporary stairs
My own home... two flights of stairs, two different designs. From ground to first floor is this custom made solid oak staircase with glass balustrade and oak handrail to the wall. Stainless steel stand off fittings hold the 15mm heat soaked and toughened glass securely. Aluminium bars have been 'let in' to the treads to give anti slip quality. When I asked my friendly Joinery for a price for the staircase in solid oak I fell off my chair! The raw materials costs alone threatened to push my staircase design out of the window! So thinking cap on I came up with the idea of asking them to use oak kitchen worktops instead of solid oak. The engineered solid oak worktops were strong enough for sure and proved more affordable (half price in a sale) than solid seasoned oak. And not prone to splitting either! The glass is safe, strong and fine cleaning wise - adults are wise enough to avoid too many paw prints. We do have children in the house regularly but a good quality glass spray and a cloth soon cleans up after them. The oak itself is easily maintained with a new coat of hard wax oil every couple of years or so. Google to find 'Fiddes' hard wax oil. No space under these luxury designer stairs is wasted - a relatively spacious loo and also a low level shoe store add practicality and function.
Metal strips