Misstep

The stairs has been a much discussed topic ever since we decided to put the loft area in.  We thought we didn't have room for a conventional staircase, so initially we were considering something like this...

image from Dwell

which I love so much, but visions of little ones tumbling down forced us to come up with something more practical.  That led to considering this..

misterstep

or this...

boingboing

ok, maybe we didn't really consider the last one.. but it is so cool I just had to show you.  I am not sure how the BC building code applies to any of the above solutions anyway.

the stairs before

In the end what did we end up building?  A boring old set of stairs... with support posts no less. 

Had we been more decisive and organized, we could have at least cantilevered the landing so that the stairs looked like they were floating.  In fact, we planned so poorly that we didn't even have enough head room to walk up the stairs without ducking.  Oops.

the stairs before

 And so two risers were removed, and it is so much better. (Sorry Johnny and Lucas)

the stairs after

Now we just need to jazz them up.  Make them look less conventional, and maximize their potential.

the stairs after

We have some ideas... we'll know more this week.  Don't worry, I'll show you the progress as we go.  What would you do, if these stairs were yours??