A lot of people will claim that their kitchen is truly the heart of their home, while their living room or family room is its nervous center, where everything happens. And while it’s true that different people place a different level of emphasis on different areas of the home, one thing most homes with stairs have in common is that the stairway is front and center as soon as you walk into the home. It’s right there in your line of sight, comprising the bulk of your entryway.
So, if your stairway is outdated, with tired railing and beat-up treads and risers, what are you going to do about it? Be sure to get lots of staircase ideas. People don’t want the entryway of their homes looking all haggard and rough. This is a much easier fix than you may realize, and we’ll go over 5 quick, affordable and cool ways to spruce up that home entryway by fixing the stairs.
5 Affordable Ways to Spruce Up Your Railing for an Entryway
The Bright and the Bold
One of the most famous carpenters in the world is Bob Vila, who’s had plenty of different home improvement shows. One of his go-to fixes for an affordable freshening up of the stairs is to use a bright and bold rainbow paint technique. To accomplish this, Vila suggests that people paint their balusters in bright colors while painting their hand railing a different color. Now, “bright” doesn’t mean some sort of neon green. It can definitely tie into the theme of the home, like a deep, rich green or a brighter blue, but it might be the fix you need.
A Modern Metal Touch
Metal stair railings are classic and very upscale. Though to accomplish this sort of look, you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on wrought iron that’s custom forged for you. You can generate this same type of look through a much cheaper and lighter metal: Aluminum. This is the go-to metal choice for today’s stair rails, as it allows you to get any sort of design you want pretty quickly, and also has the benefits of being easy to install and overall very affordable. Even if you’re just going with new handrails or newels, metal might be a good way to go.
Combination Materials
Another way that you may want to consider going is with combination materials. For instance, say that you had an aluminum rail frame for your newels and handrails, yet had tinted or textured glass in the middle, instead of different balusters. This is a very unique look that you can customize, and it wouldn’t even have to be the entire staircase. You could just do something that’s bold and stands out at the very front, to spruce up that entryway in a unique, affordable way. In terms of interior stair railing, this is becoming a more popular idea.
Old and Rustic
You may also want to consider something a little older and a little more rustic, to pull off more of an antique sort of look. This can be easily accomplished with rough-hewn wood that you can reclaim or order new. The choice is yours. The basic idea here is to make the entryway look a lot more rustic and old-school traditional by going with actual wood.
Minimization
Lastly, in terms of interior stair railing design, there’s no rule written down that you need any sort of railing there at the entryway. Sure, when that staircase turns and starts up to the second floor, having a railing system is likely essential, especially if there are children in the home. But that part of the stairs right there at the entryway may greatly benefit by not having any sort of newel or balusters there, to begin with. This is especially popular with open concept homes.
No matter in which direction you decide to go, just know that there are countless ways by which you can freshen up your home’s look to have a more open, brighter entryway. The sky’s the limit here.