Clever Cottage Staircase Ideas to Make the Most of Your Space

The staircase in the cottage can be a beautiful design piece, rustic and unique. However, it can also be a challenging place to design, often narrow and steep. Safety is important when considering cottage staircase design, especially as narrow enclosed spaces mean less light is available. 

But that doesn’t mean you have to hold back on inventive design and beautiful decoration. We have compiled these staircase ideas for cottages for you to make the most of your space without compromising on aesthetics. 

Keep reading to get inspired.

Cottage Stair Carpet Ideas

Stair Carpet Runner

The perfect addition to a cottage staircase is a carpet runner. Stair carpet elevates the comfort level of your home with that lovely cosy touch. Installing a stair runner is far easier than fully carpeting your stairs. Stair runners can come in a range of designs, like striped runners which can add a contemporary touch to the modern cottage.

Thin runners actually create the illusion of greater space, making the stair tread appear longer. If you’re choosing a runner for this purpose, keep it simple as too complicated a design can look cluttered and unappealing.

Stair Runner Range

Stair Rods

If you’ve got a stair carpet runner, you’ll need to secure it to your stairs. The best way to do this is with stair rods. Not only are stair rods eminently practical, but they also allow you to elevate the design of your staircase with a multitude of style and material options. 

Stair Clips

If you’re looking for something more traditional and ornate, Victorian stair clips provide a sophisticated way of securing carpet to your cottage staircase. The subtle antique design of stair clips would look wonderful in the traditional home.

Stair Clip Range

Cottage Stair Railing Ideas

A stair railing is a great addition to your cottage staircase, especially if it’s very steep. Having two sets of stair rails allows for more grip and, therefore, more safety. A stair railing doesn’t have to be just for functionality: they also offer the opportunity for some design flair:

Create a Contrast

Paint your banister a different colour to the rest of your stairs to create a cool contrast that demonstrates considered design. You can keep this simple, like a dark banister paired with light stairs, or even go for a vibrant accent colour. Why not paint the newel post and spindles different colours? Find more inspiration for painting your staircase banister.

Go Nautical

Create a unique, ocean-inspired look for your cottage by installing a rope handrail. A large, thick rope with a quality finish will add the perfect decorative touch.

Extend The Rustic

A countryside cottage can greatly benefit from an extension of that pastoral theme throughout the rest of the home. If you want to reinvigorate your staircase but are limited by budget and space, updating your cottage stair railing is the ideal solution.

Cottage Stair Paint Ideas

Painting your staircase is another savvy solution to update the area within a certain budget. Depending on the paint colour, you can be really creative: 

Maximise Light

White paint is fantastic for light as it bounces more easily off this colour. If you’ve got a dark, enclosed staircase in your cottage, white paint will help you to lighten the area and create a bright, clean look.

Contrasting Colours

Painting the stair risers and treads in different colours helps your stairs to stand out in an aesthetically pleasing way. You could keep the treads dark and the risers light to really elevate the design. 

Ombre

Using an ombre scheme, where different hues of one colour subtly merge, is a creative way to bring colour into your cottage. The rising gradient helps to draw the eye upward, making this a great choice for a narrow staircase or an enclosed one where all the light comes from the landing.

Steep Cottage Staircase Ideas

You’ll find that staircases in older homes and heritage properties are often much steeper because building regulations used to be far laxer than they are now. If you have the room and the means, lengthening the stair tread of the steps in a very narrow staircase is the best way to make them safer. However, this requires big renovation work and isn’t always possible. 

Here are some ideas for steep staircases in cottages:

Open and Airy

If you’ve got the option of creating a new staircase or of fully renovating one, building a staircase without any stair risers will make the space feel more open. These are also called floating stairs since the hidden support structure makes it appear as if it’s floating in the air, making for an attractive aesthetic. The removed visual obstructions help the space feel open and airy.

Create The Illusion of Space

If that’s not an option for you, there are other renovations you can add to an existing staircase. A beadboard consists of tongue and groove boards nailed together vertically. These vertical lines help to create the illusion of taller ceilings, which makes them ideal for steep staircases in small, cramped cottages.

Spiral Staircase

Spiral staircases are one of the best space savers around when it comes to stairs. Spiral staircases will take up less space, meaning you will have extra room downstairs. They also act as a great centrepiece and focal point for a living room, for example, so are not only practical but also help in enhancing your home design. An oak spiral staircase can fit with a rustic traditional decor of a countryside cottage, or a metal spiral staircase could work well in a contemporary-style home. 

Maximise The Space

If you have a steep cottage staircase, it’s likely you don’t have a lot of living space. If this is the case, why not maximise the space you do have by incorporating stair storage? A great idea is to install drawers into your actual stairs. Or, if you have a staircase that runs up a wall, you can easily convert that space to include shelving or cupboards. Get more inspiration for under stairs storage.

Safety First 

If your cottage staircase is very steep, it’s important to keep safety in mind. Grip tape is one of the easiest ways to help with this. You can easily apply the tape to your star tread and it will help with increasing grip and preventing slip. Another way to help with stair safety while keeping aesthetics in mind is with stair nosing. Stair nosing helps to extend the stair treads, lengthening the step for greater safety. If you have hardwood stairs, oak stair nosing provides a beautiful addition.

Learn more about stair safety.

Get Premium Stair Accessories for Your Cottage Staircase

We offer a superb range of staircase accessories that can transform the look of your cottage staircase and improve the safety and usability of a steep staircase. Our range of  stair rods, stair clips and carpet studs come in a variety of quality finishes to suit any cottage design from the traditional to the modern.

At Stair Rods Direct, we offer free UK delivery when you spend over £75 on our high-quality, easy-to-install products. Shop our impressive range and enrich your cottage staircase design today. If you need any advice or more information, just get in touch with our friendly team who will be happy to help.

If you’ve been inspired by these staircase ideas for cottages and you’re looking for more inspiration for small or steep staircases, check out our 7 space-savvy staircase ideas for small houses.