How to Modernise a Staircase in Your Home for Less

You may have noticed that your staircase is getting old and worn-looking, and is in need of modernising. You might also be worried that giving your stairs this new lease of life will be expensive, especially if you’re on a limited budget. 

It doesn’t have to be, however; this guide is full of ideas on how to modernise a staircase for less. You might even be able to do most of them yourself, cutting out the extra expense of hiring someone to do it for you.

Painting or Staining Your Stairs

An idea that will work for everything from traditional straight to spiral staircase designs is to paint or stain your stairs a new colour or shade. 

The greatest benefit to this option, aside from the fact that you can do it on a budget, is the fact that it allows you to personalise your design closely. You can choose which parts of the stairs you want to paint and whether you would prefer to paint just the treads, the risers, or the balustrades or spindles. You’ll also be able to decide what colour you want each of these to be.

All you need to get started is some DIY tools you may already have, a few extra that are unlikely to cost very much, and the right guide on how to go about it. Get up to speed on how to get white-painted stairs for your home and simply apply this to your own DIY project – using any colour paint you like.

Only Replacing Select Parts

When you’re on a budget you might decide to only do little things to complete a makeover, and this can still work well. Replacing select parts of your staircase, such as the bannisters or balustrades, and modernising them with a newer equivalent can provide all the aesthetic appeal of a complete renovation without any of the expense or disruption of replacing the whole staircase. 

Replacing newel posts, handrails, and base rails are all highly recommended ways of transforming your stairs without having them impact your household finances. If you’re looking for a less traditional staircase for a home, you can even choose glass balustrades to replace wooden ones. This should not affect your budget greatly, and will also increase the amount of natural light throughout your property.

Making Your Stairs Open Plan

If your budget extends far enough, you might think of getting rid of unwanted under-parts of your staircase. This means knocking out the parts that make up the “Harry Potter” cupboard, opening up the space and merging it with the rest of the interior. Whether this creates a new space for storage, or even enough room for a small home office, will be up to you.

Show Off the Timber

Another of the easiest ways of modernising an old staircase is to remove the old carpet. Staircases are an area you can expect to see a high volume of traffic, and over time carpets will get worn down, flattened, and dirtied by shoes, socks, and bare feet walking up and down. Removing this removes the “old” look, and exposes the beautiful timber treads and risers underneath.

Wood is a wonderfully warm material and will add its own comfortable decorative appeal to your property, but you will always retain the option of staining and painting it as you desire.

Replace the Carpet or Get a Stair Runner

If you want your staircase to be covered by carpet, you can also choose simply to rip up the carpet and have it replaced with a new one in a design and colour that you love. 

Alternatively, you might decide that you like the colour or the look of the natural wood of the staircase. You might have also planned on painting it, but want something to protect it from scrapes and scuff marks. In these cases, we’d always recommend getting a stair runner. 

Stair runners are an excellent way to have the “best of both worlds”; you can have the exposed materials of your staircases, while also allowing a pop of colour in a pattern that you like. 

Things to Remember

When modernising your staircase, you must also remember to follow the right regulations to keep it legal and safe to use:

• Stairs must comply with Part K of the Building Regulations
  
• The minimum height a ceiling can be above a staircase is 2 metres
  
• Flights of stairs must have a handrail on at least one side if they’re less than a metre wide
  
• Spindles should be no more than 10 centimetres apart
  
• If the risers are open, the gap between each of them should be no more than 10 centimetres apart

Buy Budget-Friendly Stair Accessories

If you are ready to make your staircase look good for less, Stair Rods Direct has the beautiful accessory sets to make it happen. Our stair rods and carpet runners are all ideal for turning any existing stairs into a stunning new feature to match a modern home. They’re also perfect for your budget, with prices on stair runners as low as £29.99, and free UK deliveries available on all orders over £75.

You can shop by colour or finish to find the features you want to modernise your staircase. With our products, you can give your interior design a full makeover at a price that suits you.