Stair Panel Ideas – Key Tips for Complementing Your Staircase
With hundreds, if not thousands of stair panel ideas online, it can be hard to choose a design for your home or workspace. Choosing stair panelling isn’t just about selecting a design you like, it’s about matching that design with your staircase’s design as well as the surrounding decor of your home.
In this article, we’ll take a look at some of our favourite stair panel ideas and offer advice on how to pair these designs with our carpet runners and stair rods to complete your staircase design. It’s worth noting that stair panel ideas will also dip into stair railings and banisters, because they often crossover. If you’re interested in what our eight favourite stair banister ideas are, take a look at our article on Stair Banister Ideas to Match Your Staircase.
Open Wooden Beam Panelling
Unlike traditional panelling, this design looks at combining stair panel ideas with a banister. The design replaces empty space with oak beams drawing down from the ceiling to meet the staircase. Ideal if you’re looking to open up your hallway or living room but still want a safe staircase to travel up.
Looks good with: a minimalistic staircase wall (preferably white or cream), wooden treads, carpet runners and door bars.
Glass Panelling
Although this is not strictly a stair panel idea, it’s still worth considering. Glass panelling in staircases is very common in commercial spaces as well as some modern homes for several reasons. It’s easy to clean, looks great in modern homes and can open up the room. Glass panelling looks great on any staircase design but is more commonly seen on wooden staircases.
If you do have a wooden staircase and are considering glass panelling, why not go the extra mile and line your stair treads with a carpet runner and door bars?
Looks good with: wooden staircases, minimalist staircase wall
Chunky Oak Panelling
Chunky staircase panelling is a strong favourite for DIYers looking for a home renovation project. As the name suggests, chunky oak panelling is simply panels that are wider than your typical oak panel.
This is a simple design that works well in most modern homes and can easily be installed in most staircases.
Looks good with: wooden staircases, stair runners and rods
Decorate the Panel Wall
If you’re looking for a stair panel idea but have a large staircase wall to deal with, why not utilise that space with storage and decoration? Depending on the size of your staircase, you can decorate and renovate it as you see fir. You may choose to:
Line it with shelving for storage purposes
install a bookshelf, create a bar or decorate it with wall hangings and art. Think of your staircase wall as a blank canvas. Of course, you can still install wall panels if you choose to.
Looks good with: carpet runners, stair rods and bars, decoration, wall-hangings, framed pictures, shelving, storage etc
No Stair Panelling
Had you considered that you don’t want stair panels lining your staircase? Some modern homes are making the switch to floating staircases to increase space under the stairs while offering a truly unique and eye-catching design. This leaves you space to transform the underneath of your stairs any way you want. You may even have room for a small desk and chair to create a home office.
Looks good with: minimalist designs, bold colour for the stairs, thin hand railing or banisters, ensure the floating stairs match or provide contrast to the existing interior design
Painted Panels With a Dedicated Storage Unit
If you’re looking to make use of a tall, long staircase, why not install a storage unit alongside painted stair panels? If your staircase is quite tall, you should consider utilising that space, and any leftover room on either side of the storage doors can have painted panels installed.
Storage areas can be fantastic alternatives to decoration if your staircase is large enough.
Looks good with: wood wall panels would look good on either side of the storage area, decoration on either side would also look great.
Shabby Chic
One of the most popular stair panel ideas is to install wood panels with shabby chic. It’s a versatile design that looks great in both modern and traditional homes and can be a great DIY project.
There are a number of ways to install or create shabby chic panels, you can either buy oak panels and create your own shabby chic panels (there’s a useful guide here). Alternatively, you can buy shabby chic panels online and install them yourself. This stair panel idea is ideal if you’re on a budget or looking for a fun DIY project.
Looks good with: the shabby chic design should stand alone on the staircase because the panels are designed to be a focal point.
Upcycle
If you’re looking for stair panel ideas on a budget, why not consider upcycling or recycling? There are always panels and panelboards lying around recycling plants in the UK and some stores may even have some going spare. Ask around and see what you can find. From here, it’s simply a case of cutting the panels down to size, sanding them down and then painting them.
Looks good with: recycled panels should be left to stand alone on your staircase as they’re a testament to your DIY skills! However, because this is a passion project you can customise the rest of the staircase anyway you want, whether that’s by adding storage units, shelving or installing carpet runners and bars up the stairs.
But What About Your Stairs?
Once you’ve decided on your favourite stair panel idea, why not consider putting the icing on the cake with carpet runners and stair bars? We provide a wide variety of colourful carpet runners to enhance the appearance of your staircase. From block colours to unique patterned designs, we have a wide range of runners to suit modern and traditional homes. Couple this with polished brass, chrome, steel or wooden door bar to complete the design.
Take a look at our stair rods, bars and carpet runners to complete your staircase and home’s design.