12 Creative Painted Stair Ideas to Modernise Your Home
With hundreds, if not thousands of ways you can paint your staircase, there are too many ideas to count. Choosing what colour scheme to decorate your staircase with can be a hugely creative process. You might be asking what colour scheme will complement the rest of my house? Do I go with a block colour or double up? Should I install a stair runner to complete the look?
Or if you’re considering painting yourself, how do you go about doing it?
We’ll be looking at some of the most popular painted stair ideas to help give your home the makeover it deserves. We’ll walk you through wooden staircase ideas that will also complement your hallway and the interior of your home.
Block Colours
Traditional and timelessly elegant, block colours for stairs remain a simple and versatile choice for home decor. The colour you choose will depend on your own personal preference, the colour scheme of your hallway and interior of your home and longevity and durability. If your staircase is going to see a lot of foot traffic, you should consider darker colours as they’re better at hiding marks and scuffs and are generally better at keeping up appearances for longer.
Our personal favourite colour scheme for modern homes is a deep blue, as it’s a colour that combines well with other neutral colours (white paints, magnolias, greys, other shades of blue etc).
Ombre schemes
Ombre schemes are colours that subtly merge into one and another creating a sort of dream-like watercolour effect. Ombre schemes are typically used in homes (as opposed to commercial properties) and retain their appearance for longer with less foot traffic. Saying that, ombre colour schemes work well in children’s bedrooms because of their fun and approachable design.
Keep it Traditional
If your house’s interior design is quite traditional (features a lot of woods and whites), then using a wood stain or varnish can further complement your home. A classic design is a two-tone pine (or any wood really) and white colour scheme. Match the bannister with a pine-based colour to really bring out the white. This option is also relatively cheap, with wood paint colours and stainers priced at around £20.
Multicoloured Stairs
This is a rogue choice, but one that can offer a fantastic effect, especially if the interior of the house is predominantly white. This design is not for the faint of heart as it is obviously a very bold colour scheme. You could even opt for a rainbow design, with each of the risers being a different colour and the treads being white.
Pantone stairs
Pantone colour palettes offer a very luxurious appearance, ideal for modern homes. Again, this colour scheme works great on white staircases and homes that boast white colours.
Monochrome
Another timeless colour scheme. Monochrome staircases boast an archaic, urban almost metropolitan effect and again works well with homes that feature a predominantly white interior design scheme. Monochrome schemes typically include black, grey and dark wood colours.
Distressed
Similar to the monochrome paint scheme, distressed colour schemes largely feature greys, dark woods and blacks. Ideal both homes and commercial properties (such as restaurants, pubs and other hospitality venues). Another benefit of this paint colour scheme is that it’s ideal for high foot traffic because the dark colours are able to easily hide masks.
Chevron
Another interesting painted stair idea that can boast a truly striking design element in any modern home. Chevron stairs feature zig-zag-like patterns that are found on the risers of the stairs. A black and white Chevron design would go well with wooden treads, if you’re looking for inspiration.
Geometric
Arguably on the same level as multicoloured staircase, geometric staircases are often found in commercial properties, such as art galleries, pubs and other creative spaces. Geometric stair ideas can be any colour but for residential properties, black and white is probably the most appropriate colour scheme.
Patterned
Similar to geometric, patterned stairs offer a truly unique element to any home. However, this type of design has to be painted correctly to get the best out of it. You could opt for patterns on the risers with block colour on the tread, go vice-versa, or you may opt for the whole staircase to be lined or painted in a specific pattern. Just be sure that the surrounding colours don’t clash with it (again, white would be a great colour here).
Classic grey on white
One of the most iconic and simplest designs is grey treads with white risers. This is a very cheap and versatile staircase idea that would look great in any modern home and would be a great DIY project.
Match block colours with carpet runners
If you’re looking to reduce foot traffic damage on your stairs while enhancing the appearance of your staircase. This is where we can help, we have hundreds of carpet runners to choose from, whether you’re looking for a patterned design to complement your block colour scheme, or a striking colour to bring life to your staircase.
You could go further and have us fit stair rods and brackets for a truly stunning finish. We have a range of brass and metal rods to transform your staircase into a work of art.
What about outdoor staircases?
If you’re looking to paint an outdoor staircase, whether it’s concrete, wood or another material, you’ll need to use acrylic paint. If you try to use oil or enamel paints on outdoor concrete stairs, it will likely crack and break away from the surface. You should opt for a semi or high gloss finish as they offer more resistance and durability when it comes to wear and tear outdoors.