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Stairs Area with Floating Wood Staircase and Console
About Stairs Area Interiors
Common questions from homeowners.
Each wood tread is bolted to a central brass stringer plate and cantilevers out from it, with no riser board filling the space beneath the step. From the side you see daylight straight through the flight. The brass stringer carries the weight down to the marble base steps. A slim brass handrail runs up one side for grip. That open build is what gives the whole hall its light, airy feel.
It is a floating console fixed to the wall so its base clears the floor. The body is dark wood, and the drawer fronts are fluted in a gold-tone finish under a white marble top. The fluting was used because a long flat drawer run would have looked like a plain box, and the grooves catch light and add texture. Floating it keeps the marble floor visible underneath and the corner feeling open.
A gold-leaf flying birds motif climbs the double-height wall beside the flight, the same cranes that appear in the dining room. Running one artwork across both zones ties the open plan together, so the stairs do not feel like a leftover space. Gold leaf shifts as you climb and the light moves over it. The wall is otherwise a plain cream, which lets the birds carry the whole surface.
The glass home elevator sits right next to the flight so anyone who cannot manage the climb still reaches the upper floors. Glass sides were chosen so the lift does not read as a solid box dropped into the hall, and you can still see the staircase and the bird wall through it. In a multi-level home this is a practical call for older family members. It also future-proofs the house.
They look light, but open risers come with a real trade-off. The gaps between treads mean this is not the safest choice with very young children or older pets, who can slip a foot through. If that is a concern, a slim glass or mesh infill can close the gaps without hiding the floating look. The brass handrail helps, but it only runs one side here, so a second rail is worth considering for daily use.
A cantilevered staircase costs more than a standard closed-string one, because the brass stringer and the wall fixings are engineered to carry each tread with no visible support. The wood treads and the brass rail add to it. To save, a steel stringer clad to look like brass gets close for less. The bigger point is that the wall and structure must be built to take the loads, so this is a decision made at the build stage.
It is possible but not simple. A cantilevered flight relies on a structural wall or a steel spine strong enough to hold each tread out on its own, and an existing partition wall usually will not do it without reinforcing. Retrofitting means opening up that wall and adding steel, which is real building work. If the structure cannot take it, a floating-look stair on a hidden central steel beam gives a similar result with less disruption.
The wood treads take foot traffic, so they want a hard-wearing lacquer that can be recoated when it dulls, rather than a soft oil finish. Wipe them dry and keep grit off, since sand underfoot scratches the surface over time. The brass rail and stringer will slowly patina unless lacquered. Decide early whether you want that aged look or a bright one. A yearly clean keeps both looking close to new.