Stair landing decor ideas

9 Best Staircase Landing Ideas for this Tricky Space

Staircase landings often represent somewhat of a tricky spot when it comes to interior design. They are often small enough to very easily clutter up with even the smallest pieces of furniture, but can also come in sizes big enough to feel empty if you don’t do anything with them.

Fortunately, there are no shortage of ideas for what to do with your landing, all you need is a little inspiration, which is exactly what I aim to provide here. So let’s get to it!

What is a Staircase Landing?

Before I get into what to do with your landing, let’s take a moment to clarify what a landing is. A staircase landing is an area of floor that can be at the bottom, top, or part way up a flight of stairs. In the case of a landing that is part way up the stairs, it may be to enable a smooth change of direction, such as 90 degrees to the side, or 180 degrees back on itself.

In the case of top landings, they will usually be the place from which many or all of the upstairs rooms are accessed, and there can often be quite a lot of void space there.

Staircase Landing Ideas

So, about those ideas. Below are nine of my top picks for how to fill that space at the top of your stairs. Of course, not all landings are the same, so you’ll need to disregard some of them as necessary. But even for some of the ideas that aren’t quite right for your landing, you should be able to find inspiration in there!

Gallery Wall

Gallery walls are perhaps one of the most common ideas for a landing, not to mention the rest of the staircase. On top of making the walls look less sparse, personal photos bring an undeniable element of yourself into the space. As far as the interior design goes, a gallery wall is very inexpensive to achieve.

You can repurpose old photo frames if needed, or even get creative and make your own. Of course, you don’t have to use family photos. Your favorite posters or artwork will look just as good up there.

Timber trails development

Small Reading Nook

One of the great things about reading is that it is an activity that takes very little space. Your mind may be off in fantastic and exotic places, but your body needs little more than a comfortable chair. If you have enough space on your staircase landing for a small bookcase and the aforementioned comfy chair, you’d be doing yourself a disservice by not turning it into a cozy little reading nook. If you can position your chair (or small sofa, for that matter) so that it gets plenty of sunlight, even better!

Jamie Keskin Design

How beautiful is that hanging chair?

Built-in Bookshelves

Perhaps you don’t have space on your landing for a full bookcase and chair to sit and read away those lazy Sunday afternoons, but you still like to read and those books need a home! Landings typically have a lot of wall real estate going free, so it’s a good bet you’ll be able to find a suitable spot to put up a few shelves to rehome your beloved books.

Digs design company

Window Seat

Landings are often home to a window of some kind, and for those of you lucky enough to have a nice, large window on your landing, the possibility of a window seat beckons. Window seats give you a great space to sit and enjoy the world beyond your windows, and can be built to incorporate storage for a little extra utility. You can even combine your window seat with the reading nook idea.

Chango & co.

Office Space

This one may seem a little out there at first, but bear with me. You don’t need a massive amount of space to set up a small office. Really all you need is enough space for a chair and a surface to put your laptop, computer, notepad, or sketchpad on. Anyone who has worked from home for long enough will understand the benefits of separating their work and home life, but not everyone has the space for a dedicated home office. Landing to the rescue!

RTG designs

Den

Unlike the landing office space, this one does require a pretty substantial landing, but if there is plenty of space at the top of your stairs, you might consider turning it into a comfortable space to relax. You can think of this option as the reading nook writ large, and with more than just books.

Console Table

For those of us with smaller landings who like the den idea, you can get something close with a nice console table. You might not be able to kick back and relax at a console table, but you can store things there and liven up the space with some nice pictures and ornaments. If there is space, you could even include a small chair or stool and turn your console table into a spot for working at.

Geoff chick

Fireplace

I’m getting into big landing territory here, but if you have space for a bit of furniture on your landing, you might consider having a luxurious fireplace fitted, giving you a nice space to relax in.

You may not be able to (or want to) turn your landing into a space that you actively use, but that doesn’t mean that space has to go to waste. An armoire will allow you to turn some of that space into useful storage, and look great while it does so.

There is no shortage of creative designs you can incorporate into your landing and you may have noticed that many of the ideas I shared here today can be mixed and matched. In other words, it is possible to create something truly your own, that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

Always remember to think about what you actually want from the space. There is no sense wasting your landing on a reading nook if you hardly ever read books! Most of all, be practical. If you have a small landing, don’t make it almost unusable by stuffing a huge desk in there.

Happy curating!

Curated Interior

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Creative Ideas for Stair Landing Decor

Looking for creative ideas for stair landing decor? Here’s how we decorated the small landing area at the top of the stairs.

It’s an easy place to create additional storage or add bookcases to maximize the space. We created unique stair landing decor with a mini desk area that’s perfect for homework.

Remember when I showed you the stairs?

And the new paint color.

And the rug that travels around my house trying to find a home?

And Buddy’s daily nap?

Did you ever wonder what was around the corner at the top of the stairs?

Did you wonder why I’m starting off a post with five questions?

Oh, good.

Me, too. 🙂

Before I show you what we just added to the top of the stairs, let me show you how the stairs and staircase fits into the overall design of the house. Here, you can see that the staircase greets you when you walk in the back door.

You can’t miss it.

It’s kind of all about itself.

If you walk past the mirror and the fresh flowers from Trader Joe’s, you’ll arrive at the bottom of the staircase looking up.

(total picture aside: I just wanted to show this mirror of my mother’s one more time. It used to live in the butler’s pantry. But now it’s keeping the back door company.)

When you arrive at the top of the first set of stairs, you’ll see this bench in front of the giant picture window. It was one of my favorite places in the house when I was growing up.

You can see how we added window cushions here.

There’s a window seat that’s perfect for Nancy Drew books and a giant window and a mini landing.

And then?

When you turn the corner, there’s another set of stairs with the cutest little room at the top.

Here’s kind of an overall view so you can get the idea of what the space looks like.

The tiny room at the top of the stairs has three doors that lead off of it. One door leads to a central living room. One door leads to a linen closet area and one door leads to a bedroom.

You can still see the old attic fan in the ceiling. See it up at the top with its folded slats.

We used to use that attic fan all the time when I was growing up and the house didn’t have any air. I can still hear the whir of the fan as I drifted off to sleep.

Yes.

You heard me.

Texas and no air.

SERIOUSLY.

We didn’t have any central heat or air in the house growing up (yes, we lived in Texas. I had to put my make-up on in front of a fan.

And then run out the door before it melted.

(total aside: in good news—the fan helped with my Aqua Net bangs.)

I have big plans for this space.

We are going to do built-ins on either side and on top of the door.

There’s a stair runner with stair rods with the cutest pineapples on them that will be installed in a couple of weeks.

And I’m working on the doors.

They are painted white right now, but I want to restore them to the original wood.

The wood underneath the paint pretty (we already had the doors downstairs restored) and will go so well with the original hardware in the house.

If you have a space like this at the top of the stairs–kind of a mini room without any purpose here are some decorating ideas.

Ideas for decorating this space

The key to figuring out how you are going to decorate this space is deciding on a purpose for this room and then decorating accordingly. What is something that the space can be used for that the house doesn’t have right now? It’s a small space, a small corner of the house, but it can live BIG. Get creative and decide its purpose and then plan out the layout. Here are some ideas for purposes for this space and then what to add with your decor.

Add a set of chairs with a lamp and side table for a reading nook
Install small desks and use it for homework and a mini-classroom
Install built-ins from kitchen cabinets and create additional storage
Add bookcases and create a mini library with a small chair
A space like this is also the perfect place to display a collection
Add cabinets to store art or craft supplies and create a mini craft room
Add built-in benches with storage and a place to sit in the hallway

See what I mean? The possibilities are endless. Make a space like this your own and you’ll add extra storage and additional useable space to your home.

I am so happy.

Seriously.

Like the happiness that comes from the first smell of spring and the first sip of coffee on the last day of February and the joy of a quiet morning with the birds chirping outside the window.

I love this house.

And I think—it loves me right back. 🙂

PS We have central heat and air now, so I apply my make-up without a fan.

PPS In nervous news, the oldest twin, Westleigh, is trying out for cheerleader today. Praying for calm hearts and high jumps.

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Posted On: February 28, 2018

Written By: KariAnne Wood

Stairs - 135 best photo ideas for stairs to the second floor in a private house

Enamel door, Sheffield model

OWN / Doors / Furniture / Interior

Enamel door, Sheffield model in color NSC S6005- Y20R.
Pictured: Modern style medium sized wooden u-shaped staircase with wood steps and mixed material railings