apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I guess it depends what the landlord will allow you to do. Can you peel off the linoleum and paint or refinish the treads and risers? Also the railing could at least be repainted a more pleasing color--I'm not sure what to recommend without seeing more of the space.

i can think of three things that would help considerably...

1. what about getting a runner/rug for the stairs? that way, at least, you put money into something that you could, theoretically, take with you when you leave (then, repurpose it for something else if you don't have more stairs that need the runner).

2. get a cute door mat to replace the one you have there (not offensive, but nondescript).

3. also, i second the vote for painting... paint the walls and railing.

HI, thanks for sharing your dilemma. I love the white walls and the metal edging on the stairs. I think you should focus less on the floor/stairs and pay more attention to the walls. This is an area that gets a lot of traffic so why sink money into redoing the linoleum or carpeting the space. I say, rip up the linoleum and keep the floor raw. If you can't live with that, check out some AT solutions.

Patterned stairs:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/look/diy-patterned-stairs-052154
Writing on the stairs:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/boston/writing-on-the-stairs-069964
Painting the stairs:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/inspiration/8-ways-to-decorate-a-staircase-075693
Decals:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/look/look-decals-on-stairs-create-design-081695
Or even purchase a runner.

But look at all that wall space!! Use it to give guests a little preview of what's to come. This is your first impression. How about framing some posters or prints?

kmccool (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7287033)
and theloveshop (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6485248)
have some great - and affordable - prints.

If you don't feel like framing, you could always put up decals!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vinylwallart/3144380101/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tweetheartwallart/3791017720/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wall_decals_wall_stickers/3105361236/

What a colorful way to decorate! Also, you could bring more color into the stairway by painting that banister a bright blue or maybe even red! Good luck!

I think this area would pop with some carefully selected pieces of art, but I have no idea how you would hang them. In fact, I have no idea how one ought to hang art on a stairwell in general. It sounds like a good idea in theory; with lots of wall space and little to no furniture, a stairwell in some ways resembles a gallery. But how does one arrange it? The 57" on center rule works well for rooms, but does that translate to the diagonal lines of a stairwell? I'd like to hang art in both my stairwells (I live in a townhouse; lots of stairs) but I haven't because I don't know how to arrange it. I would say that for a narrow space like yours, I might stagger the artwork so two pieces don't face each other directly on the opposing walls. That would seem crowded. Beyond that I'm lost, and I can't be the only one, can I?

It kind of reminds me of those minimalist houses or lofts with all the white walls and abstract art pieces or paintings. I think the key is to keep it simple and adding a runner might look outdated. As suggested before I would paint the railing, maybe black or silver, if its okay with the landlord. Then just accent the walls with a few paintings or wall decor if possible. Really the stone steps are beautiful. I don't really like the white tile at the front and personally wood cover it with a longer doormat or rug.

I remember seeing something on AT years ago where it was a very long narrow hallway and someone suggested painting stripes on it to make it look like a bowling alley. I feel like your hall could benefit from a similar "embrace it". Maybe use decals to play with it (eg the ascent - rising clouds, hot air balloon, birds etc). You could also do something painted on the underside of the steps. I think that could look super...

paint the banister black, try dashandalbert.com for a runner (indoor/outdoor variety - they have a really pretty green and white diamond that is polypropolene). depending on how wide your staircase is - you should have 3" /- of stair & riser showing on either side, so you can leave that alone if now so much shows. the walls could use a shade that will make the green and white pop, i am thinking benjimoore seafoam (a minty gray) - or just a fresh coat would help. finally, decals might be nice as long as they start at the base of the stair and stretch upwards. but hanging things so that they don't look like they are arbitarily floating on the walls will be tricky, so keep it clean. and for the doormat, try anthropologie - something fresh and fun.

Paint the walls gray! I think it would give the stairs more mysterious quality to it. Failing that, hardware/home improvement stores have laminates you can plaster over the stairs. Ikea even sells some that makes it look like wood.

I think a combo of painting the walls gray, changing the laminate, hanging art work, and some well placed lighting would greatly improve it. It definitely can be done on a budget.

If that was my space....

artsy/landscape photographs in black and white
reclaimed wood frames
diagonal arrangement on the wall opposite the handrail (or both)

maybe a plant at the bottom of the stairs, and/or painting/hanging art on that door at the top.

That hand rail is very visually obstructive, and probably physically too (let's hope all of your guests have tiny asses or they're going to get bruised! Or stuck!). The best thing to do would be to petition your landlord to have it replaced with something more slimline, or get rid of it completely.

Failing that, choose a nice colour for the skirting and the rail, repaint the wall in the same white (so you'll only need one coat) and replace the linoleum with something fresher. You could do something clever with wallpaper on the risers or polishing the wood treads, but given the dirt that's bound to be tracked up and down this thing a hard-wearing linoleum is going to be the easiest and most cost-effective solution. I'm sure that you can get some exciting colours and prints in modern linoleum tiles.

I wouldn't put anything on the walls, except perhaps a painted stripe if you're feeling particularly groovy. The space is simply too tight for anything that sticks out.

i would buy floor paint and paint the tops(the part you step onto) of the stairs a dark grey but paint the other part of the stair in different colors with those little paint sample jars. The hand rail just sand down and match to whatever color you pick. Doesn't look like you can hand paintings. maybe paint something on the wall.

I'd say embrace the long whiteness, even painting the handrail white, and get one of these:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/atimg/77661/01victorian_rect540.jpg

I agree with putting up artwork, and I would experiment with putting it all on one wall (not too much or too cluttered) so that visitors don't have to look back-and-fourth

I had a similar enclosed staircase (though not as long) and the trick really is to make it seem as wide as possible (and give it some personality while you're at it).

I think you should keep the walls white for a bright and airy feeling. I would suggest painting the handrail (and that funny strip behind it on the wall) white so it will blend in with the wall. I know it will get dirty, but a hard-wearing gloss white should be cleanable enough, and it will make the staircase look wider.

On one of the walls only (I would suggest the one opposite the handrail, again to make it seem wider) you should hang smallish (say A4 sized (er, 20x30cm or 8x12 inches)) pictures in a kind of but not quite line or lines up the stairs. (I say "kind of but not quite" because it's very difficult to figure out where the line should go when you're doing this on a staircase, as your POV is different on each tread). I would suggest you use those removable Command hooks so that you have leeway to get it wrong a few times, and also so you can move things around if you decide to add more pictures at a later date.

In my stairwell I have those old-style metal advertising signs and they look great. They really lead your eye up the stairs too, which in your case would be a lovely "introduction" to your apartment.

There are a lot of very creative good ideas here. If they were my stairs, though, I'd first nail down loose tread tiles (or remove all the tread tiles completely), then paint the stairs and railings white (carefully matched to the white of the walls.) Painting dilapidated old things white often gives character to them that the grunge conceals. Adiaphane mentioned the sense of mystery--I'd say an almost unbearable sense of anticipation!--and I'd play that quality up, with no distraction or relief at all. Then, at the top, Ker-pow! Beautiful, old, wide-planked floors and whatever other goodies await in your home.

This would also be really cheap to do. (Nails. Paint.)

I am all for doing the treads in one color and the risers in another, while leaving the metal tow kick band untouched. One can paint over linoleum with a little elbow grease, sand paper to scuff it, and porch/floor paint on top.

Then paint the walls a nice entry color like warm grey or a soft yellow. I think the stair is too narrow for art, you'll be bumping into it all the time!!

That stair case is less then three feet wide, which is against NYS code, so it's already illegal, so I say just remove the handrail to clean up the look.

What a fun project!!

I agree with designit... I didn't think this was a question, but another beautiful minimalist staircase. I love it! It's only until I saw the shots up close that I understood what you were talking about.

Is there wood under the linoleum? If so, expose it. If not, how about wood veneer to cover the stairs. I do like the metal strips. Keep or replace the metal strips and paint the rail metallic to provide continuity with the strips?

Keep it simple and find a piece of sisal remnant and cut it to cover the white tiles.

Paint the radiator white or metallic silver with an oil-based paint. And, natch... get rid of that pot.

The only addition... maybe a plant in a simple white planter and plant?

You have a great space to work with!

Please, please, please let us see the final product!!!!!

If it were my stairway I would leave the wood color and stencil a faux mosiac or other design on the front of every step. Googling "stencil stair" will give you a lot of ideas.

Here's some picture inspiration for you:

http://designamour.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/Modello-Stairs-2.jpg

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/uimages/sf/2-23-09%20stenciled%20stairs%201.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/45/129034774_a2f7694a59.jpg?v=0

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef01156ffc09b7970c-800wi

A cheap wall fix would be to hang tapestries on the walls. You could also paint it a vivid color like aqua, cobalt, or tangerine, but I don't know your personal style, so not sure if that would work.

I used to have a staircase like that in a rental. When I arrived, it was medium tone blue on the walls and dark blue on the steps and handrail. I found it depressing. A couple of years later, I painted the walls medium yellow and the steps and hand rail moss green. Cheerful, in a cartoon kind of way. Lasted six years. Then, I went white for the walls, the stairs a blue-grey and the handrail black. That was and still is my favourite. For your staircase, I would save money by installing a mid-wall chair rail and paint only the lower part, in a nice colour or white. Then strip and varnish the stairs which could, if you're lucky, be in the same wood as the landing. Paint the handrail. If you use latex exterior paint, you can do the handrail etc. without the fumes, that are always a problem in enclosed spaces when you paint. Good luck.

"On one of the walls only (I would suggest the one opposite the handrail, again to make it seem wider) you should hang smallish (say A4 sized (er, 20x30cm or 8x12 inches)) pictures"

This might make it LOOK wider, but every time you and your guests bump your shoulders on that artwork, it's going to FEEL like the narrowest staircase of all time. Unless you're doing posters or something similarly flat, I would stick to the banister side of the stairs for hanging - you naturally walk farther away from that wall.
Although I think a few well-edited posters would look FABULOUS.

Don't expose the wood on the stairs. It's probably some subfloor and will get water damaged. Replace the linoleum if you can afford it, dark grey.

Repaint the walls and railing white. No need to accent the railing.

At the top and bottom, hang art or paint the end walls an accent colour, as light at the end of the tunnel.

Get a welcome mat to cover the vestibule floor.