Stairs and Balconies....

As we started looking around at options for a staircase last week, I thought I would do a post on the sort of staircase ideas that we have looked at so far...

The stairs have to be a sweeping design, curving up from the foyer to the first floor landing.





Unfortunately there was no room to have a grand staircase rising from the centre of the foyer to a small landing before splitting to either side, so instead, we are looking for the most gracious sweeping staircase that we can find.

The steps will be in the same stone as the foyer, and the balustrading will match that of the Juliet balconies on the front of the house. There is a divine cast iron and gilt balustrade in the Petit Trianon at Versailles:

The detail close up is amazing:

There have been many blog posts about the stairs at the Petit Palais in Paris. This sort of staircase is the one we are likely to settle on.

As the staircase is open to below and the balustrading is continued on 3 sides of the atrium above, it is important to find something which will make a statement.

The other option for balustrading would be ornate plaster work:

But I think that wrought iron is more elegant. What do you think?

Some staircases are more practical than others when making an entrance :-)

Here is a simple example of how the balustrading used on the stiars can be used again for the balconies:

and

If anyone has found a picture of an especially glorious flight of stairs, please feel free to post the URL in your comments so we can check it out :-)