So far, we’ve been working on the concept development with Vincent, our architect. This is the stage where Vincent takes our ideas for our perfect home and morphs them into a house plan that will meet building codes and be logical – with stairs that lead to landings and not bathtubs… well, I’m sure you get the idea.
I’ve finally let go of my desire to have the staircase in the center of our home. I’ve always had ordinary stairs that go up along the exterior wall starting at the front door. Now I understand why – when a house is small, this is an ideal place for stairs.
The thing is neither one of us wants ordinary. Our vision is open spaces with a grand opening connection between the upper and lower level. Since we’re building small, we thought what could be more space-efficient than making the staircase that grand open space between the two levels? Well, apparently, with just under 600 square feet on each level, we’ll have to fogo the grand staircase and come up with other ideas for making our staircase beyond the ordinary.
Here’s what we’d imagined before starting with Vincent.
Ha! Ha!
… Back on earth… we’re looking at ways to not have an ordinary staircase.
Just kidding.
Here are a couple of serious ideas.
Important note: Vincent’s role is not to crush our dreams. He is the voice of reason, the one to keep us on budget, the one who understands how staircases must be constructed, and the one to keep our expectations in the realm of realistic. We hired our architect to create extra-ordinary on a budget.
Sounds like you’re having fun! We had a “meeting” about the floor plan for the basement tonight…taking us years to make decisions. You will be well ahead of us before too long!
You ever see the staircases where each stair is actually a bookshelf, and the occasional one pulls out to reveal a nice cushioned seat?
Hey Larry! Great to hear from you. We’ve seen those staircase/bookcase/seating arrangements. They are very cool and space-saving Hugs!