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September 18, 2017 · 8 Comments

How to Decorate A Staircase

DIY Projects

We’ve all got those spots in our house that are hard to decorate, right? For me, it’s always been our bedroom (just, you know, in general), our staircase, and our entryway. They’re kind of awkward spaces that don’t seem to look right no matter what I do, and they’ve been the source of endless frustration for me over the years. Typically, when I’m really struggling with how to decorate a space I like to think it out via a blog post – I did it when I was trying to figure out how to decorate the wall behind our bed, how to decorate the awkward corner in our room…and today I’m doing it to help me figure out how to decorate a staircase.

We’ve got a gallery wall on our stairs that has been there since very shortly after we moved in. I really do love it, but while my style has evolved over the years, the gallery wall never really evolved with it. And since we’re getting ready to sell our house, I’m wondering if I should be decorating our staircase with something a little less personal and a little more neutral. Theoretically, I know there’s about a zillion ways to decorate a staircase, but I was having a hard time coming up with anything that would work.

Enter this blog post. I did some research, came up with some ideas, and now I’m feeling much more prepared to tackle that pesky wall behind our stairs when it comes time to list our house!

You know I like to share, so I figured I’d put together the results of my research and share ’em with you. Hopefully, it can help you out if you’re having a hard time figuring out a good way to decorate a staircase in your house!

How to Decorate a Staircase

Ideas and inspiration for how to decorate a staircase affordably and simply. Includes 10 great ideas for how to decorate the wall behind your stairs, and ideas for products to use.

Ideas and inspiration for how to decorate a staircase affordably and simply. Includes 10 great ideas for how to decorate the wall behind your stairs, and ideas for products to use.

This post contains affiliate links. Click here to read my full disclosure policy. 


A D D   A   G A L L E R Y   W A L L

Tips and tricks on how to decorate a staircase - great ideas for when you're feeling stumped

Yes Please | Style by Emily Henderson

Probably the most popular way to decorate your staircase is to use a gallery wall. It’s what we did in our home, and it’s a really classic way to pretty up your staircase. It can be tricky to know how to place the gallery wall, but there are a ton of different options for how you configure it and you almost can’t go wrong. I personally feel like the fuller it is, the better, but there are also some really gorgeous options that are a little more linear and have just a few photos in them. Either way, you’ll want to pick something to kind of tie everything together (in the photo on the left all of the frames are gold, and in the photo on the right they’re mostly black and darker, more neutral colors in the photos). Of course, the problem we have with this option is that art can be so personal and it’s tricky to make it universally appealing to buyers when you have a ton of it on the wall – we need to simplify!

U S E   M O L D I N G 

Ideas for how to decorate a staircase

Sage Design | Tiek Built Homes

I always think molding around staircases is such an elegant option! It looks really fancy and high-end, but it’s actually a super affordable project to take on yourself. This is exactly what we would have done in our home if our walls weren’t textured. However, with how thick the texture is on our walls, this kind of molding just wouldn’t look great unless we removed the texture first. One of the best parts is that if you add molding to your walls, you’re basically done. The trim adds enough visual interest that you don’t need to add any art or anything else – it looks good all by itself!

D E C O R A T E   T H E   S T A I R S

How to decorate a staircase

Bower Power | Marie Claire Maison

I am also so in love with the idea of just doing something really fun and unique to the stairs themselves and leaving the walls alone. There are a ton of different options – wallpaper, tile, paint… some people even paint murals or words onto the stairs. You’re really only limited by your creativity here (well, that and how bold you really want to go) and this is such a good option if you want something a little more out of the box. I love the subtle dotted wallpaper that Katie used on her stairs, but I’m also in love with the bold painted look. And I won’t lie – I stop in my scroll every time I see a tiled staircase pop up on Pinterest. It’s such a good look!

A D D   A   W A L L   T R E A T M E N T

Tips and ideas for how to decorate a staircase if you don't have any ideas

Park & Oak | Freshome

Shiplap is always a winner, right? I know some people are tired of it but let’s be real – I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of shiplap. I feel like it’s such a classic, neutral look that works well in almost any house, and it adds so much beautiful texture to any space! I’m also a huge fan of the brick. Again – it adds lots of texture and doesn’t need much else added to it. The idea here is similar to the molding idea – use wallpaper, wood, brick, or anything else you can come up with to cover the wall behind the staircase. It’ll make a huge visual impact without a ton of effort and is a guaranteed way to make a big statement in your space. This is something we’ve always considered in our home, but we just added a fair amount of shiplap to a certain space downstairs (more on that later!) so it’s a no-go for us.

U S E   O N E   L A R G E   P I E C E   O F   A R T

Great ideas for how to decorate a staircase using gallery walls, molding, and more

Love & Renovations |  Houzz

As much as I love a good gallery wall, I’m always a big fan of keeping it simple – this is probably the winner for us! If your stairs are already beautiful all by themselves, you don’t need to do much to make the staircase area stand out. Just grab a big, flat basket, a mirror, or something else nice and large and hang it up, then call it a day! I really love the tobacco basket idea – it’s a great way to highlight a really tall ceiling. A mirror is perfect for an area without a lot of natural light. I’ve even seen people hang bicycles up on the wall above their stairs!

If you want some ideas for what to buy to make any of these ideas work in your home, I’ve created a little gallery below with some fun options. I’ll probably end up grabbing one of these options for our staircase – which do you think I should use?!

How do you have your stairs decorated?

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Vicky Corey says

    September 26, 2017 at 10:35 am

    I really love the basket idea!! It’s simple but at the same time, elegant. I can’t wait to see your final and everything finished! I’m sure you’re ready too. Lol Sending prayers your way everything goes smooth for you guy’s!

    Reply
    • Amanda says

      September 27, 2017 at 6:18 am

      Thank you, Vicky!

      Reply
  2. Hollie Myers says

    September 21, 2017 at 12:01 pm

    Magnifiscent decorations, I like the one that the steps are painted in different colours. Also a good ides is to use the space under the stairs and make it room for the dog or a play room for the kid.

    Reply
    • Amanda says

      September 27, 2017 at 6:17 am

      I love that idea! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Furntastic says

    September 21, 2017 at 2:29 am

    Like other spaces in the house, staircase decoration is also important. Thanks for sharing these ideas of decorating the staircase.

    Reply
  4. Grondwerken says

    September 19, 2017 at 9:14 am

    Wow! Loved all your ideas of decorating the staircase. Thanks for sharing such awesome ideas.

    Reply
  5. Cinny says

    September 19, 2017 at 8:33 am

    Before I can weigh in fully, I would say that you need to post a picture of your stairs! 😉

    However, since you are doing this primarily as a staging thing, I would say that adding color to the actual stairs is pretty risky. That seems like something that would be individual for every person.

    The easiest, and cheapest, way to get an update done would probably be to swap out your personal pictures in the frames for art – a ‘la, pulling from magazines, etc. Maybe spray paint your frames gold too, or something?

    Other than that, I too am drawn to the big piece of art/mirror.

    Reply
    • Amanda says

      September 27, 2017 at 6:20 am

      Haha you’re right, I should have included a photo! 🙂 We ended up carpeting the stairs so we didn’t do anything like that. I wanted to replace all of our gallery wall art with one single thing to make it a little more neutral, but I haven’t found anything I love so I may leave it and just remove anything too personal. Thanks for chiming in, Cinny! 🙂

      Reply

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Overwhelmed by DIY? Let's do it together! I'm Amanda, and I live in the suburbs of Austin, Texas with my husband and two sons. I've taught myself how to make simple updates to help make my house a home, and I want to show you how to do it, too. Click here to learn more about us.

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