STAIRS. We have some. They are a nice open tread, floating style staircase that we painted a glossy white shortly after moving into the house. We have since noticed that we are far too dirty to have white flooring… the stairs are always filthy, and due to the open treads a lot of dirt falls onto what ever is underneath the stairs (which at this time is a day bed). To fix both of these problems we gave the stairs a quick $40 makeover with some 1/2″ plyboard and a coat of glossy grey paint.

^ Here are some before photos from way back when I had my office downstairs (it’s been moved upstairs as it was way too cold down there for prolonged periods of sitting on the computer). We both loved the open tread, but my drafting table was always covered in dirt 😦

^ J cut the plyboard down to cover the open treads and used some filler to smooth out the holes. He then painted the staircase darker grey to conceal a bit more of the everyday dirt tracked into the house by the animals and when we don’t take off our shoes.

The closed tread will keep dirt from falling onto the day bed, which will make it more likely that anyone will want to sit there haha. We are thinking of converting the space under the stairs into a little sitting nook, but that will have to come later. To make the stairs extra nice we could get some tread carpets, which I had in my condo in Vancouver, but sold when I moved. Alto Steps are nice, they attach very firmly to the stairs and help to reduce the noise of footfalls going up and down the wooden steps. One day…