Architectural Wood Turnings

This is a video I produced some time back. We often get a request for alternating stair balusters. The stair balusters alternate between a barley twisted balusters and a plain baluster You can see the final product at the end of the video.

One of the realities about the footprint of any staircase design is that it takes up a lot of space.  One of the solutions to this reality is to incorporate usable storage beneath the stairs.  The Diylife.com has an article on making this possible.  The image they they have used is reason enough to go there to read the article.  One of the first projects I ever worked on was to add a drawer system into the space under a stairway.  You’ll find some practical ways to do this yourself or hire someone else to do it here: Stair Storage

If you are really into stair design and stair ideas like I am you will get a “fix” on your addition at pushpullbar.com. This site is about architecture and design but has quite a huge number of posts related to stairs. Most of the stair posts, I should add, are “modern” in style and will turn traditionalist off. But even traditionalist should come away with a few clever ideas that will work into the traditionalist mind set. You can see their site here: Pushpullbar.com

Hooked on Houses has a posted an interesting set of stairway possibilities.  These “possibilities” are not for the faint of heart but may give you some creative ides on finishing your staircase.  The finishing ideas are not ,in fact, painted but peel and stick paper that can be easily removed and changed to a different pattern.  You can view the images at their blog and the peel and stick material at Sticviews.com

You may have seen these stair design images on the web. I think they have probably been out there for some time. I use the phase “out there” on purpose. You’ll understand when you see these unique stair images. You can see them here: Creative Stair Designs

In my search for some of the better interior design blogs (yes, I love to read what others are saying) on the internet I came across Padstyle.com. They have compiled their list of the 25 of the best interior design and furniture blogs out there. I was familiar with Freshome.com, Desiretoinspire.com and Decore8.com but had not ever visited the others. I you have an interest in design trends, design ideas, where to buy or just inspiration you’ll do yourself a favor by visiting Padstyle

I occasionally have customers that request a staircase with large balusters. The challenge with creating a staircase with extra large balusters is two fold:

• The handrail size required by codes restrictions will not accommodate a large baluster top. As such, most manufactured handrails are designed for 1 1/4″ or 1 3/4″ balusters.
• It may be difficult to accommodate the four inch rule spacing between balusters if the balusters are attached directly to the stair treads.

The solution to using larger balusters is also two fold:

• Use a custom handrail with a larger base that also accommodates the “grasping” requirement of the stair code.
• Use a closed stringer system that will eliminate the need to attach the balusters directly to the stair treads. The images below clearly demonstrate both design features.
  The baluster size in the drawings below is 3 1/2″ at the squares – a much larger baluster than the more common 1 3/4″ balusters.

  

  

  The image below is a cross section showing the handrail with the large base which enables it to “receive” the large 3 1/2″ baluster.

  

These poplar newels were produced for a customer in South Alabama. His wife wanted to simulate the newel in a Pottery Barn catalog image. I’ve had other customers that requested these but I normally will make them with a smaller ball on top. The originals remind me of the old gumball machines.

gumball newel

The image below is larger version of the same newel but with a smaller top.

pottery newel

These fluted newels went to a customer in Aspen, Co. The large fluted newels are 7 inches in diameter. The shorter non-fluted newels are 6 inches in diameter. I questioned whether they really wanted the flat capitals on top of the newels. It will probably become a place to set things on top of – cups, clothes, etc.
I felt sorry for the installers knowing there was no suitable place to attach the handrail. The installer was forced to “cope” the handrail to a round, fluted profile, not the easiest method I could think of to say the least.

fluted newel

We have uploaded a few photo album sets on various places on the world wide web. I thought some of our customers might like to see them in total – nothing like a picture to get the creative juices flowing. The pictures contained in the album below are a random set of the stair newels and other wood turnings we have produced in our Baton Rouge, LA shop. Some pictures are of “one offs” – newels that were turned for one customer and never produced again. Others have been produced multiplied times over. You can follow the link below to see a good sampling of our stair newels.

• Bebo.com album