Hello everyone,
We have a very simple two-stringer staircase over three floors in our new build (two upper floors instead of a basement), similar to the one shown in the picture:
Our floor is oak parquet and the stair treads are also oak. Now we need to choose the color for painting the staircase. Since we have white window frames, initially white walls, and also white doors, we want to go for a gray/black shade to introduce some contrast, independent of furniture or artwork. Nowadays, you often see "anthracite," which is also the color of our front door. However, the door is white on the inside, and you have to enter the living area first to reach the staircase. My husband wants to choose anthracite (RAL 7016), but I’m a bit worried it might be too dark. In the color catalog, there is also graphite gray (RAL 7024), which seems slightly lighter. However, there are many gray tones, and with just a small color sample, it’s easy to be misled and end up with an unexpected brown, green, blue tint, or something else.
Who has experience with this? Do most people simply choose anthracite, or has anyone dared to go for something different? By the way, I find it perfectly fine for something so long-term to be a bit boring.
Many greetings
We have a very simple two-stringer staircase over three floors in our new build (two upper floors instead of a basement), similar to the one shown in the picture:
Our floor is oak parquet and the stair treads are also oak. Now we need to choose the color for painting the staircase. Since we have white window frames, initially white walls, and also white doors, we want to go for a gray/black shade to introduce some contrast, independent of furniture or artwork. Nowadays, you often see "anthracite," which is also the color of our front door. However, the door is white on the inside, and you have to enter the living area first to reach the staircase. My husband wants to choose anthracite (RAL 7016), but I’m a bit worried it might be too dark. In the color catalog, there is also graphite gray (RAL 7024), which seems slightly lighter. However, there are many gray tones, and with just a small color sample, it’s easy to be misled and end up with an unexpected brown, green, blue tint, or something else.
Who has experience with this? Do most people simply choose anthracite, or has anyone dared to go for something different? By the way, I find it perfectly fine for something so long-term to be a bit boring.
Many greetings
W
wiltshire9 Feb 2025 10:30Anniiii schrieb:
Actually, I initially wanted the walls white and the staircase beige. However, by the time we get around to painting the three-story stairwell, we might as well repaint the stairs too.We lived in our first house (a townhouse) for 18 years. During that time, we repainted the stairwell once. The stairs themselves did not need repainting. And that’s a good thing because, first, you won’t achieve the same quality when repainting the stairs as they had originally, and second, it is a much bigger effort—several times more than painting the walls of the stairwell. My advice: Decide once, and then leave it that way for a very long time.
ateliersiegel26 Feb 2025 15:24Anniiii schrieb:
I'm a bit worried that it might end up too dark. One comment:
From my experience, it seems like you’re looking for the "objectively right color," but I would argue that in cases like this, there is no definite "right" or "wrong."
My suggestion:
Try to get as close as possible in your imagination, use color samples to help you (for example, tape paper strips to the wall), and decide based on your gut feeling.
Later on, your choice might feel wrong, and there’s no guaranteed way to avoid that. But this moment is an opportunity to develop your intuition.