Illumination of the stairs: original ideas for lighting the steps

In all houses and cottages with more than one floor, there must be a staircase. Most often it is located in a place where there is not enough natural light. Climbing such stairs late in the evening or at night is simply not safe. And then there is the need to create additional lighting.

There are many original ideas of lighting steps that will harmoniously fit their additional lighting into the interior.

Designers offer different options for staircase lighting:

• The use of long chandeliers that illuminate several spans at once. In this case, they are difficult to install in a low-rise building. In addition, to remove dust from such a lamp will be really time consuming.
• Also often use side lighting, placing on the wall sconces or placing a floor lamp. However, extra items will interfere when climbing or descending a narrow staircase.
• The most universal way can be considered the use of staircase lighting. It stands out from other sources of lighting and has several advantages:
• Versatility. Such lighting is suitable for both wide and narrow stairs, both for wood and for glass. The market offers many options for lighting, which will allow to realize the most incredible ideas.

• Simplified installation. When creating the backlight is not required to lay cables. This is due to the placement of the light source directly on the stairs.
• Practical benefits. The use of lights on the stairs allows you to clearly indicate the beginning and end of the steps. This will help prevent possible falls and injuries.
• Skillful use of point light sources will visually expand the space.

When choosing a staircase lighting, many factors must be taken into account: the color scheme of the interior, the type of staircase, the material. As already mentioned, there is a huge range of stair lighting in the stores. First of all, the differences are related to the type of luminaire.

When creating the backlight, LED strip, neon light bulbs, spot type lamps can be used. Some owners are not satisfied with the choice of one option, but use several light sources at once. It is important here that the lights perform their function without overloading the environment and not blinding others.

Depending on the light sources used, additional lighting can fill the entire staircase space, be located only along the line of motion, or flicker dimly in the dark.

Also, differences in light sources are related to the way they are mounted. Stair lighting can be made external, embedded in the railing or steps.

A few words should be said about the lamps that are used in lamps. Highlighting the steps should please the owners without causing unnecessary trouble. To do this, you need to know what lamps are used, what are their strengths and weaknesses.

• Neon lamps give a soft light without creating a shadow. Such coverage will provide security regardless of the time of day. Neon lamps will last for a long time. However, they have a flaw that needs to be taken into consideration when children live at home. This is a fragile material, so these lamps require protection from external influences.
• Halogen lamps - a source of saturated uniform light. When buying such a lamp should be aware that it is very hot. Accordingly, the lamp should not be in contact with other surfaces to avoid problems. Sudden power surges seriously shorten the life of halogen lamps.
• LED lights - The most popular light source at the moment. And this is not surprising, because it has several advantages. Long service life, a large selection and the presence of a variety of design ideas on the use of LED lighting attract buyers. Moreover, unlike a halogen lamp, it practically does not heat up.
• LED overhead lights can be used both in a private house, and, for example, for a cinema. They have an adequate scattering angle.

Stage lighting is selected depending on the type of stairs and interior decoration of the house or cottage. However, to illuminate any staircase there is an important rule - the light must be soft, not blind the eyes, not create bright shadows. This will allow to harmoniously add additional lighting to the interior.

Most often, LED ribbons are used to illuminate spiral staircases. Flexible material allows you to illuminate the steps and irregular shapes with different sizes. A small strip is enough to add light to highlight a step or fence. The placement of the LED strip on the wall adjacent to the stairs looks quite unusual.

In some houses you can now see modern transparent stairs. Their steps are made of glass or acrylic. LED lighting of such stairs looks very unusual.The lower part of the stage is equipped with a special material for diffusing light, if desired, lighting from the end side is mounted in the handrails.

All this creates an effect of internal glow. For more organic LED strip combined with mounting steps.

When choosing lighting on such stairs, you should pay attention to the presence or absence of the risers. If they are not available, you can also use LED strips, securing them on the inside of the step. In the presence of risers to use such lighting is not advised.

The use of LED strips on them is quite problematic. When installing you will have to use masking profiles, create bends and transitions of the tape. It is important to foresee where light streams will fall. Otherwise it may look ridiculous.

Most often, in the locations of such stairs, lighting elements can be damaged during constant movement. A suitable option for additional lighting stairs made of concrete and brick can bezigzag backlight. It is located on the side wall, copying the profile of the stairs.

Spot lighting began to be used quite recently, but it has already won many fans. It can be used on any staircase. The main rule here - do not need a lot of light. A lot of small light bulbs are installed at some distance from each other. They should fit neatly into the interior of the room without dragging too much attention to themselves.

To better understand what this type of lighting looks like, it’s worth discussing some of them in more detail.

It is best to install fixtures on the wall adjacent to the stairs before facing the wall. The fact is that eyeliner is required to hide. If you start to install the lamps after the repair, you will have to do it again.

The best material for finishing walls with spot lighting is drywall, which is perfectly installed fixtures of various forms. In addition, when using drywall there will be no problems with further finishing - it aligns the walls well and holds decorative elements on it.

About spot lighting on the steps, too, should think in advance. Making holes of the appropriate size on the steps is easy. But to hold the wires under the surface of the stairs is much more difficult.

When installing the backlight simultaneously with the installation of the staircase, many choose to place two light sources at the edges of the step. However, you can place one in the center. It all depends on the desires of the owners.

There is also an interesting option for placing the backlight on the risers. In the surface of the riser set point lights that are well distinguish the lower level. It looks very unusual and, most importantly, practical and convenient.

And point and LED lamps come in different colors depending on the preferences of the owners of the house, the design of the room and other factors. An unusual solution could be the use of different colors when lighting the stairs and fences. Here you have to be careful and skillfully combine different shades.

Designers advise to follow certain principles when choosing the backlight of the staircase:

• For long ladders it will be appropriate to use ambient light, in the other case - point light.
• The backlight of the spiral staircase should highlight steps.
• When choosing the type of lighting, be sure to consider other sources of light in the room.
• For steel ladders, a white color is recommended that will accentuate metallic luster.
• If the staircase is made of wood, then preference is given to yellow color. It will be perfectly combined with natural wood color.

Choosing a suitable light source, you need to think about managing it. Here, the original solution could be the use of motion sensors. They will reduce the time to search for a switch, save on electricity. Some light sensors offer the function of automatically highlighting only parts of luminaires. In addition, the use of modern technology always makes a good impression on guests.

For more information about lamps with built-in motion sensor, see the following video.