all around the town…

This (2023 Update: would have been) the first house that I’ve lived in with an actual staircase. I’ve always heard that houses with stairs are “too much work” and “you’re always going up and down stairs”. However, since the upstairs will be 100% for work only, I’m positive this will not be an issue for us.

The house plans we will be using have some understair storage, however, I’m not a fan of “conventional” understairs closets because they never seem to hold quite enough stuff. Plus the space in the risers is being wasted.

As you may remember, in 2019, we traveled to Japan and our final stay was in an Air BnB-type place. It was an actual home in the 3 LDK style with a bonus room on the ground floor. There was storage in the stairwell walls and landings and the use of otherwise “wasted” space was insane.

This type of storage staircase is called “kaidan dansu” or storage step. There’s an excellent example at dwell.com.

While I used 1920s architecture as inspiration for the interior, it would have been a fusion of Japanese architectural elements with traditional Craftsman style. I know it sounds weird, but trust me on this. It will look cool when it’s finished.

2023 Update: This probably isn’t happening any time soon. The (waves hands at the world) that has been going on has killed new construction and the OG House is in need of serious repairs so before building new, it looks like the old will be prioritized.