The Details That Define a Home
Staircase Design
by Hurlbutt Designs
When it comes to interior design, few elements carry as much visual weight as the staircase. It is the first thing you see when you walk through the front door, the architectural thread that connects every floor, and one of the rare spaces in a home where millwork, textile, lighting, and proportion all converge at once. Done well, a staircase becomes more than a functional necessity. It becomes the design moment that defines the entire home.
At Hurlbutt Designs, southern Maine's leading interior design firm, the staircase is approached with the same rigor and intentionality as any room in the house.
Custom Stair Runners
Pattern, Color, and Character
One of the most transformative choices in staircase design is the runner. A custom stair runner does what great wallpaper does for a room — it sets the palette, anchors the personality, and carries a design thread through the entire vertical experience of a home. Hurlbutt Designs sources and specifies custom runners with the same care applied to any fine textile, considering scale, colorway, and how a pattern reads both ascending and descending. A bold cobalt geometric runner on a sweeping elliptical stair. A soft blue diamond pattern edged in contrast binding. The results speak fluently to the coastal Maine vernacular without ever feeling predictable or overdone.
Millwork & Architecture
The Bones of a Beautiful Staircase
Beyond the runner, the architectural details are what give a staircase its character. The proportion of a newel post. The rhythm of balusters. The way a handrail curves at the landing. In one recent Hurlbutt project, warm oak treads and a clean cable railing are set against a floor-to-ceiling wall of sculptural diamond millwork — a graphic, contemporary backdrop that makes the staircase a destination in its own right. In another, a classic painted staircase with dark navy newel posts brings structure and contrast to a light-filled coastal home. Each approach is different. Each is deeply considered
Lighting Design
The Detail Most People Overlook
Lighting is where many staircase designs fall short, and where Hurlbutt consistently excels. The right fixture does far more than illuminate a space. It anchors the stairwell, adds scale, and introduces texture and warmth into what might otherwise be a transitional space. A cascading cluster of rock crystal pendants in a two-story Kennebunk foyer. A beaded brass chandelier glowing softly against white diamond millwork. These are lighting choices that transform a staircase from a passage into a moment worth pausing for.
Staircase Design as a Whole-Home Statement
What distinguishes a Hurlbutt Designs staircase is never any single element, but the sum of decisions working in harmony. The custom runner that echoes the color palette of the living room below. The millwork detail that connects the stairwell to the entry's architectural language. The fixture that introduces warmth and intimacy to a vertical space flooded with natural light. This is whole-home thinking applied to one of the most architecturally significant elements in residential interior design.
Whether you are building a new home on the Maine coast, renovating a historic property, or simply reimagining a space that has never quite lived up to its potential, the staircase is one of the highest-return investments you can make in your interior. It is the element your family touches every single day and the first impression every guest receives. At Hurlbutt Designs, it is never an afterthought.
Hurlbutt Designs is a full-service interior design firm and retail studio located at 51 Western Avenue in Lower Village, Kennebunk, Maine.
To explore our residential and commercial design services or visit our 5,000-square-foot studio, contact us at hurlbuttdesigns.com or call 207-967-4110.