Stairs and garages. Did you know that starting with them can often be the key to getting it right in your home design overall?

And whilst it may seem odd to put these two items together, there’s a few things that stairs and garages have in common.

Firstly of course, they don’t need to go into every home. If you’re renovating or building a single-storey house on perfectly flat land, there’s going to be part of this podcast not relevant to you! And not everyone wants to or needs to build a garage.

Secondly, stairs and garages need to be a certain size to actually work – to even be worthwhile including.

And thirdly, and this is probably the most surprising – how they are designed and where they’re located, can be the starting point for the rest of your home design.

So, in this podcast episode, I tackle stairs and garages separately. As I normally do, I take you through the four F’s. And I also provide you with some mistakes to avoid and design tips to help you get it right.

My big mistake to avoid with stairs is this:

Not designing the stairs accurately at concept stage. If you fudge the size and layout of them, it can get you into serious trouble as you resolve your design, and don’t have sufficient room for the stairs.

My big design tip to get it right with stairs is:

Play with the location and design of the staircase and see what it helps you change overall in your home design.

And my big mistake to avoid with garages is this:

Don’t size them to be too narrow (this happens a lot in new homes, especially project homes).

My big design tip to get it right with garages is:

Be careful about designing your layout so you’re walking from your garage through pantries and other similar spaces to get into your home.

Listen to the podcast for more tips (and there’s a bonus in there for carports too!)

Links mentioned in the podcast:

(The Domain article is no longer available)

Stair design in the Anderson Home Project Diary >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/andersons-project-update-05/

Undercover Architect Pinterest Board on Stairs >>> https://au.pinterest.com/undercoverarch/interior-stairs/

Other links you may find helpful

Designing Stairs – Read here for what else you need to know.
I talked about how stairs can be a great storage bonus in your home in this podcast

And if you want to learn more about how to design your home, I’ve created a special (and free!) e-guide for you. It’s called “How to Design a Home: 5 Simple Steps to Getting it Right”.