Custom Wood Turning... in 10 Seconds or Less

Our woodturner is often fed eclectic turning projects. After all, Seattle Stair is the only shop in the area with the capability to turn large scale custom items.  In the past, we have turned everything from tugboat masts to 10-foot "knowledge whorls." This week, our woodturner has had the task of turning nearly a dozen domed cylinders for an art installation.

I caught him in action and created a short video that illustrates the turning project in less than ten seconds.

Check it out here:  http://instagram.com/p/cNKusDh6CG/?igref=ogexp

Mary Anne Carter
Assistant Director of Marketing

From Campy to Classy: The Modern Hotel in Boise

 A recent road trip from Albuquerque to Seattle offered an unrivaled array of eye candy: plunging canyons, wind carved rock formations, star crusted skies, and the occasional modern marvel.  Topping the list of manmade spectacles was The Modern Hotel in Boise, a rehabbed Travel Lodge better suited for craft cocktails than a continental breakfast. 

Fresh white paint and contemporary furnishings lend purity to the traditionally seedy space, while innovative design details give character. The courtyard is dotted with fire pits salvaged from a defunct swimming pool, the balcony is emblazoned with sculptural steel cutouts, and the exterior staircase flaunts an angular wood and metal enclosure. 

The juxtaposition of linear and campy; refined and tired; clean and novel is not inherently good. Yet with proper balance of whitespace and design details, The Modern Hotel manages to defy expectation. This success is more than a visual spectacle- it is a lesson for any home renovation process.  

Any space (even a Travel Lodge) bears the potential to be transformed without a total overhaul. By simply toning down less favorable design elements and investing your resources in a few strong details, you can reconcile and redefine your space. 

Mary Anne Carter

Assistant Director of Marketing

Seattle Stair Featured in The Wall Street Journal

Seattle Stair & Design was featured in The Wall Street Journal on Friday, July 5th as part of an article highlighting the use of exotic wood in home decor. "Exotic Woods for High-End Homes" showcased an American red gum and wenge stair we built for a client in Maui, Hawaii several years ago.

The article reads:

"With rich hues and elaborate grain patterns, exotic woods are growing in home décor. Many rare woods come from tropical climates, where trees can produce more-durable wood products, manufacturers say. Tropical trees also grow taller, with few branches, so the wood has fewer knots and other defects.

Most exotic woods are cultivated in tropical zones straddling the equator, including Central Africa and Latin America. Environmental and human-rights issues related to the exotic-wood trade have led to a certification program, so consumers can check with suppliers regarding the sourcing of their wood. Here is a sampling of responsibly sourced exotic-wood products:

RARE STAIRS

Seattle Stair & Design custom-staircase crafters use exotic wood in a small but growing number of their designs. The staircases are built in the company's 10,000-square-foot Seattle studio and shipped, often fully assembled, to their destinations. This staircase for a home in Maui was built of solid American red gum wood with exotic wenge wood handrails. Wenge is a dark wood that is native to central Africa and used as an alternative to ebony. The cost for a Seattle Stair & Design staircase ranges from $30,000 to $120,000 depending on the size, complexity and materials used.

Cost: $100,000 for the red gum wood staircase, including installation."

We thank The Wall Street Journal for the opportunity to be featured and encourage you to read the full article here.

Mary Anne Carter
Assistant Director of Marketing

Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion

Photo Credit: Seattle Art Museum

Photo Credit: Seattle Art Museum

I had the privilege of attending the opening reception for Seattle Art Museum's current exhibit, Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion and I highly recommend it to design enthusiasts of all trades. 

The exceptionally curated exhibit showcased nearly 100 gowns, runway footage, and artwork derived from the principles of fashion.  It imparted far more than a retrospective of trends, but rather a very concise understanding of fashion as it relates to other design disciplines.

The influence of Japanese Fashion on shape was particularly evident: the clothing challenged proportions, engaged fluidity, and mastered form from multiple vantage points.  Many garments were designed with such attention to shape that they could be cleanly collapsed into flat, rectangular, phonebook-sized masses when they are not being worn.  Others fall gracefully into dynamic geometric shapes.

This acute level of detail and craftsmanship parallels our own design process at Seattle Stair.  Designing a garment that can be easily worn yet still falls crisply into a hexagon is not unlike crafting a staircase that is fully constructed in our shop and then taken in two pieces to site for installation.

The opportunity to view this likeness in a discipline so converse to ours was both unifying and stimulating. Waste no time—and pay Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion a visit for a high dose of inspiration and innovation.

For more information on the exhibit, check out TheSeattle Times review and The Seattle Art Museum's website.

Mary Anne Carter

Assistant Director of Marketing

A Note from a Customer

The handrail features a unique hand-forged iron bamboo sculpture mounted on Brazilian Cherry.

The custom Brazilian Cherry handrail provided an elegant update to their existing staircase.

Today we had the privilege of receiving a very gracious note from a recent client for whom we design and crafted the above balustrade. 

"I just wanted to let you know that [we] are so happy with our new stair rail. It came out just like we had hoped and dreamed about. You and the staff at Seattle Stair & Design do an excellent job and the craftsmanship is superb! Thank you for being supportive and making sure the project went well. It was wonderful working with you," the note reads.

We couldn't be more flattered by the gesture, as superior craftsmanship, quality design and customer satisfaction are at the core of our work. 

Thank you for the reassurance of our craft and enjoy your stair!

Summer Break, Island Style

Today marks the first official day of summer break for Seattle students and we can't help but indulge in the excitement.

Although we've long outgrown the student life, our custom staircases have provided a rewarding gateway to summer vacation.  In the past few years, our team (and seven staircases) have had the privilege of traveling to Hawaii many times.  These jobs top our list of favorites, as the spectacular natural landscape not only offers a favorable backdrop for an install, but impresses a vivid appreciation of the rare and exotic on the residents.  As a result, the boundaries of design are pushed, experiment is embraced and some of our most distinctive, rewarding projects are born.

Check out a gallery of our favorite Hawaiian staircases on our Facebook page.

The Cuban Staircase

This image was taken by a friend of mine who is also a professional photographer, Mario Serafin, on a recent trip to Cuba. When I saw it in his folder of pictures, I was immediately struck by its beauty and curious to learn more. I asked him for the story behind the image and this is what he told me, “To make a long story short, that picture was taken in a building where a friend of mine from Havana used to live. I met him three years ago. He had gangrene and ended up loosing a leg. Unfortunately he passed away last year. I took this photo last month when I went to that building looking for him. He used to live alone and when he was alive he use to spend most of his time on the streets, wandering around in his wheelchair. Everyday his neighbors would take him up and down those stairs so he can enjoy his life in the streets. Amazing guy, amazing neighbors and amazing stairs.”

This stair is a piece of art, captured by a talented photographer, with the many textures of aged wood, Spanish tiles and chipped paint. You can still see the beautiful lines of the original stair – that I imagine is close to 100 years old at least.  It is also representative to me of Cuba’s history and the endurance of its people. The spiral is being supported by a 4” x 4” and still used to this day - with the ability to support the weight of 2 adults at once. This story reminds me of my trip to Cuba in 1996, and the 14 flights of stairs I had to climb to a friend’s apartment every time we returned due to an indefinitely broken elevator.  I am grateful to Mario for sharing this picture and its story with his community.

-Phoebe Schraer