Stairway To Heaven?

Those that know me well know that if I had any chance of not breaking an ankle coming and going from the second floor, I had to do something to address the pitch of this staircase.  1/2 Airhead Polish + 1/2 Klutsy Italian + Old Steep Stairs = 2 New Broken Bones + 1 Aching Concussion.  

Apparently one hundred years ago people made due with the space they had.  The attic was...well...an attic.  The stairs hidden behind that beautiful oak door offered no more comfort than an attic ladder.  The prior owners of this house drywalled out the attic space and made two bedrooms (er....confined spaces...bedrooms is generous), but never addressed the steep pitch of the stairs.  I'm assuming Grandma never went up and down that hazard!  Getting to the 2nd story was basically like climbing into a tree house.


New stairs were needed and new stairs were completed!  I hemmed and hawed about cutting into the beautiful crown molding, but after several contractors and I hashed out various options for moving the opening, moving the entire staircase, etc, etc, the only logical spot was right where the original builder built it.  In the middle of the house.  So we carved out a few feet at the top of the stairwell, added a landing and several stairs into the dining room (only enough to accomplish the task and not interfere with any dining room traffic or furniture) and voila!  A proper staircase is born.  I call it graceful and modern.  You probably just call it a staircase.  The added bonus was that expert woodworker was able to salvage and reuse the beautiful moldings to accommodate this new design.  The next step is to turn these rough stairs into a masterpiece by adding treads, risers and moldings to complete the project.  Headed off to interview flooring contractors.