Chicagoland's #1 Choice in Stairs since 1969

Designed Stairs has designed and built over 150,000 staircases in the Chicago area during our 50-year history.

Over 5,000 of these stairs have been custom curved staircases.

Our shop craftsmen average more than 25 years with our company and our staff has a total of more than 655 years with Designed Stairs.

High Visibility Stair Projects in Chicago

• House of Blues
• Smart Home at The Museum of Science and Industry
  

  

Historic Restorations in Public Buildings

Trail Side Museum of Natural History, Forest Park

Originally built in 1874 as the Abraham Hoffman Estate, Cook County's Trailside Museum provided a challenging staircase restoration. Major pieces of the staircase had rotted over the years and become unstable. Every piece of the staircase was measured and photographed before being completely disassembled and brought in to our shop for evaluation. It was determined that the entire staircase would have to be rebuilt, while the newel and balustrade could be restored. While the staircase was being re-built from scratch, the balustrade components had the old varnish and finishes professionally removed. The original balustrade was then refit to the new staircase and reinstalled into the exact position in the house. The staircase was so closely rebuilt to the original that very few people are aware that any work was done.

Wilder Mansion, Elmhurst

The Wilder Mansion in Elmhurst, Illinois was built in 1868 and featured a "continuous rail" design without the use of newels. Over the years the rail became unstable. Due to the high traffic within the mansion, the loose railing was a concern. After having several other stair companies try and fail at their attempts to strengthen the railing system, Designed Stairs, Inc. was called. Designed Stairs, Inc. designed newels for the system and placed them where existing balusters could be removed. Once the structural newels were installed and several joints in the rail were repaired, the entire balustrade was finally solid.

"After having several stair companies attempt to stabilize the railing, I contacted Designed Stairs. They came in with a completely different approach and seemed to understand the problem right away. I could tell that they fully understood the staircase. The newels they made look like they are part of the original rail and the railing is solid for the first time that anyone can remember. The designers and installers were great to work with; I should have called them first!"

Dave Smith
Facilities & Grounds Maintenance Supervisor
Elmhurst Park District