I’m not sure whether I should be flattered (unlikely) or whether it is a complete coincidence (likely) but the Guardian appear to have viciously copied my idea (which actually I borrowed (read as ‘stole’) from Rachel Hurdley‘s study of mantlepieces).
The idea of collecting a part of people’s personal space still interests me. After mantlepieces it was bedside tables, and more recently staircases. Here are a few I have collected (and then either drawn or painted).
What do staircases say about us? Not a lot it seems. I think they are the most ignored part of the house. We tend to paint them in magnolia, and carpet them in beige. We tend to leave the walls fairly blank and use them as a dumping ground for coats, shoes, bags, and other bits of our lives. We use them as a means, rather than an end. I feel we ought to spend more time thinking about our staircases. Let’s pay homage to staircases.