Top stair lighting ideas

Top stair lighting ideas

24/01/2024

We often focus on getting the lighting just right in the areas of our home where we spend the most time — the living room, kitchen, bedroom, or even the backyard. But what about the stairs and steps around your home?

Whether you’re focusing on the indoor or outdoor areas of your home, LED-lit stairs can make trips up and down (and back up if you’re forgetful!) easier, and can even transform them into a stunning focal point of your home. Use these smart stair lighting ideas for your steps, stairs, and stoops.

Inspiration for indoor stairs lighting

We’re up and down them so often that we forget to see them as an architectural feature — one that’s worthy of light! Here are some light ideas for stairs that can ‘elevate’ yours to a thing of beauty (while making them easier to climb).

Philips Hue lightstrip LED-lit stairs

Using LED strip lights for the stairs

Stairs and Philips Hue lightstrips go together like hand on handrail. So, it doesn’t matter if yours is a swirling spiral staircase, grand marble affair, or a humble wooden flight down to the basement — lighting the way with lightstrips is effortless.
Lightstrips are flexible and versatile. So much so, they can be bent, cut, connected, and extended to follow almost any stair shape. Tuck them along baseboards or where the stair meets the wall to create a light that guides the way. Make stairs a sculptural centrepiece by attaching lightstrips under sweeping bannisters and let your balustrades cast beautiful shadows.

Philips Hue Perifo track lighting LED-lit stairs

Using track lighting for the stairs

Philips Hue Perifo track lighting also makes a harmonious pairing with your staircase, as it can be fitted to follow the length of the wall or ceiling. Simply click in the lights and position them anywhere along the track.

Staircases can often be uninspiring, “dead” spaces. So why not hang some of your favorite works of art or family photos along the staircase wall? Angle your Perifo lights to highlight them with colorful light. Voilà! Your very own staircase art gallery.

Using pendant lights for the stairs

Add some design elements into your staircase with a statement pendant light — or three!
If your staircase has a high ceiling, add the Philips Hue Flourish pendant light. With its minimalist white globe strung from adjustable cords, you can create an eye-catching arrangement. String the Flourish lights at varying lengths to add diffused light, elegance, and style to this everyday space.

Bright idea: Make an even bolder stairway statement by setting a cluster of Flourish lights to complementary shades of red, blue — or any color you like.

Using automated lights for the stairs

Place a Philips Hue motion sensor next to your staircase and forget about fiddling with switches each time you go up or down. Keep the stair lights set to a gentle, warm glow that spills into your living space. Program the sensor to have them brighten when you approach the stairs, illuminating your way up or down, and turn off after you’ve passed. This is especially useful if you’ve got your hands full!

Philips Hue Outdoor motion sensor lighting for outdoor stairs

Using flush mount wall lights for the stairs

The Philips Hue Dymera may look like elegant wall decor for the living room, but it's more than just wall accent lighting — it’s equally as impressive as wall-mounted stair lights. The dual beams of these fixtures when used as stair wall lights shine up and down, illuminating both the upper and lower sections of a staircase with precision and style. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, Dymera works both indoors and out, meaning you can place them along almost any staircase.

Bright stair wall lighting idea: The Philips Hue app gives you individual control over each beam, so you can personalize Dymera to look like interior stair wall lights or bring them to life with effects, such as Candle or Fireplace. Now, that’s how to use accent lighting!

*When a bulb displays "Up to" a certain number of lumens in its specifications, it displays the maximum lumen output of the bulb. It shows how bright the bulb can get at 2700 K (White bulbs) or 4000 K (White ambiance or White and color ambiance bulbs). Learn more about brightness