We're working on the floorplan for our new home, and the entrance/foyer/staircase area of our new home has me totally puzzled. Maybe you can take a look at it and an idea will jump out, that I'm currently blind to....

We're building for functionality, flow and comfort - while trying to keep the floorspace compact (we're not building a huge house). In the current floorplan you'll see quite a bit of "idle space" to the left of the main entrance door (the door that leads into the living/kitchen/dinning open concept area. I'd love to use this idle space for creating a "little nook" beside the staircase... a place that I could later fill with a cushioned bench for kids to read/lounge on or possibly a spot to place my larger houseplants/trees.

But the space also must accommodate our staircase. I'm unsure on what staircase might work best in this space? Do you have any suggestions for staircase design and placement. Currently, I have a straight staircase, which only uses up about 10.5 feet of floorspace, which seems to work well. My only dislike is that it doesn't create a proper space for guests to put their shoes and jackets. I really don't like the idea of putting a shoe shelf of shoe mat along the railing of this straight staircase, because it would be such an unsightly view from my living room and kitchen. This stuff always bothers me a bit.

I'd love to find a solution that maximizes the use of the available space, while tucking guest's shoes and jackets into a spot not so directly visible from the main living area. The cherry on top would be a nook for reading or large house plants.

Do you have any creative ideas to accomplish this? I know it's a tall order, just thought I'd throw it out there.

The staircase in the rendering is going upstairs, but the actual staircase will be leading downstairs....I can't figure out how to make the software draw stairs down only up. I hope this still gives you a good idea about the space & feel etc.