{"id":1343,"date":"2025-04-23T13:15:28","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T13:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.camperscorner.net\/?p=1343"},"modified":"2025-04-25T18:09:52","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T18:09:52","slug":"how-they-pulled-it-off-a-rainbow-tornado-paracord-banister-that-gives-a-family-peace-of-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.camperscorner.net\/index.php\/2025\/04\/23\/how-they-pulled-it-off-a-rainbow-tornado-paracord-banister-that-gives-a-family-peace-of-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"How They Pulled It Off: A “Rainbow Tornado” Paracord Banister That Gives a Family Peace of Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cedar Architecture and Treenet Collective come up with a colorful and creative solution for making an open staircase feel contained.<\/p>\n

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Welcome to How They Pulled It Off,<\/a> where we take a close look at one particularly challenging aspect of a home design and get the nitty-gritty details about how it became a reality.<\/i><\/p>\n

When a Washington, D.C. couple with four small children approached Cedar Architecture<\/a> about designing a passive home, architect Deborah Buelow knew that her first job would be to orient the house towards sunlight. She quickly realized that sighting the house towards the sun might mean putting the largest windows in public view\u2014which neither she nor the family wanted\u2014so Buelow created an eye-catching, sun-catching workaround.<\/p>\n

“We ended up turning the house inward and backward a bit,” Buelow explains. “That way, we could bring in the southern sun through a central stairwell.” The home has two main levels plus a basement, and the wide, open stairwell allows sunlight to reach all three floors. “We were really trying to bring light deep in,” she says.<\/p>\n

The stairwell also unifies the home while dividing the space into its different functions\u2014the downstairs living area, the upstairs sleeping area and so on. However, the clients were concerned that their little ones might not be safe around the stairs.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Viewed from the living area, the net adds a bit of restrained whimsy. <\/p>\n

Photo: Jennifer Hughes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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“There was a certain amount of insecurity about the handrails being insufficient,” Buelow says. “This was more of a mental issue. The handrail would keep them safe, but psychologically they felt like it might not.”<\/p>\n

Many of us have felt nervous climbing a wide, open staircase, and Buelow knew it was her job to make everyone who spent time in this home feel as comfortable as possible. When the owners suggested working with Treenet Collective<\/a> to build a net that could hang within the staircase and break a fall, Buelow was ready to start collaborating.<\/p>\n

“I thought it was brilliant,” she said. “We had this high-end architecture, but we were also building a family home. We wanted an element that could engage the kids on a humane scale.”<\/p>\n

Treenet Collective worked in the space for a week and a half. They took the homeowners\u2019 idea of building a colorful net and expanded it into what became a rainbow whirl\u2014or, as it\u2019s now called, the “Rainbow Tornado.” The piece is sculptural, colorful, and dynamic. It also provides the necessary psychological relief to anyone climbing up or down the stairs. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The paracord net is a creative solution for easing any worry about safety. <\/p>\n

Jennifer Hughes<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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How they pulled it off: A home that provides peace of mind for parents and children<\/h5>\n