Spiral stair took too much floor, swapped for a ladder and won

When I built my 420 sq ft place in Asheville last spring, I went back and forth on how to get up to the sleeping loft. Spiral stairs look cool and feel more like a real house, but they eat up about 16 sq ft of floor space on the bottom level. That's a whole corner I couldn't use for my kitchen cart or a little reading nook. I finally swapped to a steep alternating tread ladder from a local metal shop, cost me $340 with mounting hardware. The angle is around 70 degrees so it takes some getting used to, but I can actually store bins underneath it now. Climbing up with a coffee mug in hand is still risky, so I use a backpack in the mornings. Has anyone else made the switch and gone back? I'm curious if the spiral's comfort wins out for others.

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beth_mitchell23d agoMost Upvoted

That 70 degree angle is no joke, did you ever wake up half asleep and grab for the railing that isn't there? I'm wondering if the storage underneath is actually worth the daily adrenaline rush.