✨ Interior images are AI-generated. Items shown are similar to those in the video.

Nórdico Suave

Nook under a curved stair with an arced bench and vertical panelling

The void under a straight stair is a triangular prism and it's resolved with measurements; under a curved stair no two sections are alike and nothing from a catalogue fits. That's why everything here follows the curve: the bench, the lit plinth at floor level and the wall lining, which isn't a slat panel but tongue-and-groove boarding, narrow-board, the only thing that adapts to a wall that keeps turning.

Escalera curvaBanco en arcoFriso machihembradoHornacina iluminadaLuz bajo el bancoTablero flexibleRincón de lecturaRodapié flexibleMadera claraRecibidor

Design keys

A run of bench following the stair's arc, with a curved front and not a single straight edge.
Vertical tongue-and-groove boarding covering the curved wall, narrow-board and with no open joints between boards.
A continuous light strip under the bench, bent around the whole curve to make the volume look like it floats.
A niche with two lit shelves at the lowest end, where the stair no longer leaves height to sit.
One recessed light per tread in the stringer, resolving circulation with no fitting aimed at the nook.
A brass wall light on the straight end wall, the only light source that isn't concealed.

Furniture and decor in this design

Items shown are similar to those in the video, not necessarily identical.

Tongue-and-groove wall boarding

Narrow board with tongue and groove on the edges, fitted piece by piece and closing the surface with no gaps. It's what lets you clad a curved wall, where a slat panel on a rigid backing won't go: the narrower the board, the tighter the radius it takes. Paint it before fitting if it's going in colour, because as the timber shrinks in winter an unpainted strip appears at every joint.

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Flexible board for curves

Board grooved on one face that bends cold without breaking, for curved fronts on benches and bespoke furniture. It saves laminating two thin boards, though it still wants fixing over ribs cut to shape, because on its own it won't hold the radius. Check the minimum radius each product takes and which way it bends, because the grooves run in one direction only and fitted the other way it won't give.

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High-density foam for a made-to-measure seat

A foam sheet cut to the seat's template, essential when the bench is curved and no shop-bought cushion fits. The figure that decides is density rather than thickness: below thirty kilos per cubic metre it sinks within months where the same person always sits. For a bench you pass through, five centimetres is enough; for sitting a while, seven or eight.

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Contour gauge for copying profiles

A comb of sliding pins pressed against an irregular shape to reproduce it, for transferring to timber a profile you can't measure with a tape. In a curved void it's what resolves the junctions against the wall and existing skirting without trial-and-error offcuts. Choose the long version with a lock, because short ones mean copying in sections and unlockable ones lose the shape as you pull them away.

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Flexible skirting for curved walls

Skirting in polymer or kerfed MDF that bends around an arced wall, where a rigid one means cutting it into short lengths and leaving a joint every twenty centimetres. It's glued rather than nailed, so the wall must be sound and dust-free. Check the minimum radius before buying: polymer takes fairly tight curves while flexible MDF only handles generous ones.

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How to get this look at home

Under a curved stair don't measure with a tape, make templates. Cut a silhouette of the floor from card or thin board, take it to the workshop and work from it: drawings don't record site deformations, and on a curve a centimetre of error at the start becomes three by the end of the arc.
Narrow-board lining is what lets you clad a curved wall. A slat panel comes mounted on a rigid backing and won't bend; tongue-and-groove goes up board by board, and the narrower each one is, the smoother the curve without forcing the material.
For the bench's curved front, two thin boards glued together bend where one thick one snaps. It's the way to resolve a tight curve without a bending workshop: they're fixed over ribs cut to shape and laminated one over the other with the radius already set.
The bench cushion has to be cut from the same template as the seat. A rectangular cushion on a curved seat leaves a gap behind at the centre and overhangs at the ends, which gives away at once that the piece wasn't made for the house.
Keep the low end of the void for storage or shelving and don't try to sit there. On a curved stair the height drops faster than on a straight one because the tread turns as it rises, so the part usable as a seat is shorter than it looks on the drawing.

FAQ

How is the void under a curved stair different?

In that it can't be resolved with measurements, only with templates. Under a straight flight the section is always a triangle and two or three dimensions are enough to order furniture; under a curved flight the plan is a sector and the height drops as it turns, so no section repeats and any prefabricated piece falls short on one side and fouls on the other. The method that works is making a physical template: draw the floor's outline on thin board, trim until it fits snugly and work from that real shape. There's an advantage too: a curved void doesn't have the sharp vertex a straight stair leaves, that low corner where nothing fits and you can't reach to clean, because the curve dies away more gently and the low part gets better used.

What's the difference between tongue-and-groove boarding and a slat panel?

One closes the surface and the other opens it. Tongue-and-groove is boards that interlock, so no gap is left between them and the wall reads as a continuous plane with a fine groove marking each joint. A slat panel leaves real separation between slats and shows the backing, so it generates pronounced shadows and reads as a pattern. There are two practical differences. The first is curvature: boarding goes up board by board and adapts to a curved wall, whereas a slat panel comes on a rigid backing and only works on flat walls. The second is movement: the timber in boarding works with humidity, and if it's painted on site, shrinking in winter reveals an unpainted line at every joint, so it's better to paint the boards before fitting them.

How do you build a curved bench to measure?

With ribs and lamination, which is simpler than it sounds. Several board pieces are cut to the curve's exact shape and fixed as vertical ribs along the arc, like a boat's frames; the seat rests on them and, being flat horizontally, only needs trimming at the edge. The front is the delicate part: a fifteen-millimetre board won't bend, but two four-millimetre boards glued one over the other across the ribs adapt without breaking and, once the adhesive has set, hold the shape. If the radius is very tight there are flexible boards pre-grooved on the back that bend without laminating. And plan from the start where the cable enters if it will carry light underneath, because once the curved front is closed there's no access.

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Nook under a curved stair with an arced bench and vertical panelling

Design keys

Furniture and decor in this design

How to get this look at home

FAQ

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