Staircases connect one or more floors of the home to each other. They range from the plain and cumbersome to the elegant and fashionable. Most men tend to judge their staircase by the space and ease it allows them to move furniture from level to the other, while women tend to judge them by their beauty.

There are all kinds of staircases. Here’s a list of the most common:

A straight stair stretches from lower to upper level in one straight run. Though this is the easiest type of stair to build, it can be difficult to squeeze into a floor plan.

A return stair divides the run, reversing direction a full 180 degrees at a landing.

A circular stair generally sweeps in a broad curve from one level to another.

An “L” stair makes a 90-degree turn at a landing.

A winder serves like an “L” stair but requires less space (and is less safe to use) because the landing is divided into pie-shaped steps.

A spiral stair twists around a center pole in one of two ways. The common spiral stair has a straight center pole with steps radiating out from it; a helix-style spiral has a curving center support that follows the sweeping twist of the stair.