Um, you know that staircase with the square spindles and newel post that you like? It's rectangular. That's to say, it doesn't curve. When it turns a corner, it turns a 90 degree corner. Makes perfect sense to have square spindles and newel post on a staircase like that.

You have an absolutely beautiful curvey staircase that just "floats" up. I really hesitate to say this since you obviously really love the square spindles and newel post but, round would really suit a curvey staircase better. If you must have a square newel post at the top, then at least keep the spindle arrangement at the bottom so there's something to echo that curve.

Going with the square spindles and post on a curved stairway is going to give a totally different look. As you can see from the visuals below, the last two rails/stairs take on a craftsman feel. IMO, definitely not a soft flowing feel.

The photos will at least give you a feel of square vs round for the post. The photos were taken from stairworld.com.
http://www.stairworld.com/index.php/ourwork/photogallery/P108/#top

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Your stairway is stunning! Really, it depends on the feel you want. Those curved rails offer drama and (to me) will make the foyer feel much more formal. On the other hand, the post is more relaxed and casual. Even though your stairway is fairly dramatic on it own, I think either one will work beautifully it's just a matter of how you want the space to feel.

We've got a stairway update in our future as well and we'll be doing the post because it fits the style of our house better and I love the way they look.

Annz - those photos were SO helpful in helping us make our decision. We like the look of the third staircase with the straight newel posts and straight spindles - but we don't think it would look as good as the painted and stained look we want, whereas the photo has all stained (risers, spindles, posts, treads - all are stained). It has a simple Scandinavian type of look, whereas we're going with something more classical.

Curvy tapered spindles it is! We'll keep the look of the curved portion on the bottom.

Hi Redroze.

I really like the graceful curve of your existing stair, the refined coiling of the handrail as it reaches the bottom & the curved baseboard along the short lower wall. What isn't as successful is the proportion of the balusters themselves, with their emaciated shafts & heavy blocking, especially when you compare them to the elegant way the tapering spindles of Rmkitchen's stair meets that railing. Part of the problem is that modern building codes mandate higher railings than they used to, which has played havoc with traditional proportions. But the elimination of the upper block in favor of a continuous taper in the second stair shows that it's not an unsolvable problem. But the difference is also obvious in the closer way that her spindles are spaced, and the way that, in the way they rise from each step, the spindles' bases maintain the level of the step above rather than paralleling the angle of the handrail, which draws the eye up to that rail as the only curving element. All in all, it's a better resolution of a centuries-old design problem that continues to provide designers an opportunity to show off their skill. So that's my take on the curved stairs: one is good, one is even better.

I also like the solid, no-nonsense geometry of the square stair with the clock at the bottom, and I see why you like it,too--spindles, newel posts & all. If the first two stairs seem to be channeling the delicate spirit of Samuel McIntyre at the end of the Eighteenth Century, this one echoes the glorious Shingle Style seaside 'cottages' that McKim, Mead & White did at the end of the Nineteenth Century. And that's part of the problem I see in your plan: you'll be combining archiectural elements of two entirely different styles from a hundred years apart, and although furniture of one style can look striking when displayed against an architectural background of a different style, combing bits & pieces of different architectural styles themselves seldom works as well.

In other words, the almost masculine character of those square-profiled spindles & those chunky square-paneled newel posts--handsome as they are in themselves--grafted onto the more delicate, almost girlish structure of your stair is going to look, well, odd, and if you were to stain those square newel posts dark, the one-of-these-things-is-not-like-the-others effect will be even more pronounced. I don't know why, but I'm imagining a svelte, bare-legged young woman in black Doc Martens, a once-trendy look I never cared for.

So sorry to be the bearer of ill tidings, but some things just don't work very well together and it's always better to discover that ahead of time instea dof after-the-fact. So, as you redo the treads, if you don't care for your existing balusters, I'd move more in the direction of Rmkitchen's design, whose beauty even a baby gate can't hide.

When I started typing a response, there were no answers at all but by the time I corrected all my run-on sentences & typos & got the thing posted, everybody had already checked in. I gotta learn to type faster--or at least better. When I was in school I got a D in typing & I'm sorry to say I haven't improved any since then.

Magnaverde - I'm actually glad you took the time to write your response because you articulated it SO WELL. We're not going to do the square spindles for sure, we'll do tapered, and because of your note we'll do newel posts similar to RMkitchen. Thank you so much.

Thanks for your kind words, Redroze. This has been a frustrating week for me, so your comment absolutely made my day.

Like my math teacher used to say, "DON'T just give the answer to the problem. I already KNOW what the answer is. I want to know HOW you came up with it!!"

Same here. Creating good-looking rooms is easy. Explaining to clients why Choice A better than Choice B is hard, but after a while--if I've done a good job--they learn to analyze that stuff on their own. My goal isn't to create a long, drawn-out dependency on me, but to help people learn to do their own houses with confidence. Those TV decorating shows may have taught people a few painting techniques, but mostly, they've made people unsure of themselves, unsure of their tastes & worst of all, afraid to make decisions, while at the same time, never showing them how to acquire the very knowledge that would make such decisions easy. It's easier to show them how to glue grocery bags & lansdscape waste to the wall.

Best wishes on your project.

Magnaverde Rule No. 10:
A degree is expensive but expertise is available for free to anyone willing to study.

As someone who only had stairs growing up and knows nothing about terminology, for a visual, I'd go with the newel post you like, the solid squared one.

It has a stable look to it along with it's beauty. It seems to "ground" the staircase.

Spindles only at the bottom looks like if I touch it the whole thing may come falling down. lol.

I like the mixture of the big newel with the spindles going up the stairs.

Glad you went with wood, I fell down our carpeted stairs as a teenager, and it hurt like heck! :)

Magnaverde, will you marry me?
Oh, wait, no, I'm already married, and happily.

I was just about to weigh in against the squares and chunks, and you did the job, magnificently.

I agree entirely about explaining why one choice is better than another, and about teaching people to see.

"We're struggling with deciding if we should do two spindles per step."

The minimum spacing between spindles is part of the building code. In your inspiration pictures they're all 2 spindles per step. You could add more but I don't think you can get away with only one.

Just as an update, we decided to go with this tapered spindle (the unfinished, unstained one in the center):

And this newel post:

I really appreciate everyone's advice, I'm happy withour decision now!

Those are lovely choices -- they're both graceful and without frou-frou, which I know isn't you. I am so excited about all your upcoming projects, although I'm most excited about your son!

Thanks for updating us.
xo