If it were me I'd pull the carpet if it's stained and either try staining whats under neath or use paint on it.
Clean even if it's not exactly what you want I think always looks better than a dirty stained carpet.

If it were me, I would definitely pull out the carpet and paint the stairs and landing (unless the wood is stain grade then I would considering staining it but I am thinking it may not be) - I think it will look very crisp and fresh.

I recently painted my 90 year old stairs that were so full of holes they were past refinishing (and could not be replaced without major reconstruction) and I love how it looks. I used porch floor paint from Ben Moore and an additive called "Shark Grip" from Sherwin Williams (just mixed into the paint) so the stairs are not slippery at all - stair re-do's are really satisfying projects and there are lots of amazing ones on this forum.

Also, paint every other stair so you have adequate drying time before having to use them -

The carpet is fairly new, just a cheaper quality, but it's clean. I mostly dislike it because the dog hair is so hard to get up and I prefer the look of wood stairs. That said, I don't really want to paint the treads. The risers would look great white, but I've had painted treads before and they start to wear. I think the treads are stain grade all the way across, but I really don't know about the landing. Does anyone have suggestions for how to treat the landings assuming they are not stain-grade?

This is when sometimes I call it: choosing a B over an A, knowing that right now you have a C.

I had the same dilemma in a townhouse we owned in an average kind of neighborhood. It certainly was not worth it to rebuild them. I pulled the nasty carpet off only to have lots of nails, a chip or two on the edges, etc. I opted for painting the risers and slapping a coat of stain on the stairs. No matter how you looked at it, it was better looking than the carpet. The surprise effect was that the stairs now gave a bit of personality to the home when you entered.

Your stair treads look to me like they are a hardwood of some sort (tight grain). The landing may need some invention to cover it up, but that depends on what is under there. I would guess that even if it is plywood, there is a piece of solid stair moulding on the edge, so you could then cover just the plywood part with a rug or a thin tile. Or you could paint an area rug there and cover it with several layers of poly. Just ideas.

I would take off one, preserving the carpet so you can put it back on later if it doesn't work out. Then you can really see what you have to work with. I agree with dainaadele that it looks like the treads are hardwood. But your risers appear to be pine. So the woods might take stains differently. I think a great end result might be stained treads and painted risers. But then you may want to go back and to a stair runner up the middle.

Dainaadele, I hadn't thought of a painted area rug on the landing. That would be a good compromise.

Jakabedy, thanks for pointing out the different wood on the risers. I hadn't noticed that, but when I looked, the grain does seem to be different, although the stain color matches well. I love the look of painted risers, and since my spindles are already white, it wouldn't be that hard.

If the landing is plywood, could I gel stain it and put a throw rug (well secured) on each landing to disguise most of it? The existing stained wood is not that attractive, so I've thought of going over it with some General Finishes gel stain, which would also help minimize stain differences on the treads since the ends are already finished. I've used Java on several furniture pieces and been very pleased, but I'm not sure what the results would be on plywood. Has anyone used GF Brown Mahogany or Antique Walnut?

Worst case you could just keep the carpet on the landings. I'd start with the steps and then figure out what to do with the landings.

Here's an idea from Rhoda at Southern Hospitality, who recently tackled a similar project. It's lots of hard work!

http://southernhospitalityblog.com/ripping-ugly-carpet-off-the-stairs/

Equest

Yes, go for it

I would further rec painting the risers a white - just cover the stain with Zinsser stain cover & paint an off white.

Link below to a lovely transformation of stairs, with step by step instructions on how to do it.

Here is a link that might be useful: staircase

I'd carefully remove the carpet on one of the least noticeable steps. The worst case scenario is that you have nicer wood under the railing that's exposed currently and that the rest is plywood with knots or other major flaws.

If the wood is all the same height and doesn't have major flaws, paint will work.

We're in the same boat as you right now, and I am undecided. I'd really like to have hardwood stairs of course, but I've been quoted $10,000 for that...outrageous. I don't want to Do it myself with paint, etc. because I'm afraid it won't look professional and plus it's extremely hard work, as someone posted above. Think twice before you get into such a project..your skills would have to be fairly advanced, I would think.

Yes -- another vote to strip off the carpet -- and paint the staircase.

Use a good primer -- and paint in fresh white.

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

Thanks for all the encouragement and advice. DH and I pulled back one of the carpet pieces today on the treads and found solid oak all the way across, so that will be the easy part; the landing is particle board with an oak nose. He's all for pulling up the carpet, so we'll start with that and figure out what to do about the landing when we get there. Worst case, we can remove the particle board piece and lay a new sheet of wood so it will stain like the treads. I'll post again when we've made some progress.

I'd go for it. Did this to my steps back in Sept and am happy with the look. I used SW porch and floor paint and wish I would've used something else. It's still a bit tacky almost 2 months later. Grr. It was suggested maybe it's a humidity issue and I'm digging the fan back out but if I could do over, I would've tried BM or Paintguy from the painting forum said he liked Muralo paints for floor.