I had mine painted 'iron ore' by Sherwin Williams last year. I did it because I looked at several pics of painted risers on houzz. I really like the darker risers - u can still see the shadow of scuff marks - just not the actual dirt. I think your gold colors would still show dirt. Sorry I'm not tech-savvy enough to attach pics.

if you type painted stair risers into the houzz search box you can find some good ideas. i have to say i'm not loving your deep yellow in contrast to your treads. : (

*links pinkies with nomimama*

I am almost done with my stairs project. We ripped out all the carpet and debated on either painting the risers white, gel staining to match the hand rail, or have the floor guy stain to match the floors that he was refinishing. We decided to go with the stain to match the floors as we felt that it would wear the best with kids and dogs (and reason that we decided to carpet treads. One day we will hardwood the treads too. We are very happy with the final result.

Think the gold color might really stick out and make staircase look like elephant in the room.

I had same problem so I designed and hooked rugs for my stairs! Here are some. But I'm just showing off! I think you are on the right track but would 'paint' a runner onto the stairs. Keep it simple and store the paint in a Mason jar for occasional touch ups with a foam brush.

Those hooked rugs are awesome. I think you could sell them.

Totally agree gold/mustard tone is not ideal. Just stared at the other colors and could not settle on one that would down play the beige walls and and ugly laminate flooring. Any ideas for alternate colors?

Also love the idea of hooked rugs by the way.

I love the idea but never having them and looking at your pics, I would use a greige or taupe like color. It will help to downplay the beige carpeting but still add a nice neutral punch to your staircase!! Sherwin Williams has some really nice colors in this family, but take those swatches to Home Depot and they will match the color with their Behr paint.

How about a color that plays off your console table?

i was thinking blue before i saw the console table... so yes, its worth considering.

the good thing its an easy and inexpensive project. dont be frozen in the headlights, grab a couple color sample pots and go. dont paint fewer than 4 of the same color next to each other tho or you cant tell which to use (unless you plan to do multiple colors).

When we had the stairs in our center hall colonial refinished many years ago they stained the steps AND the risers...we hadn't considered the risers so we were a bit surprised but we were never bothered by them. It was a pretty dark stain too.

I like the greige idea. Thanks. Was hoping to get something to "pop" but that might be tough with all the colors/materials in the stupid space. The table is a teal and it matches the bottom half of the wall in adjacent dining room. I'd be worried to do more real but if you can think of another blue that would work?

Another option to painting is nailing thin board to it. It's white but it wipes all well. Like bead board that is flat

What about a stair runner. The way your stairs are now are the correct way to paint them. Magic eraser works wonders.

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If you're serious about looking for a blue, then how about a medium dark grayish blue with just a hint of teal? Your colors don't need to match, they just need to play off each other. And that would be pretty good at hiding those toe scuffs.