Several years ago we removed the carpet off our stairs and installed oak stair treads. Standard stain and poly finish. I was planning on leaving them plain as well. My husband almost fell down the stairs two or three times, I almost fell down several times and the dog did fall down the stairs. I then went and found a runner. The slippers may be more dangerous than bare feet.

By open plan do you mean with no risers?

Yes , so I don't think I can have a runner and that's where the problem lies . (thanks Deborah, I knew they would be slippy.)

Because you have the kids and the stairs are open, I think you'll have to forgo form over function. Safety is your priority here. There are some fun carpet products out there. I just googled non-slip stair treads / images and found this for instance:

http://www.amazon.com/Premium-Carpet-Stair-Treads-Matching/dp/B0039BF1HE%3FSubscriptionId%3D19BAZMZQFZJ6G2QYGCG2%26tag%3Dsquid1699520-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB0039BF1HE

Don't know what your design style is, but there are definitely options out there. Good luck!

Sorry, I misread open to mean no runner rather than your intent of no risers. House of Holland has given some good information. I have seen, but not sure where to start looking for them, some almost flat black stick on paper that is rough on the top. I'll have to do some research on that.

Even though I love the look, I will never have bare hardwood stairs in any home of mine, after I fell down a flight of them during a lottery dream home tour. One minute I was up, next I was a crumpled heap at the bottom with bruised ribs/forearm and a nice little concussion.

They are beautiful. But no thanks.

Thanks for researching Deborah . I am going to look at the link now . I just have my heart set on the stairs but I can't run the risk of slipping constantly . :-)

FLOR makes some great carpet tile options that might work for your situation. They are super easy to install using a utility knife and some sticky dots ( from FLOR) . They have some great colors, and some great neutrals. Just watch you edge detail, since it will show.

http://www.antisliptapeshop.com/Product/Brown-Standard-Non-Slip-Flooring/24

This website has several options. You can purchase just the tape like this or you can have it sized for you into say a rectangular piece. Take a look. Comes in various colors.

Bona has excellent floor finishes and they have two products which might work for your situation. They have a non-slip version of Traffic floor finish and a product called Naturale which is nonslip.

I don't know what type of finish you were thinking of using, but I recommend upgrading to the higher end two part waterborne finishes. They are expensive, but well worth the money in my view