It seems a shame to cover the nice wood. Have you considered adding some interest to it with incorporating additional design within the baluster? Or some paint can freshen them up; black and white is classic. Good luck.
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To bring this staircase into this century I suggest painting them black and replacing the carpet with a light tan after adding boards to them.

Thank you for the ideas. I never thought of painting them. I think we want to change out the newels from wood to iron, but our dilemma is how to attach them since the current newels are attached to the outside. We are stuck, because we really don't want to paint over the wood, painting it wouldn't really go with our style of home, unfortunately.

try www.cheapstairparts.com they have install video and info, on updating your stairs and great prices on newels. You would end up drilling into the riser and handrail, and it looks like the handrail is directly vertical of the riser, so it should work. I've been making plans for the 1979 short sale we made an offer on and this is my favorite so far, but check out local options. our staircase will be out of code, and we have young kids... see attached

Love the pictures. Have you thought about brightening up the wood with a stain or polyurethane and definitely taking the carpet off the stairs; making the wood of the stairs a showpiece.

Some good ideas here. Be cautious removing the carpeting, since it is an open staircase, the stair treads may not be an attractive wood.

I like the floating glass idea since it is an open staircase. I think it will simplify the design. Keep the wood handrail...add glass panels and hold them in place with wood molding.

(I know I have some crazy ideas but ...) looking at this, I would consider partially painting the balusters. Each upright baluster has four sides. Let the part facing the staircase, and the part facing out remain wood. Then paint the left and right faces some accent color. It would change the shadow lines that are accentuating the regular verticals. Or take it farther - choose three gradients of blue for example. Layout two wavy horizontal lines, and paint the left and right sides of the balusters as above, but use the darkest color below the lines, the lightest color above, and the last in the middle. You haven't spent a lot, haven't changed much, but can add a beautiful artistic accent that way, and add a softer line that de-emphasizes the regular bars.

(me again) or for something completely different, pick your favorite small cabinet knob, get a bunch, and attach them to the balusters, just for decoration. They can form new lines, curves, or align with your current shapes. I would mount them facing sideways, and then if you get tired of them change them out. You could use hooks or pulls or almost any little piece of hardware that takes your fancy.

Thank you for all the ideas! My question still stands... If we changed out the newels, how would we replace the holes where the base of the newels is attached? We could change the railing for the newels to attach to, but what about the base, it would have holes on the outside.

I have redesigned several staircases for clients. In the case of too much wood, I'll have the individual spindles painted an off-white color to contrast with the wood posts and bannisters. Or you could use a dark stain on the bannister and posts, and a very light stain on the spindles for contrast. As far as the holes from removing the newel posts, i would check with your contractor. Perhaps you can fill the holes with a decorative metal piece of hardware.

Marlene that is a great idea to fill the holes! Thank you

I'm wondering if you ever figured out a solution? I am thinking of updating mine but I don't know what to do about the holes. . .

We are in the process of updating our stairs too. We don't have the dilemma you have but through my online searches I know I have seen black iron balusters attached to the outside of stairs, just can't remember where I saw them. If I run across them again, I will send the pic. Good luck.

the harsh realities are -1-you have a large amount of railing, appears to be about 50 feet, so your choices will have a great impact on the appearance of the many rooms around the stairways -2- this will be expensive -3- stairways are NEVER a DIY project. -4- attempting to replace only the newels will not work and you will never be satisfied with the result. If I had this dilemma I would not do anything until I was going to do a major remodel and was able to spend many dollars, including the fees for a professional designer. Your choices will hugely impact all 3 floors, overwhelming any other design decisions you make.

We have almost the exact same style balusters as those.... except our are spaced out 9" apart, house was built in 1977. We are getting bids on replacing the banisters with a modern cable railing style banister. Our home is contemporary. I wonder what you ended up doing?