Anyone?

Plain wood would be so much better than iron. Iron is the carpet of the teens. It's a future ''what were they thinking''.

I totally agree with Sophie!

I like your second picture choice, with the white columns.

I think you can use wood or iron for the ballisters, but keep it very simple. The posts in your photos are too heavy for your space and the room in your entry. Keep it a similar size to what you have now.

Whatever you do, do not use those iron spindles with the little twisty things in the middle. They are sooo over. They draw attention to themselves while at the same time screaming 'I was made in a factory in China!' They're not hand made and they're not fooling anybody.

Do wooden spindles.

I cannot believe that that gate on the stairs meets code. At. All. That bar across the tread has got to be a legal liability as a trip hazard.

I like the idea of the iron, but super simple without any "twisty things".

I love iron! Fits in with our mantra of using classic building materials to do something minimal and new.

The gate looks to be one of the 'temporary' types - to corral rambunctious kids and/or dogs. I know it would be useless with cats - they go where they like and no barrier is impossible for them to overcome (or squeeze between). I have a similar one that pressure mounts to the knee wall and part of the loft railing - I have four doors in my house; front, sliding glass, bathroom, and closet. Can't really stick the dog in the closet or bathroom, and on bath days I don't really want to have to chase her around the house until she gets tired.

All that aside, balustrades do look nice when they're the right size for the space and *simple*. How that translates to any particular space is a combination of individual preferences and what the space itself can accommodate. Iron, wood - do you like it? Does it fit with the overall surroundings? You'll be the one living with it once it's there. :)

Thank you everyone for your comments! We have a small landing area at the top of the stairs that we want hardwood put in. The contractor wants to put pre finished oak hardwood on the treads and landing. The rest of the downstairs is oak wood not prefinished. What are your thoughts on that?

As for the gate we use it to keep our very busy 1 year old lab downstairs so he cannot get into our children's bedrooms and inhale their toys. Also to keep him away from our 16 year old cat who exclusively now stays upstairs away from the dog.

I think either wood or iron is ok -- just keep it away from being too modern, as the general feel of your entry is more traditional in details.

I don't know how Sophie can view this as a trendlet of the 20teens. I rehab houses in Philadelphia that are usually around 100 years old, and almost all of them were built (or renovated in the 40s) with iron railings. Like anything else, the details of design evolve over time, but this is hardly a flash in the pan!

How about something like this design from Deborah Broockerd of Closet Factory? Storage under the stairs, but you'd have to take a different angle with it.

I like the second picture with the white columns. Gives the room a more open feeling and lightens it up a bit too. Light and bright is always a good thing!

acm: The difference is that these iron railings are cheap knockoffs. Plus--the houses in Philly that got iron railings in the '40s weren't anything to brag about (unless they were done by one of the good wrought iron firms like Samuel Yellin). They didn't look that great either. I know. I live in one of those Philly houses. I took the railing down while the movers were here so that they could get the bed up the stairs, and good riddance (one of the movers took it, probably for scrap, and it was probably from the '60s--even worse).

Just because people made mistakes 50 years ago doesn't mean we need to make the same mistakes. I wouldn't recommend green fiberglass awnings either, nor screen doors with silhouettes of Amish horse-and-buggies on them, nor wrapping the wood trim in aluminum flashing, nor carpet in the bathroom, nor...

What are your thoughts on having pre finished wood in the landing area at the top of the stairs?

If the prefinished wood will be quite close to the look of the rest of your wood, I think it will work out.

Can pre finished be sanded and stained?

I have prefinished wood and, yes, it can be sanded and stained. Typically it has a tough aluminum oxide finish on it that lasts longer than site finished finishes so the need to have it refinished isn't as great, but it can be sanded and stained.

Tatts

That's a whole lot of 'no'. Is there anything you'll 'yes' (if you hear a faint *thud*, it's probably going to just be me passing out in shock and sticker shock over here depending on the answer/s.)