White risers will look good. For a short time. We had them and it was impossible to keep up with the scuff marks.

Didn't think about that. Thanks.

We had similar stairs with the lovely feature that some of the steps sloped slightly downward. The slope mixed with the very smooth finish was a death trap.

The runner we added gave a great look and solved the deathyness of it.

Depending on the rest of your decor, I could imagine that painting the newel post and rail black would be attractive, especially if you matched to a majority dark/grey/black runner.

ooo we have a steep back stairs with a high deathyness quotient as well. the stairs are level but the front of most of the treads has a serious wane in the middle from 140 years of people going up and down. i cracked a rib a few years back. we should put a runner on it but its a pain since its a 180 degree turn with piecrust steps around the corner. shoes only on that one, no bare feet or socks.

I love the look of a white riser, and if you are planning to put on stair runner then you wont have many scum marks. This is one we had put in out home, My kids and dogs were sliding down them too often, The other two are customers we have recently done, all came out great, add color, or style and helps with safety!

On the white riser idea. I have white risers currently in my first house and like the look. I didn't feel bad painting over the wood because the risers are cheap, hard-to-stain plywood. If the fashion of white risers changes, I can rip them out and replace them in an afternoon.

My new house, however, has 120 year old solid hard wood risers, and I'm very hesitant to simply paint over them. I may end up doing it, but I will give significantly more pause before doing so.

White risers and a runner is what we have as well. Works great on our 100 year old stairs. My sister tiled her risers, but her steps are wider and not so steep as mine.

A few white show panels along the wall add a nice touch as well!

That's what I'm worried about. My house was built in 1941. Should I mess with it? Previous owner had them covered in carpet. I had the carpet ripped off and stairs refinished. So I think its a huge improvement. Should I stop with the stair runner? That is my dilemma. Knowing when to stop.

More pics

I think if you're doing a runner, I wouldn't also paint the risers. It can be a bit fussy visually, and the wood looks nice. (In contrast, I think that the bannister and newel post are a bit off tonally and will be nice painted.)

Here's a set of stairs I did with a runner and no paint, and a staircase with paint and no runner, just for comparison.

I prefer both of these to Carpet Mill's first two photos.

I also refinished my stairs. I had to paint the risers because they were very knotty pine, but I think the solid wood of your stairs is lovely. I much prefer the wood to painting anything on it black - would be more trend then pop. I do occasionally have to wash / touch up the white risers. We had hardwood flooring put in upstairs and the flooring guys marked up the risers with their shoes. At home, we mostly do not wear shoes in the house.

I used stair tread rugs. I love the look but they do not protect the lip of the stair or the risers as well as a runner.

In this pic my walls do look blue but they are gray. Classic Silver by Behr. Ok so I'm going to leave the risers alone. Maybe refinish the banister to Minwax Early American like the floors to give some spark. Black might be trendy and I will probably be mad at myself for messing up original work. Stair runner is a must. Thank you all for the feedback.