I don't think the stairs ideally complement the floors since they appear more dark gray vs. chocolate brown in the photo but, because all of the stairs and the post are that color, it would be a lot to change.

So the stairs and rail are painted- not stained, correct? I don't think it's the best look (would need to see from far away to know for sure). It would be a pretty big undertaking to sand those rails down and re-stain them. Might actually be worth it to buy new spindles. I don't believe it's a big deal to sand re-stain the treads though.

I think the white spindle color and style are fine but you would need to have the carpeting removed to re-do the treads.

I think the decision here is to either redo the stairs or the floors.

It would be a lot of work, but you can sand and re-stain the rail and stairs!

Thank you so much for all the comments. The stairs and spindles are all painted, not stained because our painter said it's not doable since it was previous stained with other color. We are thinking about removing the carpet on the stairs and add runner instead, but hesitate on using this same color. I guess it can't be stained once it's painted, at least not worthy it financially rather than buying new spindles and rails?

I definitely wouldn't change the floors and it's okay that you'd have to re-paint vs. stain the treads, post, and rail. You can just have them re-painted in a color that better complements the floors.

Personally I think the carpeting kills the stairs. The color combos you have are not horrible. . You could go to a brighter white. Sanding painted work is a lot of time and can be expensive. Some times matching stained wood tones doesn't always work with treads,railing and flooring. The stain work would probably hold up better then the paint.

I don't mind the paint color with the floors -- you're going for a painted style, not stain, and it's dark enough to be ok with the darker hues of the floor. Since your walls are such a cool color, you can't really go warmer on the stairs, so I'd leave it, whether or not you change the runner. (In an ideal world, a little darker would be better, given the lighting in the room, but worth the time and expense.)

That black first step plan I mentioned above would work best if you kept carpeting or a runner on the stairs currently covered so the bottom step continued to remain more notably different.

acm, love the color in the second picture, would you give me more information on the paint? Thank you!

Elle, that's a very unique idea!

I like the idea (mentioned above) of painting the stair treads black - but I would remove the carpeting and do all of them. (If you're not sure you want to do that yet, or ever, you can do it in stages, starting with the bottom tread. If you like it, you could work your way up.)

I also love the idea of putting a runner down - after the treads are painted black. Personally, it bothers me that the carpeting doesn't go all the way down and stops at the last tread, but then who cares about my opinion! What matters is that *you* love it! :D

Inspiration for runners with dark treads and light risers:

Any information that's available is found by clicking the "more info" link under the photo -- they're not my work, so you just have to see if the posters have identified the paint or any other features of the space.

greenyogini, that's actually what I plan to do. My painter just confirmed what we have is the wood stairs, not plywood (yeah!!!!). So with that, I plan to work with the painter to see if he can stain all the stairs (after hauling away the carpet of course), including the last step to make it same as the floor, then change the color of the rails and spindles to coordinate with the floor. Anyone's thoughts?

Awesome! Do you have pictures of the rails and spindles so we can see what you're thinking about changing?

greenyogini, I am having difficulty to find the right paint (the problem I had in the first place). So my plan is to finish the stairs (remove the carpet, sand and stain, including the ones have been painted), which involves no paint picking. Since it will be stained, there shouldn't be any color mismatch issue. Before I feel comfortable with the color, I don't want to touch the rail and spindles yet. Of course, eventually this has to be done. I really don't like the carpet on the stairs anyway, this is just a perfect opportunity to get rid of it.

Sounds like a plan, Jenny! :) Can't wait to see photos!

Here's the new look. Thank you all for your input, much appreciate it!

I would get them stained to match the floors, like this!

Dilemma solved! Looks great!

Loudoun Stairs, that's exactly what we did, see my picture in the comment.

Great work, Jenny! :D

Wow that looks beautiful! Great work!