I was shooting into the lift- wall of windows much lighter. On the grayest Seattle day, our house is filled with light--and the change from the trim has transported us from 1973 to the present!

Can we do something with paint? Hemorrhaging $$$

Well, why didn't you say so, I thought maybe you had bags of money lying around LOL. Maybe paint them Griege ( seems to be a color many of these contributors are pleased with).

paint them black or charcoal gray

you could remove the railing and replace it with plexi glass ,I have no clue how much the price would be for your stair case . If money is a problem just paint the railing .
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Are those stairs legal where you live ?
there is toomuch of a gap in between ,not very safe if small children are living in the house .

http://www.the-wooden-hill-company.co.uk/staircase-building-regulations-c89.html

http://www.woodsthebest.com/wood-railings/building-code-woodRailings.htmhttps://www.houzz.com/photos/cary-bernstein-architect-potrero-residence-transitional-staircase-san-francisco-phvw-vp~98665]

whole thing or rail and stringer ?

since every thing is light colored a pop of color would help

its a basic system I would paint the whole thing the same color

Ha Ha. To get the countertops up the stairs we've had to remove the inner rails. I've almost fallen to an unfortunate end any number of times. Hoping it's easier for the floor guy to get to the treads.

Rockin' Fine, have you seen this around town? Ever seen a good remediation? My friend has white rails and BM Narragansett Green for the rails. Any color but white for the rails.

and you don't want to refinish them to a new stain or natural finish?

I'd consider doing that with the rail and stringer or just the rail. Maybe a rich brown/espresso color. But was thinking of keeping the balusters white.

I think whatever you choose it should be all the same the white would break it up to much this isn't a traditional railing system or if do two colors they shouldn't be drastically apart they should be comparable you can do a darker handrail and lighter balusters and stringers

First think safety then colour , didn't any of you noticed it yet ?

What do you think of the griege? It's in the countertop and when the dining table is returns, I'm considering a grey, silver or griege? area rug. The other colors in the living area that this opens onto are a Crate and Barrel sectional with a yellow / green/ red-all muted in a close weave.

The cable rail system or a combination of wood and metal will lend well with our Pacific NW Contemporary architecture. Here are a couple of my project examples I did in the Silverdale, WA area.

Since it looks like you are going with white trim in the rest of the house, I would recommend to paint them white. This would repeat the look of the windows in the second photo you posted and it would allow them kind of go away.

Genevieve -the lack of railing certainly does freak me out! Will find out tomorrow am if I need to keep it off for refinishers- while they're working we won't be able to use the stairs. Rockin' you have a very good point there about the contrast- I hadn't that of it.

Wyland did you do a remodel or new construction with the cable system? I've done a lot of research on it and yet don't have much of a sense of difficulty or cost. (I have good contractors) The cable would work with the brushed nickel hardware on that level.

look at eagle rock from Benjamin

I think Genevieve is trying to tell you that your railing probably does not meet code! It would be a shame to spend a bunch of money on it if it doesn't. You really should look into that prior to proceeding and it may save you money in the long run.

It totally doesn't meet code because of the space between the balusters. Fortunately we rarely have a toddler visit and grands are probably years away..... Our dogs seem to get the picture, fortunately.

Eagle Rock very nice. For the whole thing? Would the idea be to make the whole thing go away?

Yes, I did do the designing of the home and had specified the cable rail system. The contractor was able to find the parts through a local (Seattle- who?) staircase company. However, many of these parts can be found from exterior deck railing systems also.

Another idea- If you want the stair railings to really blend and mostly go away, paint them the same color of the walls. Make sure you use the appropriate trim paint for durability.

as is I wouldn't highlight it you would have a stair color a wall color and then two others if you do a two tone railings but you can do the cable railing that wyland recommended with the a wood handrail

What Wyland Interior Design Center said. I love the cable system and it's really cheap to remove the 1970s pillars and install cables. I wouldn't paint the railing. Painted railings are hard to keep looking nice, and stained wood doesn't show marks nor wear.
Your carpenter will need to build some end pillars to match the handrail, but then a quick stain and finish of the stringers and handrails and you are golden. What a fabulous renovation you've done!

Thank you for noticing the perimeter is Pental oasis the counter is white alpinus aka Copenhagen

The stair place on 4th avenue is amazing- but high end. Great field trip, and very nice people.
I'm going to look into the options of painting it all one color ( professionally) as well as see if I can get a better sense of the actual cost of retrofitting with cables Still open to more suggestions, but what you've given me has helped a great deal. I'll get back to you with the hideous fireplace when I'm ready to tackle that !!
And I'll post photos of the stair Reno as well

Replacing the banister/newel posts could go a long way. Attached are some photos a neat open wooden switch back stairway we just finished.

Beautiful work and design! Thank you!

Great Job!!! NW Woodworking.

Thanks Wyland and Roxanne ; ) -

Roxanne there always ways to get creative with a budget and would be happy to invite you to our studio in Seattle to talk. Because of the way your stairs are built - there is a lot of potential and some (relatively) affordable ways to make them a lot better.

View our idea book with residential cable railing. There are few images of stairs with railing using SS cable as infill. http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/4579344/thumbs/Residential-Cable-Railing-by-The-Cable-Connection

Boy! You've done a really beautiful job on your remodel!

If your moulding and trim are white, the railings should be, too. Probably not the best to keep clean, but the right finish will help. The other option would be a lighter stain, but I don't think you want to be restaining....................Yikes

If money is a concern, you could paint the railings and side of stairs, but add a more substantial railing, and post at the bottom, with a topper. Then you won't notice the kind of skinny veritcal pieces as much. It would be relatively inexpensive, and maybe an interum
solution. I really like the cable railing, if it;s cost effective.


You may not even need different railings, if wider ones won't work on the narrow upright pieces (what do you call those?) if you add a more substantial post and topper at the foot and landings, too. Kind of like the black and white loft pictured above.

I should have mentioned it right off, but I lived in a 1970's split level, NW contemporary that had identical stair railings.!

The reason I know that, is my neighbors house had them.

The house I lived in was actually my boyfriend's house, that he had purchased in the early 90's, I think. The previous owners had remodeled, painting all the dark stained interior doors white, which was okay, but then added a sort of colonial style white and light wood stair railing.

They put in a new kitchen, with very high quality cabinetry, but it was a dark oak, Mediterranean style, with a wall of matching china cabinets, with dark oak matching flooring. You were completely surrounded with oak.

But the topper was when they put ONE huge white Roman column on the front of the house. Because split levels are asymetrical, and taller on one side, there was no room on the other side, and it if there was, it would have been less than half as tall.

If you ever saw "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", it was heading towards her parent's house!

I'm Italian, and have relatives that tried to do the same thing. They had a 1940's light brick, sort of modern house, and spent a fortune sticking columns and other sort of neo-classic stuff on it. It was VERY similar to the house in the movie, and people would drive by all the time to look at it. You gotta love it, though. Wow! I really got sidetracked! Oops!

Good Luck! " A tavola non si invecchi mai!" ("You never grow old at the dinner table!")