Painting a stair rail is a giant pain. I would not paint one a trendy color, you'll just think it is dated again in five years.

Love it as long as the rest of your decor supports the trendy vibe. Otherwise, it will look just odd. But if you can pull it off it will be totally hot!

In my opinion it would be another example of somehow trying to make everything gray. I would keep the rails/balusters classic. It is much easier to change other elements as styles evolve.

Yes,IF it is part of a larger plan. As just a random element,no. Especially because it involves a lot of work :) BTW,are you following any of the ORC this time.....like this one https://www.natashahabermann.com/single-post/2018/04/11/SPRING-2018-ORC-WEEK-TWO  I know a staircase makeover is in the cards for her.

Thank you all! I appreciate all the voices.i am ambivalent about it myself which is why I posted, but up for the challenge of the painting work if I decide to go for it.

I have thought of getting quotes to replace the entire rail and balusters with a more updated style, if that gives you any indication as to how much I dislike the current one.

I could of course do a DYI change to plain, square wrought iron balusters. (No curliques!) That is my backup.

then I came across these pics and thought- hey, that’s cheaper than a staircase redo, and (maybe) cooler than simple wrought iron. And it’s kind of in a way a entryway foreshadowing of what Im going for in the house overall— the mix of that traditional shape with a very ‘now’ color. Going for a lot of mixing of traditional and new here. Ie cottagey kitchen table with newly ordered brass industrial-look chairs.

fyi if it matters, everything in this home is not grey— I have very very warm (pine?) floors. White cabinets, mostly Balanced Beige walls and some light blue walls currently although that can change. However I do have some key grey elements on the main floor: grey linen blend dining chairs that I’m keeping, and newly ordered grey window treatments (Roman shades).

key colors for the main floor are: white, currently balanced beige walls (if not familiar, it reads to me as a taupe), light blue (dining room wall which was a happy/odd coincidence- we also have a light blue sofa), grey (window treatments, dining chairs) , black (lots of accents, lighting, one chair) , brass, and various wood tones (warm wood for flooring, a few dark stained pieces, a few ‘grey oak’ pieces), and a few pops of a ‘brick rose’ for decor.

and I think/hope the vibe of our house would flow well with this element. I like that it somehow feels fresh to me without being something that I see everywhere.

And hollybar, I’ll have to follow the link you posted! Thanks!

Prison bars? NO!

Sophie do you mean no prison bars as in the plain wrought iron option I mentioned, or no prison bars as in an all-grey stair rail?

If the latter – my husband worked in a prison for years and I don’t think I ever remembered him mentioning glossy grey painted wooden bars ;)

White spindles, black satin finish rail, and move away from the gray paint can. Please.

Jan: I actually really really like this idea too! And would be way less work. I’ll have to seek out some photos. Thanks!

I'm a little bit of a germophobe so handrails in general gross me out. Especially in public places where you can see the grime from people's hands. The gray just makes me initially think it's dingy. I understand not loving the oak, but to paint it would be a sin. Jan's idea of white spindles and black finish sounds beautiful if it matches the rest of your home.

IMO we need pics of your space and staircase before really giving any good advice.

Ok- it’s all very much a work in progress! We actually haven’t moved in yet. We move in this Saturday.

(Had grand visions of all my desired work being completed before move-in. Ha! :) )

And, yes I realize that the carpet kind of ruins everything compared to any inspiration photo I might find. but I’m pretty sure there’s no nice wood underneath that carpet—and even if I were to pull it up and put wood down, I’d want a runner anyway for safety so it just seems kind of silly to do anything but leave the carpet in place.

(Also on the outer facing base of the stairs I already pulled down these oak swirled trim pieces- you can faintly see the outline of some of them as well as the nail holes—so that has to be painted anyway – I was just going to repaint that base white.)

Please note that wall color is negotiable.

Also the brass door chime is being replaced with a smaller black mod one by Spore.

Happy to hear thoughts! Please refer to an earlier post in this thread about what else is going in the broader space.

oh and heres a pic too of the new chandelier we’ll hang over the stairs.

(Yes – I know orbs are terribly trendy. at least, this one is made in the USA and is high quality- Hubbardton Forge.)

Looking at my pic posted here and thinking about it more – I think the wall color would definitely have to change if I did the grey stairs. To maybe white walls.

Which is fine—but now I’m thinking, thats also either a lot of work or a lot of cost. Just as much work if not more, as the stair change.

But if I decide I’m OK with the current wall color in general ( and on a practical note I think previous owners just recently repainted before putting the house on the market, it all looks new) then I think Jan’s idea could maybe work?

Leave the white spindles/balusters/ whatever the heck the things are called, and go for a dramatic black rail instead of the oak.

Satisfies my need for drama and feeling a little more contemporary, leaves the white spindles for needed contrast against the taupe walls, and also isn’t just quite eccentric as my original idea.

Paint the railing black. It's classic and stylish and never dated. Satisfy your "crazy good" decorating craving with art and a fabulous entry rug.

What about just the handrail gray and leaving everything else white? We did this a couple of years ago and it turned out quite nice. The stairscase originally had disgusting carpet on it, and we pulled it all off, painted the treads and rails, and added beadboard to the risers.

I picked a darker color of gray for the treads and stair rail because our walls are a very light gray. The wall in this photo has since been repainted with Sea Salt (which is blue-ish gray depending on the lighting).

Thanks d-gw! That’s what I’m thinking now too.

sh ow, I love your stairs! What kind of material are the stairs themselves? It looks nicer and more solid than what I am guessing is underneath our carpet. ( Also I really like your more Craftsman-y railing in the first place.) I think this look really works in your home – (oh and btw I absolutely love sea salt color! I bet its all gorgeous).

I think for just the grey rail to work in mine, I’d definitely have to pull up the carpet like you did —and I’m just not sure about what’s underneath!

rebecca_adia, the treads are cheap plywood. The front edge of each step wasn't finished so we found some pine trim to cover them and create an overhang to hide the spaces between the tread and riser. Here's a before photo without the carpet and before we added the pine trim.

This was a DIY project and I used almost an entire container of wood putty filling all the holes and gouges in the treads before we painted. We also used porch paint on the stairs and railing because we hoped it would be more durable, and so far it's worked well. We have dogs and two teenage boys and while there are some gouges and chips in the paint after 3 years, there's nothing that an afternoon with some more putty and touch up paint wouldn't fix.
The only way to find out what's under your stairs is to pull up some carpet! Maybe try at the top tread in the corner...that's what I did....but don't be surprised if you are tempted to continue pulling up carpet- that's what happened to me!
I like the idea of black railings, too...very pretty!

Wow! Thats inspirational! ( maybe a little too inspirational, my husband might feel. . .) ;)

I love this board.

Your rails/ballusters are so pretty!! Let your new light fixture and pretty rugs be your drama. Your house looks lovely and cheerful.

Thank you grapefruit! I do love the bones of this house. It’s a great palette :) and we’re so excited to move in. I just cant help tinkering, ha.

@all: yes(if you squint hard and imagine)? Handclap for Jan? By far the easiest proposal although sh ow has me now itching to pull up carpet too ;)

And perhaps oak trim at bottom of peekaboo wall cutout needs to turn white too, for visually simplifying ).

note: fireplace surround will be soapstone- a black chair will be in formal living room just right of entryway- so there are other black elements that this would play well with.

or would I still have to repaint the walls?

OK,since my crystal ball is working well today.....eventually two things will definitely happen in this house. The carpet will be gone and the walls will be painted.... unfortunately,the ball isn't sharing the timeline. Black and white is always classic and will look terrific in the space.

ha, I love it. I for one have a mysterious 6th sense telling me that your crystal ball is correct. ;)

but for the sanity of the rest of my family, and given that we've essentially now run out of time to do major wall painting before the initial move-in. . . I am thinking your ball may in fact be a very powerful one that predicts things a few years into the future. (Great purchase, that ball.) however, its wisdom is duly heeded.