I think the railing looks nice all in the wood color

Are u doing it yourself? It can get messy...I would want to get the rail done before the new floor gets put in to avoid damaging the new floor. Congrats on your new changes!

What is your style? This one goes for a very elegant effect: http://houzz.com/photos/2960013

Yes I want to get it done before Monday. I like a more traditional/modern look. Not so elegant. Thanks for your input. The floors will be darker not honey oak as in the staircase currently.

Try to separate this area from the rest of the house from all the sanding and painting.

It looks like u are in the middle of construction/remodeling...Hanging plastic to enclose the area/room helps keep dust contained..wear a mask too...What are u doing with the wood on the stairs? Staining to match floor?

Yes nothing in main living area is complete or finished. Remodeling entire house. We hope to have drywall and paint done before the floors go in next week. It will be a busy weekend. Still undecided on the steps wondering if they could stay the same???

The reason I said to keep them all wood color is because your large walls will provide much light color( it looks like you picked a light paint color) Keeping the rails all in wood would provide some nice contrast to the space.

I would keep the risers white

Contrast the railing from the posts with paint and add a runner that is not patterned but textured for a little drama

What color is the rest of the trim going to be? On the doorways, baseboard, etc?

I plan on painting the risers BM Dove White same with spindals. I like the runner idea. Thanks. Any suggestions on best methods of applying paint to spindals?

Sand-remove dust, prime, paint...Unless u are having it sprayed. A good quality brush makes all the difference too, in my experience.

dlengers...My husband does spraying/painting, cabinets, bannisters, etc professionally for a builder...I asked him and he says use a primer to go over the stain then repaint...he didn't think u needed to sand.

Anything you can do to "tie it all together" The runner was broadloom that I had bound on the edges and then I put stair rails across each step to match the hardware in the room...lots of finishes for those and styles...brass to nickel! My painters simply primed and painted the wood spindles. In this case black to coordinate with the accented black runner and doors and dots in the marble for the necessary connection. Stair runners were brass as the wall paper was a hand made Ralph Lauren rice paper with soft gold pressed into the surface...top rail of walnut matched the upper floor of walnut stained wood.

If you plan on painting the balusters (spindles) and refinishing the handrail and posts, I would suggest removing the balusters 1st. If yo do this you will eliminate A LOT of masking and the end result will look much better. Also, it allows you to paint the balusters in a garage or other room and you wont be worried about over spray (if spraying). The balusters are easily removed and re-installed. Don't forget to number them as you pull them out! they need to go back in the same spot.
Also, another thing to consider is that when you paint Oak balusters, you will never get rid of the Oak grain. To do so, you would have to apply enough coats of primer and paint that it would be a lot cheaper to just buy a pre-primed poplar balusters.

Good point Andy..My husband usually masks up and sprays railings vs. painting..but many DIY people don't have the resources.

Just purchased the primer. My spindles seem to be nailed in so I will be using a lot of tape! Now the only sanding I will have is the railing. Thanks everyone!

Good luck..show us how it comes out!!

I will post a picture when I'm finished! The sanding is going well, but I have not only this stair case but a balcony with rails and a rail that goes downstairs. Will finish the balcony in am then clean up tape and prime the spindles. I sanded mainly to remove the varnish hoping that is enough.

Update - wood floors will be installed and finished by Friday. The humid days took a long time for wood to acclimate to house. Can't wait for the railing to match the floor. Right now I am thinking dark walnut for floor. I am so happy I painfully painted every spindle. Looks nice!

Wow...U did a lot of hard work!! Looking great!!

Well it took forever to finish but the finished product is exactly how I wanted it!

Well done!

It looks fabulous!
How did you get it to look do good?

I used a good primer on the spindles. Taped off the stairs and railing. Painted each one with a brush and foam trim roller! Then we decided we would match the stairs with the new hardwood floors so they had to strip the stair treads which messed up all my perfected treads and spindles. I sanded the railings and stained the railings the same color as the floor. Then I retaped and repainted the spindles. The stairs and floor are dark walnut and the white is Benjamin Moore white dove.

Did you also stain the underside of the banister? If so, his did you get in there without affecting the spindles?

Yes I did sand underneath with sandpaper by hand. I had taped off the top of each spindle.