Hi, Melissa--

Looks like you've got good bones to work with - always an important first step! You mentioned that your ideal state would be a stained tread - you could achieve this effect by filling and then painting them an off-black or darkest brown, since you plan to cover most of the tread with your runner idea. Just make sure you keep your risers and balusters in white to balance out the darkness involved in this classic look. And don't paint your handrail white - as the constant grip surface, it can be a devil to keep looking clean. Staining your handrail in a complimentary darker finish would be the way to go - and I usually think that post-to-post newels should be the color of the balusters, but that's open to interpretation. Cheers!

How much of the wood tread would still be exposed?

I've never done it, but others have: https://yourhomeonlybetter.com/painting-stairs-diy-faqs-and-tips/  Serious prep work will be key to durability. Since the high wear area of the treads will be covered in a runner, that reduces concerns about the treads. The painting will be very time consuming (close to a full week's work per the link), so I'd make DARN SURE you like the color and it matches your intended runner well. If you use paint on treads, make sure it's floor paint - it's formulated differently to perform better on floors.

You may also want to consider paint colors other than white. I would expect a mid-brown or mid-gray stain (i.e. somewhat close to natural wood color) to wear more gracefully than paint. OTOH, then you have to consider uniformity of stain uptake, and with pine that's an experiment and an adventure. Maybe consider semi-opaque stains. If you have an independent paint and stain store or a really good hardware store, the experienced person behind the counter will have lots of good advice. Good luck!

Approx 6-7” on either side of runner

Stained. Would not add a carpet runner.

I painted my stairs. So did my neighbour (all white). She did hers years ago with no problems. I did a coat to see how it holds up earlier this year. So far so good. We also have six of us, a large dog and three cats. I won't fully commit to the final coat until the new banister is ready to go in. The risers are "white" an the treads are caffeine. I like the look...so far. I also really the the chevron carpet you picked.

Thanks so much guys you have given me more confi in the idea of painting!!

Hi Melissa,

A really beautiful way to keep the staircase dynamic, and elevate the look a bit, is to stain the treads dark, brown or black, and then paint the risers a nice subtle white, and then lay the runner over that. It brings a bit of visual interest and accents the up and down nature of the stairs. You can then stain the rail and balusters the same as the risers, and paint the newell posts in the same white as the risers. Here's a photo. Hope this helps!

Michael

Owner/Principal

Piper Stone Home

Paint as pine is hard to strip and stain.

Find a neutral, sophisticated paint color rather than choosing something “cutesy” like seafoam green.

your wood actually looks like doug fir. I don't know if they were meant to be covered. you can tell by the way they were installed and finished if they were meant to be stained. I'm guessing since they are raw, they weren't. It's paint grade wood. if you stain them, it will prob look like this

you can always paint the risers and get oak treads and stain those. Or just give all the wood a very good sanding. clean up all the rough spots and sand smooth. use a vac to suck up every spec of dust and wipe w/a damp rag.

now prime them. do a fine sand when dry because the primer will give the wood 'nubs'. you want those nice and smooth before painting. clean up very well and get every speck before you start painting.

use this primer paint. Advance is beautiful on wood. you can also use Zinsser oil based primer.

If you want to try staining, use a dark walnut (general finishes) Gel stain.

then top w/general finishes

this site is glitchy. wrote a long comment and it just disappeared. lets try this again.

since it wasn't stained, I'm guessing it's paint grade. If you want to try staining, use these two

but it may look like this. Paintable wood was never meant to be showcased. thats why they used it under carpeting.

If you want to paint, make sure all the wood is sanded very well and finished with a 220-320 grit. vacuum up all dust and wipe w/damp rag. prime with zinsser oil base primer, fine sand again when dry, wipe clean and use Advance paint to paint.

I'd go buy new oak treads. about $25 each, stain and install those. then I'd paint the risers.

Adding treads throws off the riser heights and makes stairs non code compliant. And they become a trip hazard. Removing the current treads and installing new ones is fine.

From what I see of the decor of your home, stained pine stairs will be odd looking. Painted or painted with a runner would be a better fit.

There are anti slip additives to add to paint that remove the slippery part of painted treads. I used it on my painted basement steps and added it to concrete porch paint.

The possibilities of paint/carpet are endless.

well of course she would remove the old ones. I thought that was obvious.