We have a 5 step staircase that opens on both sides over the bottom two steps and are trying to figure out what type of handrail to install to bring it up to code and so it looks good (it opens to our living room). Any suggestions? The width of the stairs between the two walls is 36"

We saw three options:

1. Small handrail on the left wall over just the top 3 steps (no spindles).

2. Handrail on the left wall that comes down into a volute over the last step (either a straight line or a handrail that curves out where the staircase opens)

3. Short handrail and volute over just the bottom two steps on the left side that comes out of the side wall - no handrail on the upper three steps.

Any advice would be much appreciated. We like the open look since it's a narrow staircase but hard to tell from our research if option 1 and/or 3 is sufficient and up to code. We're in NJ. Thanks!

Photos. The white strips are for lining up a stair runner.