Ditto

Most likely there is decent wood underneath that carpet. Job one is to rip that sucker up and show us what you're working with...

oooh! I forgot to mention, no wood, just old brown on brown tile.

Wood would have been terrific!

Door is a good idea. I had thought of just removing it.

The fixture is a tough one. Do I find a new one for the same spot or install one in the ceiling, if possible. Do I need more than 1 fixture?

Could it be under the tile? I know our house has "new" stairs so it's going to be bad when I do my stairs...but I've been looking at this http://www.nustair.com/about/ I'm not affiliated, there are a few overlay systems out there. I feel like carpeted stairs look old very quickly so (for me) I would prefer not to have it.

So if you're doing carpet definitely go for something commercial...

What if you did something like this?:

I feel that some kind of wainscoting or paneling would cut down on the feel of it being a dark well I notice you have plain wall from ceiling to stair)....and you could pretty much fake this look with stock molding from Lowes or Home Depot. I think the most frustrating part would be getting the mitered cuts just right. But I'm sure there are tutorials on it.

We used bead board in our stairway to the basement. I have it in my powder room and back hall, so it made sense to use it in the stairwell. We have two dogs and the tail marks were killing my walls. We have a tight weave multicolor carpet on the stairs and vinyl planks on the basement floor.

Good idea and great color!

I’ve tried twice to post pics of our stairwell, but my photos and post disappear once I hit submit. Anyway, we used bead board in our stairwell. It lightened it up and the walls stay cleaner.

I see them!

They just showed up for me minutes ago. Bizarre.

Yes..nice idea ;)

I see them too.

I also did a wainscotting treatment aswell as a light fixture to brighten things up.

You have been given great suggestions. I would add a light at the top, a ceiling fixture at the " turn" , or maybe sconces along the way.

i think so too.

What is the general opinion on colorful carpet, if a fun runner on wood stairs is not feasible?

You might install LED track lighting that can be adjusted to wash the walls with light. Here's one to light the art on side walls in a narrow hallway.

Contemporary Art Gallery Hallway · More Info