I actually do not like the gray and certainly do not find it has made the stair case more modern. Strip and stain the same as the floors

I like it the way it is i wouldn’t mess with it!

Leave it alone, it looks lovely. It blends well the walls behind it. Staining would look like stripes against the back wall.

I would paint it white same as the spindles. This way it won’t compete with runner and wood stairs.

If it were mine I would paint it a soft black; most rooms benefit from a little black. Also, as others have pointed out stripping to stain the rai, will be a lot of work and mess.

Thanks for the feedback! Maybe another question would be should the rail be painted darker? For reference, right now it’s Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal.

I like the painted rail but do think a darker tone would be better.

You must strip the paint in order to stain the wood. That's a lot of very messy work and will be next to impossible to protect the painted spindles and stair treads from damage from stripping and sanding. So, in this situation, I would paint the posts white and paint the handrail black/ soft black.

Its a major job to stain it, since you have to strip it all down. It looks very nice right now, and I wouldnt do a thing to it. If you want to paint the rail, a darker closer to black, that would look very nice too. I wouldnt touch the rest of it, and probably wouldnt paint the rail either, until it needs it.

Yes it is a major job, you have to disassemble the stair case, strip and restain it. Major bucks. If you wants to go the route to make it more modern and match the wood consider replacing the spindles with iron and only having the bannister stained. You would have to replace the large column spindle.

Thanks for the feedback! Iron spindles scare me a bit having small children so I think the white spindles will stay...does anyone have or know of a simulation I could do with a black and stained hand rail?

Love the dark rail; def gives it a modern feel! If you painted the rail to match the stairs I think it would look drabby and too "matchy." The stair runner, however, is blegh. The staircase is gorgeous, it needs a runner that does it justice and there so many beautiful ones out there!

Check on eBay, there are aluminum spindle that are stunning and child safe. But you can always wait until the are a bit older. Everything has to meet code and moms approval.

Bummer! I actually like the runner but what were you thinking?

Here is my stairwell before and after.

Brittany, to be fair, the pics probably don't do your runner justice. But, I'm a fan of interesting stair runners...as an opportunity to enhance a beautiful staircase even more.
Sorry, my screen filter was on for the screenshot :/

Hi, which one did you end up going with? I have European white oak flooring with steamed milk on the walls. I am leaning towards a darker stain, but I ma unable to decide which one.