Wood stairs with a runner is the way to go. Carpet on stairs is so unforgiving and it’s not going to give you an updated feel if you keep it.

I found an (advertisement) article and a photo for you. Your staircase and bottom step are much better looking than the photo. It might work out well as you have a full step and two posts. Interesting take and it might solve your problem for the time being. Agree with you about the children and the carpeting.

Have a feature newel or step

The beginning of a staircase is the most important part as it is the main element that people see when they walk in. on the majority of stairs that we manufacture will have a feature step, either a bullnose or curtail step (hyperlink) or both, this makes the first part of the stairs seem more inviting and can improve flow around the property (hyperlink to flow blog). One of the elements of a staircase that people don’t use to create a feature out of their staircase is having a feature newel. The first newel of a staircase can be altered in a few different ways to make it a feature. The first newel can be made bigger, for example if the majority of the newels on your staircase are 90 x 90 then making the first newel 120 x 120 will make it stand out. There are other ways to make the first newel stand out but this is the easiest and most efficient.

I will warn you that changing your stairs will be surprisingly expensive, but here are some pictures of more modern stairs:

Windsor Square · More Info

Transitional Metal & Wood Staircase · More Info

Modern Brooklyn Townhouse · More Info

If you need an inexpensive initial step and you are up for some DIY, there are tons of amazing stair makeover tutorials online - getting rid of the carpet will make a huge difference. We have steep stairs in our older home and didnt have issues with young kids - they learn to go slow and hold the railing

I'm wondering why you're installing LVP - it looks like you have beautiful wood floors at the foot of the stairs. Wood can be refinished if you don't like the color.

I can't imagine why you're not striping and re-staining those floors and stairs. If it is because you have no flooring under the carpet and want to remove it, you can match they types of wood and then stain all of it to match. As for stairs, stained main newel, handrail and treads with a gorgeous runner is the key to a fabulous staircase.

Karastan · More Info

This is awesome feedback! Thanks everyone! To clarify, the current flooring is laminate :/

I was scared of ripping up the carpeting but y’all are convincing me :)

Is it possible to know how usable/ugly the wood underneath the carpeting is? I like the idea of exposing the wood on the sides of stairs and doing a runner. I’m a bit worried about cost… any tips on how to keep the cost down a bit?

Thanks!

Ask the sellers about the wood under the carpet. They may remember.

Just grab a small crowbar and pull up a corner of the carpet in an inconspicuous place - even if the wood is not nice or stain-able, you can paint them super easily and then add the runner - seriously, the DIY makeovers online are amazing....

ETA - we painted our stairs and wallpapered the risers - Sherwin Williams has an additive you can add to floor paint that gives just a bit of grip and makes them not slippery

my home · More Info

Not sure what region you live in, but out west, houses built in that time frame do not have hardwood under the carpet. Our 2000 home has OSB stairs. Like you, I couldn't 'unsee' our oversized angled stairs whose 20 yr old carpet desperately needed replacement. I second what another mentioned on the cost of balusters and railings-- it's a sizable investment. We kept carpet on the stairs and in the kids' bedrooms.

I'd just change the shape of the bottom step to be a bit more squared and perhaps narrower to line up with the outer lines of the newel posts. Then carpet it.