In this case I would carpet to go with what's going on upstairs. Unless you have some decent risers and treads under that carpet, like oak treads with bullnose that can be refinished if necessary. If they are just plywood under there, meant to be carpeted, I would carpet them.

With kids, carpet is wonderful! The noise, both to and from the bedrooms is muffled. The noise on the stairs is reduced. And on a cold winter morning, carpet is warmer for those little toes.

I agree with the previous 2 comments. Additionally, putting any hard surface on stairs costs about 5 times as much.

Without knowing what the actual stairs look like, if suitable and suits your style, painting is an easy choice and add a runner for safety and a finished look.

Great idea to see what's under the carpet before making a decision. I hadn't thought of that, thanks! I was planning on only carpeting the bedrooms, and replacing the main floor (I'll add more photos) with LVP.

Its not unheard of to mix materials. Use tiles on the risers and LVP on the treads.

Handpainted Stair Risers · More Info

The problem with LVP is that it is thin and requires a trim piece to be used on stairs. And that is basically a vinyl cap that acts as bullnose. Not very attractive and generally most LVP does not seem to come with this matching. Plus the overhang of the tread is reduced by the thickness of ceramic tile which is pretty thick. So unless you could tile the riser to match the downstair and then have LVP with good matching trim on it for the treads, doing LVP would be three more finished added to the mix. So you would have tile downstairs, carpet upstairs and LVP on the tread, a trim piece on the edge and either painted or tiled risers. In my opinion that's way too much going on.

Actually it looks like a number of LVP styles do come with a matching trim to fit the edge of the stairs but it's still a plastic cap that gets glued on or something. If you don't have a nice stair tread under there I still vote for carpet, as unpopular as it is in this forum.

I agree, leave the carpet, or replace it with the kind you are using in the bedrooms. Its much better to have carpet since it cuts down the noise from kids running up and down, and its a lot safer for the kids too, because, one of them is sure to fall.

A good, interesting low pile carpet is best approach. Cleaning a painted edge with a runner is a pain. Just carpet. I would bet money there is not stainable wood under that carpet. Those edges on vinyl are trip hazards in my opinion.

Here's an additional photo of the space at the top of the stairs, where we'd like to put down LVP. Although carpet seems to be the popular suggestion, I'm just nervous it'll look weird with LVP on top. I do love the idea of using tiles on the risers and LVP on the treads for better flow. Good point of the trip factor with that lip though.

For that top surface use engineered wood. There are better edging for that material. Then find one of the new faux jute for the “carpet”.

There is a zillion choices out there. Go to a flooring specialist and ask them to show you options. Go to good carpet store and check out faux jute and similar products and broadloom suitable for stairs. For long life, I have done many stairs with broadloom wool carpet. Lasts a long time and cleans easily too.

Some options

Real sisal can be slippery but the faux sisals are less so. OR a very flat weave carpet will look great, too. Nothing too plush like you have on your stairs right now. Do take your stairs photo when you go to a REAL carpet store. Not a Home Depot or a Lowes. Carpet stores employees will have lots of good ideas. Budget?

I prefer short cut pile on stairs, not because of appearance, I like the look of sisal type weaves, but because with a continuous loop, if it gets caught on something it can unravel. If you have pets they can accidentally pull out loops.

I had wool sisal on the stairs in a condo I sold and when the person who bought it was moving furniture something snagged a loop on the edge of a step and by the time they got to the top step they had unraveled a bald spot in the rug, because they pulled out a several foot length of yarn. Just something to think about.

They did this type of damage, in a matter of less than a minute

I've seen a wonderful treatment on stairs - hardwood or LVP treads with risers covered in copper sheeting. Since your stair is fairly narrow and not tall I don't think the cost would be prohibitive. The copper should patina to a lovey warm brown.

I just did a copper parapet cap that required some custom fitting, and not only was the copper expensive, but the labor was expensive. I don't think the eight risers would take a lot of material, but I think the labor to measure, cut and fold the edges of the copper for the risers to get a nice tidy finish would be expensive. This would all have to be bent on a proper brake. They can't just cut it with snips and put it up.