I love the look of black metal spindles with a dark wood handrail.

If the choice is hardwood or LVP, please choose hardwood. It's so much more attractive, and it's a natural product that you can refinish over and over. It will outlast most anything else. LVP is plastic and made with petrochemicals, which are horrible for living things and the environment and a disaster in case of a fire.

As for the stairway, it depends on the look you want whether you use wood balusters or metal. Either can be very nice--what look are you going for in your home?

Thanks for your reply. I completely agree about the hardwoods and I am leaning towards them. This is a townhome a block from the beach so I'm concerned about sand etc. If I do the floors the banister needs to be updated so I am wondering should I replace with the same (closer set balusters) paint them white or black.

I also have a home very close to the beach, and the hardwood floors look beautiful even after 30 years. We've had dogs, kids, tenants, grandkids, and guests for all that time, and it's really a non-problem.

This is the look we have on our stairs, black handrail and white newel posts and balusters. It's the original staircase that had handrails and newel posts the same color as the flooring. We changed it up about 4 years ago. If I were starting from scratch now, I'd use plain square balusters and simpler newel posts.

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Thank you for the inspiration. Love that your floors are holding up!