You will spend about the same amount of money on materials as you would to purchase a new newell post. A mission style newell post in oak is less than 100.00. Adding material to the current post will make them very bulky.

What about just popping off the little decorative medallion and then cutting off the top of the newel post? Then go with your dark stain and just ignore the curves

If you are thinking of constructing a plywood box around the existing post, good luck. To make it look right, you would have to miter the corners or use outside corner trim all the way around.

Nothing modern, special or particularly worth saving here.

I'd rip the entire thing out and start from scratch - perhaps a nice metal and cable railing would be more your style?

Paint the spindles black. The staircase will look like a million bucks! (And like wrought iron!)

Thanks for the replies so far. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on the project because there's other things in the house taking priority, hence not wanting to replace it at this point in time. I was going to miter cut the add ons, but due to the curvature at the top, I'm no longer sure that will work. Thinking now about removing the decorative inserts and maybe just making due for the time being.

We had the exact same problem. I purchased a square box newel post and my carpenter friend put it in easily. I painted the handrail dark espresso brown, left the ballusters white and painted the new newel post white. It looks 100% better. It can now go either way modern or traditional.

The railing goes up the stairs and closes in a loft. It's a good amount of railing with three full newel posts and two half posts where the railing terminates at a wall. I figure it's going to cost at least $600 just to buy new newel posts, plus installation. I have too many costly projects to make this a priority, thus replacing the posts is out of the picture. I simply want to make do with what I have until it makes sense to spend the money on replacing it. Because it is too damn ugly to keep as is.

Agreed. Pop off that rosette, fill with wood filler and paint all of the newels white or black.

I'm telling you painting either the handrail or ballusters black will elevate it to a whole new level! It's an inexpensive way to update it.

Just bought a house and am in the same position. Would love to go with a cable railing, but too many other projects that need to be addressed first. I'm going to paint the railing and newel black and leave the spindles white. It will look a bit more modern and will have to do for the time being. :)

I'm going to go with a stain in near-black, so the grain is still visible. I'll make sure to share when it's all done. I still don't like the look, but this is definitely the most cost effective way to decrease the ugly!

I like that phrase..."decrease the ugly." :) Good luck with it.

i agree with black spindles and getting rid of the rossette. i think cable would be dated in a few years and it never looks homey or inviting.......so maybe think of the feeling you want too. just my thoughts. good luck

We used Rust--o-alum's black accent paint (found in a small can at Lowes Home improvement). All blacks are not created equal! This one has a little dark green tint in it. It looks so much like wrought iron when dry! Perfect for a project like this.

Painting the railings a high gloss color is a great idea. This will really modernize the look for low cost. I have seen them painted red as well and it really makes a great impact.