Wonderful work!!!!

Nicely done.

Really pretty. Bet the husband is impressed!

Doing this project now. Not fun! Your steps are very inspiring, quite beautiful. My stain came out blotchy (partly because my carpet did not cover the whole step and the end piece was stained). What type of stain did you use and what color? Looks gorgeous!

Great job!!

Well, this is a real pro job !

Beautiful job!

Nicely done!

What a great job!!!

Looks fantastic! Job well done!

oh my goodness thank you so much everyone.
andydale - I wanted this to be as uncomplicated as possible. The materials used depends on the the type of wood you find. We were lucky to find oak treads with pine risers. In my opinion using a wood conditioner before any stain makes all the difference. It basically does to wood what primer does for paint. It helps the wood accept the stain. If you didn't use one that could be the reason for your blotches. I used minwax wood conditioner, minwax stain in special walnut 224 (one coat). After that I didn't love it. Took a chance on minwax polyshades color in antique walnut and that's the color after 2 coats. Then I added one extra coat of regular poly. It's not as slippery as I had feared. I have a 2 and 3 year old so I def was worried. But the carpet was slippery from wear.

Judiwithani - LOVE your name. My Instagram handle used to be wendiwithani. Sooo funny.
Anyway yes hubby went through a range of emotions starting with fear when he came home and saw the carpet pulled up with literally thousands of staples poking out and a huge mess. He's graduated to pride and now trust ! He's pretty much accepted that his long days give birth to new ideas for me. Lol

Thanks for the info! I have oak treads also and I sanded very well!! I didn't use the conditioner (ironically the paint store sales man said it wasn't necessary). I also used Minwax. Keeping my fingers crossed that mine will come out as great as yours!

Congratulations, and I hope the hard-working husband approves as much as we Houzzers!

And thanks for sharing your thoughts on priming, etc - good stuff to know.

Really nice and professional looking!

Great job - I think this looks so much better than the carpet.

Wow great job.

Just terrific! I agree that carpet can be so unsanitary for the little ones.

And I am sandiwithani. :-D

Beautiful job!!! Sometimes we just have no idea what we're capable of until we just jump in & try!

So....what's next??

gorgeous! what a great project!

You say you're an amateur, but this is a pro job! ;) ;) Looks fantastic!!!

Wowza! Great redo!!!

Beautiful!

~Lyvonne

Beautiful! The bright white with the dark wood is a beautiful contrast!