a rod iron railing or metal would be a nice contrast

I'd put a wooden railing.

I like it. And I think it will look amazing once the stairs are painted/stained. The natural light coming down looks great!
Just add a railing on the wall side.

I'd strip and refinish the stairs and add a wood railing in a contrasting stain, with an interesting finial. I prefer to renovate, rather than modernize, though a wrought iron rail would be easier and probably less expensive.

Since I see horizontal slatting on the stairs, how about working that into the design. We just finished converting the surrounding walls of a staircase with horizontal tongue and groove board and picture shelf. You could do the same here by bringing the wood horizontally down the stairs and match is on the wall that faces us (right of the stairs). I would use a simple wood railing (try to find one at a salvage shop) on that wall and keep it the natural color of the floors. You can use the picture shelving, just keep it up high, but know that it would need to continue into the room beyond what is pictured.Paint out the hortizontal wood in a creamy white or for a bit more color something in just a hint of blue.

I think for safety reasons as well as cost, you may want to leave the wider bottom wrap stairs - if you are doing a historic restoration that is absolutely true to period then you need to consult your local historic society for photos and architectural support. Otherwise, classic traditional options will work well and leaving the wider curveback stairs are much more functional. I lik mandevilles' the horizontal t+g look, but it depends on the trim details for the entire house whether you like this rustic approach.

What are mandevilles? T&G, I'm translating as tongue and groove.

Thank you so much for all the comments! I love the idea of doing the horizontal t&g picture ledge along the bottom wall. I actually found the original wall railing in the shed :). Any other ideas?

Personally, I like the way the stairs pool around to the right too. I think it gives it character. These old houses are more adaptable than we give them credit for sometimes. You have permission to mix it up a bit :)

karelina, 'madeville' is 'Mandeville' and refers to Mandeville Canyon Design, who posted the picture of the T&G (Tongue and Groove) horizontal work...

I think you wouldn't mind the existing half wall as much if the trim at the bottom of it was painted to match the wall instead of being white.

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