Shannon, we have bought wood floor for the upstairs hall off the stairs (we bought it at least 4 years ago but that's another story). My husband plans on having a piece of trim that will be up against the edge of the upstairs wood floor. If you look at the picture of the landing, the one with the "kitty prints" on it, you can see the trim we'l be using. We filled that hole with wood filler and painted over it. As far as slipping on the stairs goes - the floor paint I got from Sherwin Williams is not slippery at all. They do have an sandy additive that can be mixed in with the paint. I bought it, but after doing a test tread using just the paint, I returned the additive. It's just not slippery at all. As far as wear and tear goes - only time will tell. I bought a gallon of the paint and have enough to touch up endlessly. Hopefully I won't need it. The paint was tacky the first week, but seems to be much harder now. So far so good!

Most economical = carpet. After that, a solid finish (wood, cork, vinyl, tile, stone, etc) will require all the extras. Painted stairs will work...with plenty of elbow grease and with the FULL UNDERSTANDING the paint will wear/chip/"patina" inside of a few years. There are ways to lay a runner on the stairs and then trim out the edges of the tread/riser with wood-looking stuff. This will cut the cost in half of what I mention above. The other option is to place the runner and PAINT out the edges....creating a faux-painted-wood look which could be very handsome yet extremely practical. Notice how carpet keeps on coming up again and again? Yah. There's a reason for that. Those are builder grades stairs made for carpet.

I had the same situation in my former home/new build. I painted the stairs (I always paint risers white and treads an accent color) and did a runner up and over top step and across the loft floor. I had posts, as do you, and I used tempered glass instead of railings because I wanted to see the living room below. All around the perimeter of the room, my builder laid the same hardwood as the floor below…in my case it was Hickory/saddle stain. So have the posts ON the hardwood, not just at the edge, as in your photo. Not my loft, but this idea:

I plan on converting carpet to wood on a home I've recently purchased. Floor planks are picked out -- 3 1/4" solid maple. My supplier can install them before I move in. My supplier does not do stairs, and even if they did, I don't know if I can make all the design choices before moving in, given limited access to the property. Should I delay the floors until I have the stairs figured out -- even if it means I'll then have to move around furniture? If not, should I have the floor supplier remove the rails and put in new edge and stair nosing -- so that the nosing has the same finish as the floors, and also so that the floors will be flush against the nosing? Or should I leave existing nosing/balusters/posts in place -- so that I have the flexibility to refinish them in place if it makes sense -- railings are in good shape, but I do not yet know what is underneath the stair carpet -- and if I'll have to put in new treads or will be able to finish the underlying wood.