The wood floor in front of the stairs is the part that's only 36". That's why I don't want newels in front of the bottom step, wanted them to sides (on bullnose step) originally, now given I can't do that with these steps I want them *on* the bottom step, coming straight down from where the ones attached to the wall are. I have 43" of wall on the side of the stairs and it's about 6ft deep though I don't want to put anything deeper than an 18" deep bench there. A bench would really be more useful than a table for us. I keep checking CL and thrift stores, so far I haven't even found a cheap twin headboard, small dresser, or even an nice (small) old door I can make into a bench. Here is a link that might be useful: Inspiration

Sorry to be putting this here.....I don't know how to post a new message, only how to respond. Yes, the tile (travertine) is in most of the house, including the upstairs (extra bedrooms, theater room and game room have carpet)...the family room has a large sisal rug and our bedroom and bath have wool area rugs. The house has some angles that make the pattern be diagonal rather than straight in parts of the house. We are in SoCal so the bare floor works here. SOOO sorry for the big pics, I have been trying to shrink them for 20 minutes and this is as good as it got...and again so sorry to add this to the original post....

Thanks so much for your response. I didn't think it would look right to only do the hardwood in the middle. I was concerned about the cost and waste of replacing the railing and spindles and hoped they could be reused. We would really like the stairs to be hardwood as the entrance foyer opens to them.

@ Heather...If you cannot afford 'reclaimed wood' you probably cannot afford the glue down cork tile flooring for the entire house. I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer but the installation of cork glue down tiles SHOULD BE the same cost as laying tile = $12-$15/sf. A glue down tile can be used on stairs but the COSTS ARE ENORMOUS! It is an installation NIGHTMARE to glue down cork tiles over stairs. You will DOUBLE the installation costs (cost per square foot) to lay glue down tiles over the stairs. If you insist on a glue down tile floor, that's fine. Just be FULLY AWARE of what you are signing up for. The subfloor costs can/should be EXPENSIVE. Cork glue down tiles require PERFECTLY CLEAN (ahem...usually new) subfloors. Any old flooring gunk left on the subfloor must be removed...old carpet glue, grout, mortar, thinset, paint, etc must be removed. Or it is just easier to lay new plywood (the beautiful expensive underlayment grade plywood not cheap OSB). Subfloor prep costs for a glue down can run $3/sf. Now you add the $4-$6/sf for the cost of the tile....then the cost of the adhesive and two coats of finish ($1.50/sf for the liquids) and the labour costs ($10/sf is normal). Whew! This could reach $20/sf if the subfloors are nasty looking. Stairs get more expensive than that. A glue down cork tile floor is a HIGH VALUE finish. It is up there with a top quality marble floor. It is an UNBELIEVABLE FLOOR that will outlast the house it is installed in (unless you are in Europe where the houses can be 200 years plus). A cork glue down floor can (and will) last 100+ years. Therefore the cost you should expect to pay SHOULD BE in the same range as any floor that can last 100-150 years. Now look at a floating floor product: Material cost: (iCork Floor LLC) $3-$5/sf (depending on product and pattern chosen) Liquid cost: (Loba 2K Supra AT) = $0.60/sf Installation cost: $2.50 - $3.00/sf Subfloor prep (same as ALL floating floors) $1-$3/sf A floating cork floor should be in the range of $8-$10/sf installed. Compare that to $20/sf.