Personally, I don't think it's necessary for you handrails to match your floor. Nice wood floors are sort of like bluejeans, in that they usually work well with other things. My handrails are a beautiful decorative blond wood, and they have never matched my floor. However, if your handrails/stairs are a major focal point of your room, you may feel that they should match to unify the space. In any case, it's your house and you should do whatever you think you'd like best!

When it comes to hardwood, trends are something to ignore! Why? Because hardwood is pretty much a lifetime purchase, and unless yours is damaged in some way, you're probably not going to replace it. So, light wood vs. dark wood, wide planks vs. narrow planks -- that stuff's all going to come and go. With that in mind -- as well as the very real concerns about cleaning dark wood -- I'll vote for a nice, neutral midtone every time. Not too much contrast, not too red, and (unless it's a beach house) not too pale. I think this is the wood that's most likely to give you good service and stand the test of time.

In design an upper floor can have it's own colour theme even with wood. The best thing to do is to match the SPECIES and then stain the upper floors a different colour. Traditionally the STAIRS match the 'main' level wood. If you put the new wood on the stairs be prepared for a BIG colour clash. You can run a stair runner but then you need to paint/stain the railings/spindles, etc. It becomes a much bigger job. Your lower level appears to be a maple with an oil based finish (or a gunstock stain). Check to see if the wood is thick enough to get a full sand and refinish (we call that 'refinishing'). The wood needs to be 3mm or THICKER above the 'tongue' to achieve a full sand/refinish. You can check the thickness of the wood by finding a cross section in the floor = vent cover. Simply pop off the vent and look at the cut section of the wood. You measure the ENTIRE thickness of the wood (total thickness) and then you measure the amount of wood above the tongue to find out if you have 3mm or more for a sand/refinish. What is CURRENTLY on the stairs?

M., sorry, this isn't mine. just using some pics to show you examples. the 2nd photo is a red oak, completely sanded and done w/a natural finish. You'd be surprised at how beautiful old wood floors finish up! Call in a professional wood floor refinisher and get some estimates. it won't be an issue to match your existing solid wood flooring. https://www.svbwoodfloors.com/blog/wood-floor-faqs-whats-the-difference-between-a-lace-in-and-a-header/ here's a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDqi5NAnTKk look at this before and after https://adamsfloors.com/installation