I dunno. I like the current staircase because it's a bit ethereal - it seems to be just floating there - but if you add to the sides, you're going to get something big and weighty in the room, and I don't think that will be a positive thing.

I agree with JMM. The staircase seems to fit nicely with the room's "attitude."

True, it's kind of dated, but in a charming way.

If the staircase looked like the examples below it, I think it would clash.

Not only that, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if some future owner of this house were to spend thousands of dollars reversing your changes to get the correct period look back. :)

But then I'm not a decorator, so what do I know?

I love your current staircase, but hate your inspiration pics.

Your stairs are nice like Jmm1833 so beautifully worded and look right for the your space and style. I think your inspirational pictures are really sharp but are more for a contemporary home and furnishings.

I love that staircase and I bet it was not cheap to build IMO it suits your style totally

The staircase is spectacular. Check to see if you will have to bring it up to current building safety codes if you touch it.

Hello,
theoretically it is possible to rebuild the staircase and adapt it to your visual preferences.
Economically, it makes no sense.
You can also install ABS, airbags and air conditioning in a VW Beetle from 1965, technically it is possible and exciting it is also :-).
But not economical.
Especially spiral staircases are a very deficient structure, if the staircase is already swinging when you go, no one knows if the new cover makes the stairs more stable, or if the stairs swing even more due to the higher weight.
A new staircase is more economical, there are many more options for the design and because the new staircase is delivered as a finished kit, it goes faster and makes much less dirt than a cover.
If you are interested in a modern, very high quality and individual staircase, you can look at my projects on my profile and you can also contact me if you want.
Have fun, best regards Joern Brenscheidt

I don't know what your DIY skill level is, but I am afraid that, despite your skill, the type of change you are talking about will look cheesy and out of place given what the rest of the woodwork looks like. It's not my taste, but at least everything blends nicely now. I'm another vote for leaving it.

It's off subject, but Hokon's post brings back a memory from a highway rest stop around 1964 or '65. My pop parked his '61 VW Beetle next to another Bug, and I happened to glance into it as I got out.

I wish I'd snapped a picture. It had an air conditioning evaporator, exactly the same as the aftermarket under-dash ones you could buy for full size Fords and Chevrolets. But unlike the units that VW dealers offered, this one wasn't tacked on under the dash. It was mounted on "stilts" on the back seat floor pan, aimed at the backs of the front seat passengers' heads!

Similarly, you can hack any kind of staircase you want into that room, but some of them just aren't ever going to look like they belong there. :)

@DavidR

You see, nothing in life is coincidence. Sometimes it takes only about 50 years to recognize "why". ;-)))

CCP-

It's always nice when one feels good about a decision that involves less work... ;-)

Another vote for keep it like it is. It looks perfect in your space.

Don’t remuddle the rest of the House either. You’ll ruin its value by ruining original details. Those original details like that staircase are pretty desirable.

I dont much like any spiral staircase, but, in your case, the entire room with the staircase fits together and is timeless. Please dont ruin the value of your house.

There is renovation, and there is remuddling.

The First Rule of Design: Do No Harm.

Don’t ruin something classic and beautiful with temporary pop fads. You do t take a classic E type Jaguar and make it over in school bus yellow just because that happens to be your favorite color. You restore it to the original British racing green, even if it’s not your favorite color. Because originality is more important than your personal preference. Personalization of a home should NEVER EVER ruin its bones. Leave the personal touches to furniture and paint for walls. NOT wooden walls! Don’t paint original wood anything!

Any permanent changes to the home itself should respect the original and try not to look like it landed from Mars. It should be seamless. When it looks like it landed from Mars, it ruins the value of the hone, and you just lost tens of thousands of resale dollars. If not hundreds of thousands.

Mid Century Modern and Late Century Contemporaries with original details are both extremely desirable homes with strong identities that should be respected and restored. Anything that removes or alters the original strong connection to nature through the use of wood, stone, other natural materials, and the use of windows, should be run screaming from.

If you can’t be a steward to an architecturally great house, then it shouldn’t be your house .

I would cringe at the thought of painting the wood ceiling or any of the wood. It does look like the spiral stair case was added at a later date from the original build but was done with great care to match the upper loft, probably for quicker access to loft. But it's his house to do with what he wants.

"But it's his house to do with what he wants."

There would be no historic neighborhoods, were this the prevailing view.

I'm from North America for what it's worth.

I'm another vote for your staircase as is. It's sculptural. It looks like a spine, or like DNA.

Painting it won't preserve it any better than staining.

Totally none of my business. Just have to say how much I love everything about your house and how well is all goes together. The herringbone floor, the ceiling and that gorgeous staircase.

I am not an architect or an engineer, but to my eye, the turning radius for what you want needs to be greater than the turning radius for what you have. Compare how wide the metal clad staircase is to your wooden one.

I am in North America. Are you missing a C in your moniker? Are you Russian? Though your house looks kinda Italian to me.

For sure, it's never wrong to personalize your own house. Such changes are arguably part of the house "life cycle."

It's just that I've helped friends tear down the 1960s acoustic tile (!) covering their beamed Craftsman Bungalow dining room ceiling. We also crowbarred the 1970s prefinished plywood paneling enclosing the staircase.

Why would someone do such things? I don't have an answer, but it wouldn't surprise me a bit if some future owner of your house should ask exactly that about your staircase update.

I’m not an absolutist curmudgeon against all remodeling. Do No Harm isn’t applicable to the 00’s McMansion. Or some of the 70’s tract ranches. All of the harm inflicted on those was done in the beginning, and they have no place to go but up.

But you just know that some Philistine somewhere sees Falling Water as just some pile of leaky concrete and stone and would propose bulldozing it in favor of a Mini Mart and 24 hour bait shop.

Not every home needs to be preserved. Just the well designed ones. This is a well designed home. So much so that any changes should be approached only by ensuring that they are in harmony with the original intent of the design.

It’s physically painful to think of anyone putting up shiplap and painting any of it gray. 10 minutes fads are usually bad ones. Wait 5 years If its good design, it will still be good design. If it’s bad design, you’ll wonder what you were thinking.

I'll concede she's tactually challenged, but this ^ is why our Sophinator is a Houzz treasure.

If you want to be sure no one misses seeing that staircase by all means enclose it and paint it white or better yet gray. Those kinds of staircases don't even make my "want one of these" lists but I wouldn't touch that one. It fits the house as is. Putting an immaginary space ship staircase in its place hurts my eyes.

What are you planning to do with the railing that is on the loft area? I find it interesting that you are considering a stair railing that is more contemporary in style while your own furnishings and accessories lean more towards traditional. Do you have plans to incorporate this "new" style into other renovation plans?

That said, what about a combination of what you have and the examples you posted? Let the current railing be the frame (outer edge) and put the other material in between the 2 to make a pretty ribbon of a staircase railing. I think this would give you the new look without it becoming too contemporary. Just remember that if you go with more of a solid railing, it is going to become more of a focal point in the room.

And yes, please post photos when you complete your renovation.

Nice stair!