Your inspiration photo has the board and batten on walls on both sides of the stairs. You're proposing to do only one side (or are you planning to put the same treatment on the handrail side?). If only one side, I think it will look lopsided. The photo also shows the board and batten going around two corners (and then we don't see anymore). You have so many walls and angles and corners and ceilings, I think even more visual confusion would be introduced. You do have a few decorating challenges in your lovely renovation, but I'd leave the b&b out of it.

I much prefer the look of painted risers. I have found that scuff marks seem to depend a lot on the kind of paint you use. In our last house, we pulled up carpet and painted the risers with a latex semi-gloss paint. They scuffed horribly and I was constantly repainting them (because they scuffed so bad I couldn't get them clean). In this house, which was painted with Ben Moore OIL based semi-gloss, the stair risers hardly ever scuff. Same people, same shoes -- only difference is the paint. Now, we can no longer get oil paint in our state and our stair area really needs repainted (the walls are wood paneled and painted in the same paint as the risers) so I started putting Zinsser 123 over the oil paint in preparation for repainting it with latex. I got interrupted, so only a few steps have the 123. They too are scuffing horribly. They're only primer, so I wouldn't expect it to hold up, but still - it's amazing the difference between scuff level after just a few days. I'm planning to repaint with Cabinet Coat by Insul-X, which is the toughest latex trim paint I have found. It has held up well on my baseboards so I'm hoping it will be good on the risers. If not, I guess I could make an out-of-state trip to smuggle in some oil paint, LOL!

Stinky - Ha, I know! I see you noticed I purposely made sure to add that they were fine. I was hoping nobody here would accuse me of being cruel. I'll admit the one you're seeing in the photos acted like it was torture staying in there because he's nosey. Kept pawing at the door. He's always my helper with any project. See. Here's just a few shots. Helping paint painting crown... Being impatient with me to hang a picture... Helping with the stairs... He's just being cute in this one so I had to post it. Bronwyn - Ohhhhhh... Feeling silly. Can you tell I'm not much of a chef? :) Green - LOL! "Bye hunny see you in a month." Then pack your bags and head for the neighbors. :)

Foxes, I don't know if you are still following or have given up, but Id have mixed feelings about wallpaper. It would allow you to have a more easily removed look in case you don't' like it -- if you put it up to be removed, and the investment would be more in time than cost. But I keep going back to the stained glass. That's the wow in your staircase, and you have nice woodwork. You don't need all that detail on top of detail. Chances are that painting the walls of the stairwell will lead into more halls or rooms needing to be painted too. What about using your ombre idea but starting with a warm gold at the bottom and fading up to a pale honey? Get a sheet of luan (very thin plywood) and cut it into pieces the size of your risers. Painting them and then attaching them (velcro or silicone some to mind) would allow you to work at a table or a more comfortable place, not worry about them getting marred while drying and curing, work with the shading until you get it just the way you want it, not worry about getting paint on the stairs, remove them without stripping wood -- all the advantages of wallpaper, but on a smooth surface without the detail you don't need. It would be a way to test the idea you originally liked. I would just do it with color (what you probably liked in the first place) and be easy to work with or change. Get one pint of the darkest color and one pint of white and you'll have plenty of paint to mix yourself.