Just use primer paint and then paint the color you want. But you'd better the sand the surface and clean it first before you do and painting work. Here a profession wrought iron company in New England Area, especially closed to Boston. If you want to get some Wrought iron products, the company definitely you need to go is Evan's Home Luxuries. Their wrought iron railing and forged products are really gorgeous. They also make marble mantels, marble statues, marble fountains, marble gazebos, marble tile only for $3/sft. They also sell Copper doors, Brass Doors and Bronze doors. You will not find these products in other company here. Hoping this information is helpful for you guys. Their websites is http://www.evanshomeluxuries.com.

I have lots of wrought iron, and this is what I found to be the most effective. I use wire wheel attachments on my cordless drill to take off any rust, obvious chipping and other rough patches, sand lightly with a sandpaper foam block (it forms better to the different kinds of surfaces) to rough up the painted surface, dust and clean well, then paint with a good primer and three top coats. I use Rustoleum in the spray cans, but I my iron is mostly outside. The spray cans are more expensive and messy, but I cannot duplicate the smooth surface no matter what kind of brush I use. I have also used spray paint indoors, but only after constructing an elaborate "tent" from boxes and plastic bags, and opening all the windows and covering everything within reach. Using spray paint this way would be the most timeconsuming part of the process, but worth a test run on a small section and comparing it with a handpainted section. If you decide to handpaint it, foam brushes work best. I use the new kind that are pads with a silky "fur" on the top...they make small ones meant for window sashes, but it can be time consuming and you can go through a lot of pads (they're cheap though). And if the new paint chips or rusts, it's a simple matter to touch up with a little sandpaper and paint. Hope this helps. PS: Also use plenty of protection -- My house was built in the 60s, and I bought it from the guy who built it, who left me every paint can he ever used on/in the house, so I have no lead paint.

flyleft --- Thanks for the info on the red birch. I remodeled the house in 2005, and now that it's completed, I never check out past decisions, so didn't know that red birch is less available. I will tell you that I still love my wood floors, still love the variation, grain, texture, etc. of the wood after living here for 2.5+ years. But, I'm the kind of person who can live happily with the same thing for decades and decades, if I like it. And, I'm going to live in this house until they carry me out feet first :) You correctly read my my mind and my thinking on the mahogany. Related colors, so a good blend. I prefer blends to matching. And, I liked the idea of keeping the original treatment of the stairs. All I did was have the painter refinish the handrail -- didn't change the color, just patched up some gouges, deep scratches, and put a protective finish on it. It now feels like new.... I also had the carpenter build floating mahogany shelves, stain them the same color as the hand rails, and mounted them on the fireplace front, to soften the fireplace. The fireplace runs from floor to top of semi-cathedral (aka "shed") ceiling, and takes up 1 whole wall of the LR. The 3 mahogany floating shelves make a huge difference in the fireplace appearnance, and continue to blend colors together. Thanks for the compliment! I don't think you'll regret keeping the wroght iron treatment for your stairs. As you said, it's all about tying everything together. Good luck as you tackle this!

I did a google image search for that and got this; hope it helps: wrought iron spindles with wood railing