It’s worth it if you are okay spending $x.xx to have it done, and you think you’ll be glad you did it. It is not worth it if you think that in 10 years from now the imaginary person looking at your home will decide to buy it above asking price because you have a bannister on your steps.

9K is a steal. That's a lot of highly-skilled work. It will look great.

I'm a realtor and sold my own home 1.5 years ago. I custom built this home in 1994 and had an iron artison make a custom railing. It was a simple modern design and very beautiful. Mind you nobody was doing metal in 1994. Every person who came in to see the house was wowed by the railing and it was a feature in the two-story entry.

I think the metal will be stunning in your home.

If you can swing the expense, I'd say definitely do it. It really elevates the space. The current drywall looks builder grade but the banister looks custom. Plus, more light! One thing to think about is how it would affect privacy coming out of those rooms on the second floor.

I was gonna say, that does seem relatively inexpensive for that much work. It would look beautiful and really open up your space.

I’m questioning the quality level you will receive for that amount of rail at the price. Have you gotten more than one quote?

Yes that is a great price. Have you seen the craftsman’s portfolio of other staircases he has done? Also, how many staircases has he renovated? Is he a novice or experienced? I had a new oak staircase installed a few years ago by a seasoned craftsman who only does staircases. He matched the stair stain to my porcelain wood look tile flooring. Best of luck in your journey!

I think it will look amazing! Do it and update with pictures.

To correct the staement that no one was doing iron railings I had been doing them in homes even in the 80s and thye had been around along time before that. I think it would be a good choice I do not think you should go with the first quote and for sure you need to decide before doing the floor . I agree that seems cheap to me so make sure you get at least 3 quotes and see actual work each person has done. As for the actual railing style thta is something you will need to decide and understand the cost also something simple that will work with any decor if selling is in your mind.

I'm concerned that the current furniture layout will not look good- the loveseat against the wall looks fine, against a visible staircase will look busy. I'm also concerned that 9K will not get what you envision but maybe you found the right guy.

I think opening it up would look great. However as mentioned above, think about furniture placement and layout that could be affected by changing the staircase. Good luck!

kculbers - Your staircase is beautiful! Thanks for sharing photos. Lovely indeed!

Thank you everyone for the comments and insight. Since February, we have worked with a general contractor and his team to remodel 3 bathrooms, take down a pony wall (in the kitchen) and install engineered hardwoods in most areas of the house. The team has wrapped up most of the work but we decided to look at possibly adding in this staircase remodel so the quote is from our general contractor to add to the total quote of all the other work they’ve done. Maybe that explains the better pricing since they’re already out here doing a lot?

But now I’m wondering, is this type of work something that should only be done by an individual with a certain type of skill? (Like who solely works in staircases?) The team working on our home has done an impeccable job with flooring and tile work, etc, so I do feel they are very, very good and detailed. But maybe this type of stair detail work is a no go for working with them… thoughts?

More pictures of our current flooring with hardwoods since the first photo isn’t current.

It is a good sign that you are pleased with your contractors work so far. Have you seen any pictures of staircases that he has done in other homes?

yes, yes, yes.

Your GC knows whom to put on this job.

Don't know your circumstances, but if children with early bedtimes have the upstairs bedrooms, I would leave the pony wall in place as a sound barrier. If/when they begin to keep the same hours as the adults do, then I would change to a railing. I would have expected double that quote, so I'm not sure you have the right crew.

To be clear, the vision the husband has is for painted WOOD BALLUSTERS AND RAILING with a closed stringer. No one mentioned iron.

If you can get that for $9k go for it.

I would not remove the lower one simply because you would have furniture backed up against a railing which is not a great look. If you look at most inspiration pictures, including the ones here, they only show arrangements that show small bits of things tucked below the stairs, not overlapping the railing.

As for iron railings, I lived in a place designed in the early 1960s and it had iron railings.

BeverlyFLADeziner ~ Ah yes, confirming you’re correct. We aren’t aiming for iron but rather wood balusters and railing.

Appreciate everyone’s comments here! Funny enough that folks mention 9k being steal for this work… because ultimately, it’s still quite a hefty sum of money. But so it goes with remodeling. As for furniture placement, we aren’t tied to the sofa being there so we are flexible in the decor dept and if we open up the stairs or not.

In the event we go for it, I’ll update here and post after pictures. We’re still waiting to hear from our GC who exactly would be doing the work from his team, etc.

As for furniture placement, we aren’t tied to the sofa being there

Not making any assumptions here, but you may want to make sure that if you do open it up, you don't really need to put anything here at all. I live in an area of old row houses with the steps down one side of the living room, and many people either have a big sofa or the TV backed up against the stair railing--and the back of the TV is even worse than the sofa.

Just because you can and it may make things look more open, think hard about what the implications are of doing so with furniture arrangement and how that looks. To go back to the small houses here, lots of people take out the small entryway and other walls only to realize that once all the walls are gone there is no place to put anything. You can back a chair right up to the vestibule wall that has the front door 6" away from that chair on the other side of a wall, but take the wall down and nobody is going to back a chair up to the front door like that.

You can do whatever you want, just make sure that you are really going to get what you want out of that $9000 spent.

I think it is worth it…whatever it costs…to open up the space more and add a big wow factor…..this will most likely add more value to the home than the cost,..never mind making it feel twice as big and much more elegant

It will also offer the opportunity to have a gallery of pretty art on the “mezzanine”… to complement the staircase

Do it!! it will add so much to the value and aesthetic of your house. This pony wall look is not popular.

Looks great! Did you end up spending $9k?

Whatever it cost ….worth every penny!

Thanks @koumtti and @btydrvn! Went up a bit due to inflated material costs… landed at around 10k total

Looks fabulous!! You must be happy!!

Thanks @kculbers!!