I encourage you to live with it for awhile before you decide on anything. I had the same situation in carpet against my marble when I built 14 years ago but I lived with it until just last year when I tore out the carpet and got laminate. I would hate to see you paint the stained wood on your stairs. I think the balance is striking against the white and once it's painted it is VERY difficult to go back. As suggested, when you replace the carpet, that would be the time to use get a closer match to flooring which I agree would look nicer. Since the floor appears darker, a good sanding on the rail and stairs with medium grit paper would remove the varnish/poly and some stain and you could then darken it to match the flooring. Until then, consider adding some accents that bring out the golden oak color and "justify" that wood color in the foyer. Perhaps a small table or bench or anything that compliments the color of the stairs. Over time, I can assure you that it will become less predominant (as you have found) and your eye will focus more on the total impression. Also, you could provide a more spectacular focal piece in that area that draws the eye in a different direction. JMHO.

Just checking on the cherry. Can't say I'm too fond of oak myself. There are few instances where balustrade removal and replacement work out too well unless you're disassembling the stair re-milling and reassembling it. Even then unless you are talking about a stair that's made out of a rare or exotic lumber that would exceed the cost of the time and labor of doing so It is not often the best practice. I would still use care taking it apart and use it to make something else. How solid are the newels, are they loose surface mount or do they go into the floor? Iron is nice. You can either use a metal rail or wood on top of it. For a long while iron/steel balusters were a bit less expensive than wood but now they are comparable. The wood rail will usually be less expensive than the metal and easier to install. Newel posts can be either as wood newels match the iron quite well. A few of the things I was mentioning about not being correct in the drawings were the balusters and newels. The newel is an Arcways product whose turning is sized for the 30" rail heights of days long gone by. Note the extremely tall base. The balusters are StaiParts Inc. made for the same. The upper turnings don't even come close to matching the rake of the stair which is common for too many stair part manufacturers. Even with the stair and balcony rail set to the highest height in order to use a closer matching baluster combination to make it less noticeable. Arcways however does have some fabulous rails and fittings, checks their small orders for matching, offers cherry as a stock item and will sell directly to homeowners. They also carry iron and steel balusters. I believe OakPoint sells direct and Crown sells through Brosco/Brockway Smith, 84 Lumber and even a few Lowe's locations as well as numerous stair companies. Use the dealer locator on their website. Both have a good selection, have cherry as stock on some of their profiles, good quality and a product line that looks correct for todays codes. "Solid" or one piece treads sound nice but they are not really what you want unless they have relief milling on the underside and even then it's not much of a guarantee against checking or cupping especially if they are only 3/4 thick". How will the 1 1/4"+ overhang hold up? Construction adhesive and a finish nail through the top of the finish isn't going to last too long and will squeak like crazy after a while. A typical tread is 1 1/16" thick and will be made of three to 5 pieces. Cherry treads are most often made "in house" from random width/length material and a good stair shop will cut out any sap wood, match the grain and the leading piece will be well beyond the riser. Engineered treads are also available but like everything they have their pros and cons and I think the cons still outweigh the pros. The open left end should have a return nosing mitered into the front left corner and extend past the next riser by the same distance as the overhang with a scotia below. That is the dark piece I am showing on the edge of the tread in the image above. If you go through your phone book or search for stair companies or stair manufacturers and not stair part manufacturers you should find a few. If you call a stair parts manufacturer they will direct you to someone in your area that they sell to. I was looking for the dimension of the face of riser to face of riser or the run. I'm assuming 7" is the height? Floor to floor height. From the top of the plywood where the upper stair lands to the top of the vinyl on the landing and from the top of the vinyl on the landing to the top of the vinyl(?) in the basement. If the vinyl is flat I would agree with keeping it in place if the glue has failed and it's lifting remove it and in either scenario use a quality felt paper underlayment. Did you already place the order with the millwork shop? How soon do you need to get this done? I really think it would be in your best interest to explore all avenues and plan out the whole project before you buy anything. As Casey noted above it is often cheaper to remove all and replace. It would take you less time to install the two units than it would to even do one single tread.

Honestly, people were just hardier in days of yore. My very scary, steep, hardwood floor staircase in my 1913 bungalow had no signs of ever having a handrail. I installed one for ME, no kids involved. I had a handyman put up one that looked just like Marie's above. When I moved from that house, I took it off to get my furniture down. Pretty simple actually. To be honest I would not use a velvet or other rope. I need something to really grab onto if I slip on the hardwood floors; not something that could rip or pull away. Oh, I also found that investing in non-slip socks is a must!

OK, you all have convinced me to eliminate the oak look of the risers. While I'm too conservative to paint them, I'm thrilled with the many options for stick on riser decals that can be readily removed, including one with the pattern I've been nuts about for ages! It's called Astra, here. BUT -- back to the newel post/handrail for the upper section of this stairway.....previous comments were that we don't have the open wall for the spindles and we have no place for a newel post. I need to understand if the change I want to make isn't feasible, when it seems to me like it should be...please helps!