Cherry flooring

I would remove the carpet and put in hardwood treads in black. Paint the railing black too. Then add a carpet runner up the stairs. I might remove the wallpaper and paint the walls a brighter white, too.

Green Cliffs Road · More Info

We just finished a staircase and upstairs flooring project. I posted a reveal here:

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/6358416/reveal-finally-finished-staircase-and-upstairs-flooring-project#n=1

I also have a nook but I don't think there's a pic of it on my reveal thread. I'll take a new pic. It's just kind of by chance that my SIL gave us this sculpture for our wedding gift. It's tall and skinny, so this is where I put it. Maybe you can find something tall and skinny in an art shop that you love.

Alternatively, since you'll probably have to paint the walls after the stairs are done anyway, you could fill in the nook to get rid of it. If I didn't happen to have this tall skinny sculpture I think I would have filled it in the first time we painted, and put a piece of wall art there. With these open concept homes nowadays, I find it hard to find enough wall space to hang all my art.

I probably wouldn't have picked this for myself, but it has grown on me. It's a metal and blown glass sculpture of a hot-air balloon pilot that is desperately hanging onto the ropes as the balloon is trying to get away. The balloon is blown glass sitting in a nest of the metal.

If you do a search of the HOUZZ photos for staircases, you'll find a bunch of pictures. That really helped me narrow down what I wanted to do. Some of my favorites were:

Custom Modern Staircase in Lake Forest Illinois · More Info

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Highlands Creek · More Info

We hired a company that only does staircases. For the upstairs flooring and the stair runner we hired a flooring company that works frequently with the stair company. The nosing/cap at the top of the stairs were 3/4" thick as was the hard wood flooring, so the transitions are totally flat. Whether you are going to have carpet, wood or something else at the top of the stairs, maybe sure you talk to potential contractors about how they plan to make that a totally flat transition; it's not safe otherwise.

IMO take at least 1/2 the stuff out of the en try then take another pic and post it here .Why tile in the entry at all? You want to do what exactly ? The entry stuff lookds like grammas house what is the style you want ? You can get 100s of pics of stairs but without more info we are working in the dark As for the nook IMO fillit in with drywall and hang a great piece of art there .

Appreciate all the quick feedback. In response to Patricia Colwell Consulting, I did remove quite a few items from the area as I had originally intended, but not gotten to… I am looking for a transitional feel that is still in keeping with my traditional home. Although not everyone’s taste, I love my antiques and older furniture, which is in impeccable condition and tells the story of our home and family. The tile and Brazilian cherry floors are in perfect condition, relatively new. I would like the staircase to have a clean, updated look. I detest wall-to-wall carpet, so the carpet on the stairs must go — wallpaper must go as well. I do not wish to replace with a runner. I’m not sure what to do with the spindles & railing. I have looked at several hundred pictures of staircases. Most quite beautiful. Still looking for the right answer for my home. I had already decided that the nook needs to go. Wondering if library paneling may work up the stairs, as I have it in both my hallway and dining room. Suggestions are much appreciated.

Since you have that raised stringer going up the side of stairway, saving your railing and spindles is possible and will save you money. The wood treads will only have to meet up with the edge of the stringer. Consider demoing the half walls upstairs and putting marching railing and spindles up there, and putting hardwoods matching the stair wood on the landing. A lot of times spindles are stock and still available.
Your railing and newel posts are very pretty. Definitely keep those. Get a staircase company to come look and talk to you about your options. Out project was $$$, but you. An save some by keeping railing, newel posts, spindles, and stringer. From what you save, fill in the nook, remove wallpaper and paint the whole space.

I’m gonna lie, stair projects are very expensive. If you’re willing to spend $$$ updating the staircase, why live with that dated tile? Changing that tile out to match the cherry flooring would be a nominal extra expense to the whole staircase budget. Please put wood on the landing, remove half-walls and add matching railings and spindles up there. It would be so beautiful. White risers, stair runner, light paint. I’m guessing 18K because ours was 23K because we replaced all the railings and spindles and had more treads than you have.

@AJCN - Thank you so much for your extensive input - I really appreciate it. Your project pictures are amazing. I have a feeling we are at the beginning of a long road!