I'm moving into a Victorian house where the stairs are already painted with bits of tread just stuck on. I'm probably going to go for a runner. I particularly fancy a striped one.
This would also help with your noise problem.

Thanks Gill, I really like the look of the stairs painted but worried about little wet feet slipping on them. Yep I like the stripe ones too but I've ordered a grey carpet for the upper hall landing and for the bedrooms so don't think it will look right, the carpet shop have said they can send the same carpet I've got to be made into a runner so it all matches. I went to john Lewis today because I would love an orange runner and they do a colour match service, but it was working out at £490, that's without fitting, think it's a bit much for 13 straight stairs. I love Victorian houses, we're going to a new build, will be hard work making a box having some character.

From my point of view being a decorator they will never remain clean and even worse the best stairs colour in my opinion is white which is even harder to maintain.

On top of this because you seal the substrate the stairs become a slip hazard.

With children I wouldn't recommend it. Picture the slipping hazard plus the constant cleaning.

You could always have a stair runner which is an inbetween

Thank you for your reply Mathew, yep I think I will go with a runner. You make a good point with the cleaning, trying to make life easier not harder lol.

My stairs have been carpetless for nearly a year and I love it. Cleaning has become easier because dust and dog hair etc can just be hoovered straight up instead of clinging to the carpet-and I can see if I've missed a bit. Granted it is a little noisy but my stairs creak a lot at the best of times and the noise is relative to footwear anyway!

Do u find it slippy? I keep thinking about it being slippy for the kids, but then I see lots of pictures where the stairs are just painted and then I think it can't be that bad or other people wouldn't do it. I think I'm going to put the runner down anyway because I can't get it out my head that one of the kids will fall down the stairs.

Hi Kerry. I painted my basement stairs and then sealed them with Liberon anti-slip coating. I think you're meant to reseal every few months or once a year but the amount in the tin would seem to last a lifetime. My boards are a really dark grey and easy to keep clean and not slippery at all

Thank you for your reply Minnie, I never knew that I could seal them with anti slip. My plan was to paint the treads black satin and use transfers on the risers. I just wanted something different since it's always been older houses we have had so carpet has been put down because it would have taken a lot of work to get them into good enough condition to be painted or a runner. Since this is a new build, I thought paint them, then when I want to change it down the line I could do a runner but the carpet guy made the point of it being a hazard and now I can't get that out my head. I'm probably over thinking everything, I'm planning the hallway because I want to wait till we are in the house and see how we use the space before I plan the other rooms, leaving me with 2000 thoughts on how to decorate a hall lol.

Seen the liberon anti slip on Amazon there for £20, thanks for that Minnie.

It's also used for decking, patios etc, seems very good stuff. Sorry my treads are the really dark grey, with the risers in white. I got from ebay, black vinyl decals made up in place names we'd visited, cost me all of £10! I've just made my son test our stairs in socks and he's convinced they're not slippery at all as I'm normally barefoot or slippers. If you're really worried though go for a runner or carpet it may also be a lot less noisier than 3 kids running up and down! Have you not found an orange runner elsewhere? Sensible idea re decorating the house, I just got too excited to wait!

Awwhhh tell your son thank you for being a stair tester, glad he didn't end up a stuntman. The orange runner is £490 for john Lewis without fitting, with everything else I need for the house I'm really not wanting to pay that, but know that's what I will end up doing if I do decide on the runner lol. I've been looking for an orange carpet I could get cut then made into a runner ( carpet man knows somebody who binds the edges), but everything I've seen is the wrong shade like burnt orange or muted shades, I'm looking for tangerine, orange as in the primary shade of it. Yep I'm impatient too, but know if I rush in and do it all, I will sit back and regret my decisions so I'm going to take my time, I pod the extra to get everywhere painted white instead of the standard magnolia, will feel like I'm living in a hospital till I get round to changing it, well a dirty hospital because I can't see white Matt looking good for long with the 3 kids. I've got a retaining wall needing built in the garden since there's a slope at the back( that seams to always happen in new builds the now, don't think the builders care that your left with a mini hill), can push the slope back to just user a meter, backfill it with soil so I have raised planters rather than a slope. so that's took a big chunk out of my decorating money but better to do this straight away so I can get grass down for the kids.

Yep it's the decals I've seen, was going to try get a lattice pattern.

That's ok, he's big enough to fall anyway! http://www.housebeautiful.co.uk/style-decorating/sourcebook-flooring/ Have you looked at this carpet by brockway? When you go on their website it doesn't look that tangerine but does on the link, not cheap at £48 sqm though. I hadn't seen lattice decals, just looked them up though and they could look fab! It would be a bit different but maybe combined with tangerine painted treads and the black decal on white risers? If orange really goes out of fashion or you hate it at least you could repaint it cheaply. Our last house was a few years old when we bought it and the builders filled the garden with rubble, someone over the road even found a wheelbarrow in his! It's annoying that you have to spend all that extra money though. sensible to tackle the garden first though so the kids can use it. I used to hate white walls but am really loving them at the moment

I've got bright orange leather swivel chairs, had them for a few years now and just love how they make the room pop, so going to try same in the hallway. I just found this on eBay http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/181634369605?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368 , working out just under £100 but not sure if a shag pile will be wearing enough for the stairs, it's not too thick at 5cm so can't see it being a trip hazard. I will look at the link, it's £55 a square meter from john Lewis but when you add cutting costs and then binding costs that's what brought the price up. Oohh you're giving me so many different choices I will probably drive myself crazy lol. Well o seen the builders putting in the driveway few weeks back and they where laying it on a recycled crush glass, £100 for 10 tons of it, they can then say they are reusing stuff that would make its way into landfill sites and it's a blot cheaper than hardcore, hope I never have to change the drive though because it will be everywhere.

3 (loud) children + wooden stairs???? Nope. You will spend a load of time, effort + cash on decorating bare stairs - and within a year you'll end up putting down a carpet. Cut your losses + carpet stairs now. A bright geometric patterned runner with brass rods or pegs. Far less stressful, less shouting, less danger of slips, trips or falls.

They are very loud lol,

Why don't you paint the stairs and make it fun painting each riser a different color

I'm worried about the slip hazard with the kids, I would like the stairs painted but unsure if it's the best option with kids I. The house

Glad Minnie said about the anti slip- I'll get that once I've got mine painted! If you're worried about noise you can get these tread carpet things. They cover most but not all of the tread-thus reducing noise and being anti slip- but they're adhesive backed and relatively cheap. They're just not as pretty as going stair-naked except paint!

Oh Kerry - if you think the children are loud now - just wait til they get going on a bare wooden stairs ! And when they become angry, testy, attention-seeking teens .... Carpet stairs with a runner AND paint/decorate exposed wood tread + risers. Best of both worlds.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply to me. I've decided to get a runner, feel that's going to be best with the 3 kids running about. I'm eyes are sore looking at all the different kinds of runners so I ended up phoning the carpet man and getting him to make me a runner from same carpet that Im getting everywhere else so it's all matching. When he sends it away to get it binded, it will be done with orange thread, think this will give me a pop of colour against the grey carpet and be a little different. Takes a few weeks for it to come back but as soon as it's done and in, I will post a picture for you'd. Thanks again for your input and helping me make my mind up.

The orange trim sounds good. You can paint or decorate remaining stairs to match/contrast with trim. How about painting the kids names, yr of birth + height with date on separate treads/risers. It'd be a talking point as well as a record . Cld be updated every few yrs. Even if it gets covered up at a later date, it'll always be there when uncovered. Great bit of fun too.

Dear Kerry,

I believe it's a nice idea to paint the stairs and trust me it's not hard at all to maintain them! Carpets can be much worse as they stain and you can't always get it back the same way it was. In my parents house the stairs are painted and it truly looks nice, it's not noisy at all but this may depend on the wood as well that you use, but I'm not sure.

Easy to keep it clean and it's not slippy perhaps it's varnished.

Good luck with your Project!

StJames Design Interiors

And a close up of it

If children are going to fall, they will, regardless what's on the stairs. Or anyone else for that matter!

If you carpeting stairs you will have to do THIS regularly

http://www.carpet-clean.ie/pictures/#!