stair makeover

Our main staircase in the entryway of our home is currently wood with a strip of carpet that runs up the stairs and into the upstairs hallway/bedrooms.  We've talked about running hardwood floors through the downstairs, but are waiting until the carpeting that is downstairs to wear out before ripping out perfectly good carpet.  That said, I'm tempted to rip out the carpet on the stairs early just because it's the most difficult to keep clean and looking nice. 

Here are some things that I think look amazing and could maybe work in this space.

 

Really, how awesome are these mirrored stairs?  We could probably even do something with a backsplash tile.  (photo source)

 

These stenciled stairs seem totally doable (albeit, tedious)... But there's info on how the homeowner did this here.

 

 

Another pretty stencil inspiration.  I like the drastically different patterns here.

I love this look, especially since it looks like chalkboard paint.  I don't know that it would work in our space, given that I think it would look best in an older home.  (photo souce, original unknown)

 

Truthfully, this is probably one of the easier options for us.  Because our stairs look like this currently (if we'd ripped the carpet off).  We'd probably just have to repaint the white and then stencil on the numbers.  Info on the original inspiration here.

 

What do you think?  Would you paint the insets of your staircase or add another bit of visual interest to the staircase?  If so, do you like any of these options?