I've had an all wool runner on my stairs for 12 years and absolutely love it. We have a large dog and two kids have grown up with this stair with no slipping issues. Wool is great for other reasons from an environmental aspect. There are several online sources that can educate you about wool carpets and it's appropriate applications.

I remember years ago being in a similar predicament and someone gave me some mirror tiles - I glued them on the the wall and thought I was very clever. They actually did look much better in my eyes. Try not to spend too much - I think everyone's idea of a shower curtain will all the bathroom colours in it would probably be the best option. You'll laugh about it in years to come and you will love the improvements you make over time. Enjoy the moment, unless you're selling soon your ideas will change after living there, so change when you can afford it - who cares it's YOURS. Good luck, it's so rewarding and so much fun. P.S. now we have a small bathroom, wall to wall tiles, dark grey on the floor and white on all the walls with a large grey tile up each opposing wall, tall mirror over the handbasin which reflects the opposite wall then a full length bath with shower over it. It works perfectly and looks great.

I put a lot of thought into what kind of sink to install ino my new kitchen: single vs double, stainless steel vs other materials, dish drainer or not, and finally undermount vs top mount. I went safe and chose industrial grade steinless steel, double sink without a drainer but with aditional part with multi purpose. I was very indecisive about the last thing: undermount vs top mount sink and finally decided after reading this - I will go top mount.

makes perfect sense to me... i suggest some small pieces of wood, glued and screwed to create a "housing" for the new riser boards should help secure everything and i believe it was traditional to have a shallow bull nose edge on the front of the tread (to help the stairs runners sit better?) BTW the aluminium window manufacturers near where i live discard lots of pine packing timber that i've used for re-inforcing scraps..easy to cut, screw and nail and usually free ...sounds like a fiddly job but it'll be great when it's finished and then you'll have to plan your new storage cupboard, good luck