I would also suggest to match the walls. When you look at where the stairs meets the wall...by making it two different colors it will appear choppy looking. Making it blend in together like it is part of the wall won't make that corner and the stairs stick out like a sore thumb.

My parents' old house had a wonderful oak front staircase that my six siblings and I used to race up and down, taking them two or three at a time, with only a casual hold on the railing. I don't know how we managed to never slip or fall. Now, the timber backstairs were steep, and had narrow treads and were poorly lit. We NEVER ran up or down them, but held tightly to the railing and hoped to heck we managed to stay upright. As an adult, my previous home had carpeted stairs, which I slipped on (wearing socks) and fell down twice, though thankfully I was closer to the bottom than the top. My current home has timber stairs with three narrow stainless steel runners stood on edge and inset horizontally across the front of each tread (this is supposed to help reduce risk of slips). I doubt I will get over the anxiety of taking another tumble, so I never go down them wearing socks, and if barefoot, I hold onto the railing for dear life and take it nice and slow. So far so good.

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

Hi Linda As Oklouise has said above, there are standards for the height range (riser) and the depth (going) along with a maximum pitch of the overall staircase (2R+G). It is a concern that you have fallen twice and we only ask as the photos aren't clear as to the proportions. It's no issue if you don't want to provide them. That said, if the going dimension is short then you are always coming down the stairs with the back half of your foot only. Regarding slippage, most flooring companies are not supplying nosings as the slip ratings can usually be achieved with high build coatings eg the Duragrip PLUS. This could probably be applied straight to your stairs as they are with a bit of a buff up first. Regarding the handrail, we have done curved handrails up and around these sort of staircases. I would suggest it would be money well spent in having the existing rail extended up and around the corner for safety so that the place where the steps are most tricky has a firm support. As it sits now you only have an end to hold onto. Cheers