What a dilemma!! Any chance you could paint the skirting and doors and change the timber rail to a metal one? It's very hard to get so many timber colours to work together if they are not of a similar base colour. I suggest you do the new floor first, see how it looks and decide then. Maybe the hand rail can be stained darker?

Post in design dilemma

You have a home of character. Currently the whole external picture is unbalanced. Everything on the right is dominant, and falls away almost entirely on the left. From way off left field I would 1. Make the entry to your driveway from the letterbox point. The existing entry point would become garden. 2. This driveway would then curve around to the left and then join the existing driveway up to the garage. 3. I believe that there is too much brick and if finances allowed, would remove the brick driveway and replace with a base and grey gravel aggregate. The grey would have a remarkable softening effect, and would enable all rain that falls on the site to be utilised on site. 4. The area now reclaimed from the start of the existing driveway I would make a garden. This garden, with a tree within, would then balance the whole front picture. 5. I would remove the boxed area and dumpy plant keeping the colours and gravels all the same. 6. Don't use coloured bark - it could have toxins in it, and it looks awful. 7. The row of rocks in front of the house should also go. 8. The garage needs a colour change - the same colour as the brick of the house. This will make the whole front presence appear wider. Your home, as mentioned by others, and repeatedly by me in other posts, should retain the original facade in keeping with the style of home. There is nothing at all wrong with this facade, and it looks like a solid brick home. Cheers Alison

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