Sanding Stairs

Cougars

I have a pine stairs that has had nothing done to it so far. I want to paint it white with a carpet runner up the centre. We have dark walnut floors so hoping the painting white will brighten things up.
How much and what kind of sanding do I need to do and what type of paint would be best?
Or is there something that might look better, staining etc?
Thanks

northdublin

if the wood work has nothing on it yet then a sanding with a light grade paper will suffice. then a coat of primer and a light sanding then a coat of undercoat and another light sanding. i used a matt gloss then to finish. i took my stairs apart and it made it easier to paint especially if you have a lot of balustrades

GreeBo

one thing to watch, if your hall is quite small (i.e. the start of the stairs is quite close to the front door) then a runner will make it look even shorter as your eye will be drawn to it.

Just something an interior designed told us when we were looking at doing the same thing...

Finneganjp

Another thing to be aware of if your thinking of using them are the brass rods. Very expensive but look nice.