Stairs - Which material, which appearance?

I have to decide on the appearance and materials of the staircase. It is about a twofold quarter-turn staircase in a terraced house that leads from the ground floor to the upper floor. Are there any "no-gos" or good, old tips for this kind of staircase? The staircase will be closed and underneath it there will be the toilet and a bit of storage space. Now I have to choose between various types of handrails and how they are attached, the materials (beech or something else), the colors (can be painted in any color). I am more concerned that the staircase does not stand like a bulky thing in the hallway and looks a bit elegant or pleasing. Is this more achievable with vertical handrail supports or with ones parallel to the staircase? Are there some basic design rules (like: "dark walls visually shrink the room" or "white clothes make you look fat")? I know, it really is a small matter. Choosing the staircase has been the most difficult thing so far.

I believe no one can make the decision about your stairs for you, it entirely depends on personal taste and your home decor. Just google different stairs on the internet, maybe you will find something suitable. Personally, for a townhouse staircase, I would probably pay attention to it not being too dark.

Best regards
Sabine

think about the built-in cupboard under the stairs. In a terraced house, the hallway is probably not very large. Because the opening of the stairs is missing, it can look and also feel noticeably cramped in the hallway. We also do not have a large hallway and for this reason decided against it. Otherwise, there are no limits and personal preference is probably the most relevant.

If solid wood, then rather beech than pine. Beech is harder and darkens less strongly over time. I also find steel stringers in black and natural oak steps oiled chic. For the handrail, I prefer matte metal rods over high gloss polished or wooden rods. The handrail itself in wood flatters the hand, metal handrails always look like a strip club with a lady on a pole. White lacquer scratches quickly if used often. Unless you always walk barefoot in the house. Derstappen in Lützow makes pretty stairs. Take a look at his website.

We have white cheeks and steps and handrails in oak. Looks very noble. I can only recommend it.

@Nordlysman are you mainstream

There are safety regulations for stairs that do not necessarily apply in a normal single-family house. Be aware of that. Because if you want to comply with them, it quickly becomes ugly. Vertical bars then look like a jail, horizontal ones look bulky if the distances are kept according to these rules. Glass is expensive and needs to be maintained.

Google, Pinterest, wallet. Your GU will also be able to show two or three standard models.

The easiest would be a steel stringer, I would at least look towards the stringer, as nordlys also wrote. It's more modern and looks a bit more valuable.