pondering: what to do with the stairs

The very first thing we did in this house. I mean the VERY first thing, mere minutes after walking through the front door with the keys in hand after signing papers, was to rip up the nasty carpet on the stairs to reveal the wood underneath. It was one of those "this house is OURS!" moments. And it felt really good. It was one, tiny little thing that we could say was done amidst a house full of changes that needed to be made. But since then, other than touching up paint and removing the banister when we put in the bookcase, we really haven't tackled the stairs.
And no, I'm not planning to start a new project. When I told Will I was contemplating the stairs he told me I better find a sink before I tackle what to do on the steps and he's right. But it's till fun to contemplate, because we will get to it. When, who knows, but we'll get there.

The stairs are the first thing you see when you walk into our house and Because it's a pretty small house and they are pretty narrow stairs, I feel like it would be nice if they made a statement. Something other than, blah, stairs. I've been puttering around Pinterest looking at images and here are some of the ideas I'm attracted too. Ok, there are a lot that I'm attracted to, but these are the doable ones. Like, I'd love to do this:
but I don't think we could squeeze it in :)
I love the way the rail ends here. We don't have that curved step. but might be able to get the look with out it.
I love the painted runner idea, not the colors here, but the idea is fun. Maybe something more like this?
And then there is the painted risers like this
and this


What do you think? Ideas?

**All photos (except for the one of our stairs of course) are from Pinterest and are on my stairs board if you want more info on sources!**