It's an Edwardian house, the hall is pretty dark - the only natural light is from a window above the front door. Walls are painted plain white, we have pretty modern taste.
The current carpet on the stairs, which needs replacing, is a beige berber, a lot like this: www.theflooringgroup.co.uk/brown-wool-carpet-to-stairs/ . It's but I'd prefer something in a lighter shade because of the dark hall, but then I'm conscious that stairs are in heavy use so a light carpet might get grubby quickly.
Also, I find a lot of carpets look quite old fashioned - some berbers are ok, but is there any other style I could look at for a modern look? I can't go bare wood because I'm really clumsy and need some grip, and I don't think the wood on the stairs is very attractive anyway (a new staircase was put in just before we bought the house, so they're not original floorboards).
Thanks!