Staircases and gallery landing

[Suzietwo]

I have a pristine example of 1980s dark varnished oak ornate spindled staircase.

It mings

All the doors and trimmings match

I'm not proposing to change the doors at the moment due to cost but am wondering about the staircase.

Ideally I'd like wide horizontal railings (also 80s but In A Good Way) but am concerned about the risk of toddlers climbing them and making a mess

What are my alternatives? I wouldn't want to paint them as i will end up with white 1980/s overly ornate spindles which are hardly better.

Ideas please!

Changing a staircase can be expensive too!! Could you replace the spindles with plain white ones? Any horizontal ones must be close enough together to prevent a child getting through. (Same with open tread too). I replaced most of my staircase and reconfigured it to allow better access to the first floor. I chose plain spindles but they suit the house and let light filter through, which more solid horizontal rails don't really do. Look at the web sites of staircase manufacturers and see what you like and then get them round to quote. It will be more expensive if you have to replace Newell posts because the horizontal rails cannot be attached to the existing ones. Usually it is much cheaper to replace like with like.

helpful! this will be part of some geenral work and i'll have contractors in to do the lot. im guessing the cheapest option is to simply paid the wood where i can and replace the ugly spindles with plain white?