Decisions at this point, so close to the end, are well, endless.
Here we looked at a few stain colors for the stair.
A tip: stairs treads can be darker than the floors. It helps to show off the rug or highlight the stair itself. You can visualiz this when you look at the samples through the spindles.
Our decision? In the image without the spindles…it’s the top left. An easy choice. We all agreed in about a second — the homeowner, the floor guy and me.