Stair safety

[PeachSalsa]

Hallway night light and a cushy rug at the bottom of the staircase.

[JanND]

So sorry you had that happen, glad that you are ok.

I like runners, make sure they are tacked down, and that the rugs on the landings are secure too. Bare wood can be slippery, and if anything is ever spilt, you might not see the wet spot, on carpet it wouldn't cause you to slip...like on bare wood. You could always remove the runners later if you choose to.
Those lights that come on at sundown along the stairs might help as well.

[Cassy Fae]

Again, thanks for the suggestions and well wishes that I'm ok. Lights are a good idea as well. If there was light I probably wouldn't have assumed I was at the landing. I'll swing by home depot today about picking up some lights and having them come out for measurements. I think i will go with a runner, cushy landing rug, and lights.

[Linerin]

Sounds like the problem isn't the stairs, it was the dark.
A small nightlight will do the trick quick and easy.

[blueherons]

Or what about some sand and another coat of clear varnish?

[elkelives]

When I had three small children under age of 4, I carpeted the stairs, and I felt it was safer for the toddlers.

[Coldjensens]

I like just wood. It is far easier to keep clean.

Either one is slippery, we have had both and slipped on both. But your problem was not slipping, it was finding the landing.

Our solution is to keep a nightlight at the top and bottom of each stair. For our basement stair we have a super bright motion sensor LED fixture that is made for outdoor use. As soon as you open the door to the stairs, the stairway is lighted up like the sun has come to visit your home. It goes off about one minute after there is no movement.

You can also paint or otherwise color the landing a different color. Or, what we did is we had a very colorful small area rug on the landing. Even in the dark it was easy to see. A landing rug does not get that much dirt or abuse, so you can use a light color. Ours is silk and it has been the landing rug in two homes and sill looks like it looked when we got it. (basically perfect). We had it cleaned once in 18 years.

When we had carpeted stairs our kids decided they would be good to play luge in a cardboard box. Did you know an 8 year old's head can dent a 4" plaster wall? No permanent damage. they were constantly sliding down the carpeted stairs, either with a box, towel, or just on their rumps. It was like a piece of playground equipment. Once we removed the carpeting and padding and refinished the stairs, we never had any more sliding.

One thing I would suggest is handrails on both sides. We have one staircase with only one side and one with both side. The both sides one is steep and the steps are really shallow, so you are more likely to slip, however if it is dark or I am tired, I use that stair because I can keep my hands on each rail and if I slip, catch myself easily. Since I can hang on my hands alone, what my feet do does nto matter that much. A single rail will mostly twist your arm if you slip.