I saw these stairs the other day and fell in love with the idea of painting a faux stair runner! I've always loved painted floors but been afraid to "ruin" beautiful hardwood floors, so painted stairs might just be my perfect compromise (and I have a few
patterns from Haymarket Designs that I'd love to try out!)
Here are some of my favorite painted floors that I've been saving in my files
(sorry I've had some for a long time and don't have the sources for all of them!)

Mary McDonald

Better Homes and Gardens
And here are a few other painted stairs I found... I like the solid color look too!