We've had this idea........

Have you thought about chalk paint which dries very quickly? Not sure how much wear and tear it can take.

phoenix my staircase is painted white but it would not take much "traffic" on the stairs. I use a stairlift.

Mine took around 48 hours to dry properly, mainly because it required more than a couple coats of paint. It had been badly varnished using a very dark brown by the previous owners, making the house appear to be very dark. Unfortunately my staircase is in my living room. I blocked off the staircase to Tara but luckily she did not like the smell so stayed downstairs until the paint had dried.

Have a look at the Cuprinol Shades range of paints. They are mostly used for garden furniture etc., but our bedroom floorboards are painted in Muted Clay and they wash clean with a mop! Any scratches/chips can easily be repainted.

I should add Muted Clay doesn't show up animal hairs unlike some of the darker colours.

Well the first thing Phoenix is to teach them left from right. A "post-it " on the respective paws will do it. Then watch them take absolutely no notice anyway and enjoy the pretty pattern of pussy paw prints all over the rest of your house.
It could be a design feature?

If the cats can't read you could put up the appropiately coloured lights for Port and Starboard.

Red for Port (Left)
Green for starboard (Right)
It's easier.

You daft lot!

Thanks merlot will have a look. I think our stairs are partially made of some sort of board stuff, rather than proper timber, so would need a proper paint rather than a colour wash type thing.

Could you use a baby stairgate to keep the cats off?
We have a cheap, rubber-backed carpet runner in our hall. It was under £7O, is hardwearing, and robust, despite our cat, numerous small children, and pushchairs going over it.
There are lots of patterns and sizes on-line.

Cuprinol will cover any wood/board etc. Two coats should do the trick and you get a solid finish rather than a wash. We've got some floorboards that were botched in one corner with some hardboard many years ago but now they blend in with the rest of the floor.

Thanks for the extra info merlot

joanna a stair gate would be no barrier, there are open spindle bannisters that they could get through, plus Oliver Sprout is svelte enough to get through a stairgate (Digby could probably manage too, if he breathed in) add to that the prodigious leaping ability of OS, and we'd stand no chance!

Paint alternative stairs? Temporarily rehouse the cats/ confine them somewhere?
Bare stairs are very noisy and lethal if only wearing socks, DS smashed her leg sliding off a stair tread wearing socks...

Is stair carpet in one piece? Sometimes you can shift it up, or down, half a tread so former riser is now on the tread if you know what I mean. Obviously doesn't work if separate bits fit each riser and each tread- if individual tread and riser try turning through 180°?

At one house, being very broke, I just painted the edges of each stair and we laid several really cheap woven grass mats down the centre, using a staple gun and eventually stair rods. So now I know why only the edges get painted - it's to allow you to walk up the central part! It's only when you come to do it yourself that it registers.

Make sure the paint is not slippy - we don't want you falling down the stairs! I am always very wary of wooden varnished stairs.

I remember my father shifting the stair carpet so that a fresh bit was on the tread. In fact, when it was first laid, there was an extra bit allowed and turned under at the riser so that shifting it didn't leave a gap.

Yes, that was common practice in my parents' day as well, Elegran. It doesn't sound as though phoenix's staircarpet is in a fit enough state though!

Stairs get heavy wear and paint will chip fairly quickly , not a good look. We have some plain wooden stairs which are just varnished which look ok. Just lock cats outside for a day and barricade the stairs for a night and anything will be touch dry enough for a cat after that.

'Barricade the stairs'...? Have you actually got cats, suzied?

In my daughter`s last house, her stairs were varnished wood, and I nearly came a cropper many times, they were lethal! If there are enough good bits to your carpet Phoenix, you could copy JaneR`s idea.

Paw prints could be a feature.

I do not like the idea of bare wooden stairs. I am sure there is a much bigger danger of slipping. I dont really like laminate floors for the same reason.

I have actually slipped down these very stairs before, and got a rather swollen ankle, but I blame Mr P.

How about pussy cat bootees with Velcro soles? Lay a few of the corresponding strips on the hall floor near the bottom step. Not a very sensible suggestion, I know, but now that I have thought of it I can't get the image of 'frozen' cats out of my mind.

Agree that wooden or painted stairs can be a bit of a slip hazard, why not look online to see if there is anyone selling second hand carpet? You very often find astonishing bargains, and then you wont be too worried if the cats have a little go at it. We have all wooden floors apart from the bedrooms, and our cat has a knack of streeettcchhinngg........and flexing his claws, especially on the new bedroom carpet.....he leaves the old one that was there when we moved in.....