Pulled up some of the frickin' carpet

[Warpy]

5. The people who lived here before me had w2w carpeting

They also had 2 big dogs, 3 cats, a bird, and a few cages I just didn't want to look into. The place stank of animal waste.

I left the carpet in place while I painted the interior and then started to yank it up, pee, poop, and worse. I cut it into manageable sections and that part wasn't bad. They used a lot of tack strips and that part was bad. I ended up using a crowbar and hammer to get them up since they used too many nails on too many tack strips. I figure the carpet layers had just gotten their first nail guns.

Underneath was maple with black pee stains.

I elected to get the maple refinished and over the years, those stains have faded from black to light brown. I'm a weaver, so strategic placement of hand woven rugs worked to disguise them.

The only flooring I'd want carpet on is a concrete slab, and even then it would be a hard sell. I really hate the stuff and my experience pulling it up here was just the icing on a poisoned cake.

I don't know what your stairs are like. Chances are that a good paint job and a runner up the middle and held in place by runner rods would look really spiffy even if the wood underneath the paint is trashed.