When I bought the house I currently live in, back last year (2007), there was already in a place a wonderful open stairwell that I liked because of its modern sensibility and I hope to update a tad more beyond the new flooring (engineered light maple wood) I had installed. Right now the old railing system is in place but I hope to eventually change what that looks like to update it and to make it meet more of today’s code requirements since the current railing system is shorter than current systems.
In DWELL Magazine there is a company I’ve seen called MILK Design. They have multiple modern style designs that are gorgeous and many which are almost artistic in styling. There are also many other firms I’m sure that are out there, but this is one that I am always stopped by the photography of the designs.