It is often the finishing touches that define the character of a room. A customer was remodeling their basement and they wanted a better look for the builder’s basement stairs. I suggested adding stringer covers. The stringers are a structural member installed on either side (or center) of a flight of stairs. Although the job took a bit of carpentry skills the results turned out very well. See photos below.

Here you can see the original steps. I’m marking the nose that will be notched out for the cover.
Here you can see the notched out threads.
Cutting a stringer cover to fit the existing stairs.
The stringer covers in place. They add a formal look to the formally plain staircase.
In progress.
Another view of the finished staircase. Looks pretty good!