The landing at the bottom of the steps as seen from the rumpus room.

A closer look at the landing.

Edge detail of bottom step.

Looking up the steps.

No squeaks, absolutely solid steps.  it helps when you screw the steps together and add a sheet of plywood and drywall up the backs of the steps. 

The molding that covers the turning point of the 3 upper steps. (steps are decreasing radius, all centered on a different point).

It's marvelous how "expensive" this curve looks.

Notice how the grout lines form a curve that your eye follows as you ascend the steps.

Tile wrapped around the banister. 

The top of the tile meets flush with the top face of the banister base plate. It gives the appearance of the banister floating in the tile.

The transition between the hallway wood floor and the tile is absolutely flush. No toe stubbing here. Tile perfectly spaced around the center of the hallway. 

I thought a tile kick strip would be overpowering so I made new oak kick strips from 1/4" oak plywood.

Coated in Sikkens Cetol, all six sides to deal with water spills.

The floor inlay we finally settled on for "royalty" at the front entry. I'll update this image when I add the grout.

And just so the peons at the back door don't feel left out, I built this for them to clean their feet.

The duchess inspecting the work.  "Rats, now I've lost my traction."  The oak doors really add to the overall quality.