Attached here is a photo of the existing short stairway that leads from my house side entrance into the kitchen (which is behind the closed door). This will all be replaced with a completely new stairs that is going to be custom made for me. The new landing, right side wing-shelf and the actual stairs frame will be built out of plywood, on top of which all will have ceramic (non-slippery type) tiles glued-on.

My question is about the two side areas that I circled in the photo. My contractor is proposing that I leave out the wooden sides in the new build, and make the new stairway go directly into the wall sheet-rock. Otherwise he says, it will look ugly if I have to put a little trim made out of wood on the left side on top (you can see a small molding) and then insert wooden riser side holders.

Are there any other solutions you can suggest? I don't think I can make a tiny ceramic molding on the left side of the stairs, and it seems like having wood on the sides in combination with ceramic steps + sheetrock might indeed look ugly.

Your input is much appreciated for comments or further ideas.

P.S. The new design will make the step size & slanting more correct than on the existing stairs as shown in the photo and in addition, there is no way to make the steps wider, as there is a double-beam just under the right-side wing shelf area.