The wall colors in the first two pictures look different then the wall color in the last picture looking towards the door.

Add chair rail going up the wall opposite the handrail. Below the chair rail, add a series of picture frame molding rectangles. I had it in a colonial style house. It's a nice accent.

Yes happyladi - I painted that today to see how it would brighten up! I'm not too happy with it since its too bland now. I like the idea of adding a chair rail thanks graywings!

A small chandelier with crystals to catch the light would add some sparkle. Runners on the floor & stairs -- orientals, hooked rugs, woven carpets -- would add some color & pattern and are classic. Is there a place for a mirror? Those are always good for bouncing light around in a dim space.

I forgot to mention, the chair rail allows you to have two shades of paint on the stairwell wall, one above the rail and one below.

I love SW Believable Buff for a golden tan or BM Baby Turtle for a warm tannish green. Both would look great with Walnut stain.

Just my opinion but the beige color with the brown floor and door looks boring. I would choose a light, warm gray for a more sophisticated look. Baby Turtle might be a good option also from the examples I've seen on the forum. Beige or tan just seems too predictable. You might take a look at the gallery for some beautiful, non-beige colors.

This is from the group of photos I just put in our Staircase Eye Candy thread in the Gallery. Have you looked at that thread? You could do this on your risers with wallpaper. I just love this!

The wall color in the 3rd pic looks fine. A new ceiling fixture might be a good idea. What's the deal with the stair risers?

The 1st two pictures looks boring, but the 3rd one is great. Which one of those is how it looks now?

Laurie

Anyhoo, what color did you use to paint the door wall?

I agree with awm's advice to add some sparkle. More and better light will change the space more than anything else.

I would also paint the door and surrounding trim the same white as the rest of the trim. But, that's JMO. I like painted brick, too... :-)

I love the color on the door wall!

Pictures 1 and 2 are my attempts to "lighten" things up and picture 3 is what's been there (Ralph Lauren - I'll have to look the color up)but I think its too dark. The front of the house (foyer, and dining room) get very little natural light and the pic 3 color just makes it seem 'cavelike'. I agree the light fixture should get changed, but I'm also hoping to add a lighter tone to the walls.

As far as the risers, we do have the matching walnut treads to put in and hopefully update the balusters.

Oh - and I love the idea of painting the door - thanks
amysrq!

What are colors of the rooms that open into the foyer? You'd need to tie in with those.

I love the color on the door wall and think you should carry it up the stairs and add the sparkle as recommended. I think it will do wonders for the space. I'm going to be the lone holdout on painting the door and sidelights, I like it as. I would add all the decor and color first and then see what it looks like.

Good luck!!

So the entire area was the color in the third picture before? That is a much better color then what you painted the stair area, the new paint is boring and dull.

What about a color like Ellen Kennon's buttercream? My daughter used this color and it's a soft warm yellow beige. Yellow is so hard to get right but this is a great yellow. Depending on the light it looks either soft yellow or warm beige.

Her paint is a little pricy but it's very nice and it shouldn't take more then a couple of gallons to do the area. Check out her website. www.ellenkennon.com

how can i see the pictures these comments are referring to?

Mary, this thread is from 2009. The linked gallery was probably deleted a long time ago. There's no way for you to see the photos.

Before Houzz took over the GardenWeb forum, if you wanted to post photos here, you had to host them elsewhere and link to them. So if anything happened to the linked hosting site (Photobucket was popular), the photos won't appear any more. When Houzz took over, you upload photos to Houzz and Houzz stores them, so you aren't at the mercy of a 3rd party hosting site any more.