Perhaps consider having the hall closet section removed?

Just a thought -- but that change would allow the hall to actually look and feel so much larger .....

If not possible -- then paint out the oak trim (including the stair railings etc.) to white -- that would match the doors -- and create a MUCH more visual cohesive flow to the area ....

I agree about the closet. It is sort of an odd design - almost as if it were just stuck there, and yet it's all finished off so I assume it was part of the original design. If you removed the closet, you'd have more space, and also the lower stair area would be nice and open (I guess you would want to move the baby gate up.) If you still needed storage space, you could instead put in an attractive unit with hooks, cubbies, and a bench. (See This Old House website for "mudroom" ideas.)

Assuming you're leaving the closet as is, I might remove the oak trim altogether, or maybe replace it with a chunkier trim... and maybe only have the trim above the closet bump-out rather than above the front door and the French doors (unless there are ledges above those, too, which I just can't see.)

It also looks like the lower part of the walls are one color, while the upper part is another color. Is that right, or is that just the lighting? If so, I might paint it all one color. I wouldn't necessarily paint the railing and spindles of the staircase... it all depends on what color you choose for the walls. With the current color, though, I think white would look better on the railing/spindles.

Oh, also, what's up with the oak trim I see running along the wall on the upper part of the staircase? That looks odd. I'd remove it altogether unless it is serving some purpose I can't see in the photos.

Another option if you removed the closet would be to put a console table and some decorative furniture (chair?) against that wall, and maybe a coat rack next to the door (if need be.) Above the console table I would add a very large piece of art. It could be a large painting, or a large wall hanging or quilt. It could even be a very large mirror. I used to live in an apartment with 12 foot ceilings and had a similarly high area and went with a huge artistic wall hanging. My suggestion would be something (whether it's a painting or a wall hanging) which is modern and only very minimally-framed if framed at all. It could be a very large graphic drawing, too, with a minimal frame. Of course, that's just my taste, but the space seems so clean right now that I wouldn't want to put up as art anything overly traditional or ornate.

I have a similar "space above the closet" I'm trying to take care of. I posted here and got some great ideas, but now FINDING the ideas is another story.

Is the mirror flat, or is it on the wall & I'm just not seeing it? I would probably get rid of the mirror. I'd think it would reflect weird, and I wouldn't care for a bright "square" on my ceiling.

Unless those windows give someone a view of you as you walk somewhere, I would leave them open. If they have a view, I would put a textured privacy film on them. I would not put proper WTs on.

If you leave the oak trim there, since it butts up against the white stairway trim, I would paint it white. Especially since it courses past all those white & white trimmed windows.

What color is your LR/DR? You would get some great color suggestions here, but we need to know what it must flow with.

I would wait on the rug until you pick a wall color, OR find a rug you love (not just one that will "go") and base wall color on it. I would not by a neutral rug knowing I'm painting the walls something, but don't know what. Especially a neutral rug with a black border, because your eyes will be drawn to that rug all kinds of ways.

I dont know about removing the closet. I like the idea of a bench, hooks, etc...but we dont really have another spot to store shoes, hats, gloves, jackets etc...No idea where we would move all that stuff too. But i guess we do have alot of crap in the closet that barely gets used. Not sure if my hubby would go for the idea though.

The oak trim does nothing. I've wanted to remove it, I'm just lazy. It is different colors above and below. Thats how it was when we bought the place. Again, I would like to repaint to a different color. Something light I think. Just not sure what. Mostly it just has to flow OK with the rug and couch in the sunken room. I need major paint color help. I never end up liking what I pick out and I dont have money to buy tons of paint to try out every color!

I'd paint the extra trim as taking it down will require patching. If it's painted white it should flow better, but it can be painted the same as your wall color if you prefer that it not stand out as much. Then it will add just a bit of dimension w/o screaming look at me. Keep the closet as you really need it, and while a table/mirror/art vignette is nice in larger foyers, some prefer having a closed area to store winter necessities at the front door to a side entrance mud room look. Whether the hooks and bench works really depends on your tolerance for seeing coats and boots displayed and your other furnishings as the style of your home appears typical of builder homes in the past 25 years, so that's not period appropriate though I don't think that has to dictate your choices.

I'd paint the spindles, but not the rail as a white rail shows wear much more than wood, and you have the wood on either side of the runner that it will tie in with. You could stain the rail darker if you like. I'd not get a jute runner in the main hall as a patterned rug will not show dirt and wear as much. You can go larger and either more or less colorful, depending on your preference, but I think you will appreciate having a pattern in the long run.

Rather than focusing on art on the ledge (although you could put up larger and more colorful art in place of what you have on the walls), I'd add a beautiful chandelier on a longer chain. Doing so will draw you eye down a bit from that silly ledge. If you prefer to have ledgel art, check ebay for large Jure sculptures or other artwork that won't fade or lose its impact in the sun. You can also replace the front door with a thermal pane leaded glass one or simply paint it a different color if you prefer and that will keep the eye drawn away from the ledge.

What you have up looks like a yellow base neutral. I know you want to keep it light, but what colors are in the adjoining rooms currently or what colors do you want them to be if you're considering changing? What colors are in your furniture and accessories as you said you want the hall to flow with the LR sofa and rug? As others said, we need a bit more info to understand what palette you and DH would like for your home.

Here is a picture of my living room. The pictures on the walls arent the same anymore. I need to keep the couch, rug and tables. So I need a paint color to go with those. I can change the curtains or buy blinds or whatever. Current color of the sunken living room is Ellen Kennon's buttercream. But I am not that thrilled with it to be honest. The rest of the downstairs (minus the dining room) is a Ralph Lauren color called 'barn owl white'. I dont really like that either. I havent repainted because I dont know what color to go with.

Here is another view showing how the living room is open to the kitchen. Not really sure if its best to keep everything to one color or not?

We are planning on redoing the kitchen in the next 1-2 years. Probably natural maple cabinets. I'd rather wait to repaint the kitchen until we do that. But I'd love color help for the entire downstairs.

My dining room is currently a khaki color. I really want to repaint that too! But was waiting to figure out the wall color in living room and kitchen.

I also want to paint the foyer and up the stairs and into the upstairs hallway...AND, any suggestions for the stairwell? Decoration wise?

Thanks!!!

Kitchen is nice, so maybe you can wait longer to change. What color is your counter?

Color of sofa looks dark brown on my monitor. Is it? Once you get a direction for the walls, you can bring in more colors through accessories.

LR walls look more pinky yellow than EK Buttercream so maybe my monitor is off or your walls are picking up a funky color from something else.

What colors make you happy? If it's just a neutral cream, Bone White is more neutral than Buttercream which usually reads more golden yellowy to me than off-white cream. Do you like sage, yellow, soft whites? Give us some direction and I'm sure you'll get lots of help from GWers.

my counter right now is a dark speckled blueish/green color. I'll try to find a better picture.

Here is another pic of the living room. Might show the couch and paint better.

I would like to keep the room light since we dont get alot of natural light in the back. I love greyish blue colors but not sure what will work best with the dark brown couch. sometimes it looks almost army green?

Here is the counter in the kitchen. When we redo we will probably go with cambria or maybe even soapstone. But more likely a medium/lightish speckled quartz.

This is really a random comment, but I'm currently loving having no window coverings. We do have custom blinds fit into every window, but we keep them pulled up almost all the time. There is no curtain to be found anywhere in my house. It was originally this way because my husband bought the house and lived in it alone before he met me, and he was not into decorating. But after I moved in and finally painted the builder white walls, I realized that I really loved the clean look. My windows are very similar to yours - 6 over 6 divided light, with white trim. (My trim might be very slightly wider than yours - hard to tell.)

My instinct used to always be to put up curtains, but now I've moved away from that. As long as your trim is good, having no curtains results in a very clean look. You also don't have to worry about coordinating with furniture, wall color, etc., and about what length to use on windows that don't go all the way to the floor. And you get as much natural light as possible. If I were you I would actually remove those drapes. You've got a great clean look throughout the kitchen, without window coverings. If you need privacy, you could fit wooden blinds inside the windows. It's hard to tell exactly what color the walls in the living room area are - I think they are probably more the soft creamy yellow that it appears in the last photo, and not the pink/peach it appears in other photos. If it's the same as what is in the kitchen, then I think that color is actually very good. You might want possible want something slightly more taupe-y for the living room, but since it is open to the kitchen, you'll have to be careful about the color.

I know, off-topic... it's just that I have been looking at a ton of real estate photos lately (might put our house on the market in a couple years, and I'm interested in what the market is like) and curtains always seem to ruin things. They seem to be the most taste-specific things and the things that most easily seem to ruin rooms. It seems like EVERYONE immediately puts up curtains, but they're often just messy and don't really do anything to enhance the room. Yours are actually pretty good - very pretty color - but they limit you a bit. The "correctness" of that length on windows that size is also debatable. I've read that you should make the drapes go to the floor, but I've also seen a supposed "egregious real estate photo" which was flagged specifically for having drapes fitted like that.

BTW, would you keep that rug (which I really like)? Could you look closely at it and maybe pull out a color which doesn't immediately jump out at you, and use that on the wall? That would pull everything together.

Just so you know, my furnishings are similar in color scheme to yours, and my walls are a similar yellowish, with one wall (which runs into the kitchen) being sort of a sage-y olive-y green. I don't know that I love the yellow, and the green is too dark to do on all the walls, but something in that family, just lighter, would work on all the walls. You might go for a light grey with an undertone of green.

I agree with the others who suggest eliminating the closet. You can now find huge, inexpensive armoires (thanks to flat screen TV's no longer needing) that would look much nicer than that closet, and yet be equally useful.

khallock, maybe you could start a new thread posting your photos and just asking for paint suggestions if that's more your focus now. GWers are very receptive and great with color ideas, but may not get your new focus unless you make it a bit clearer as indicated by the last poster responding to your title and original question. A lot of us may not weigh in on color if we don't want to suggest architectural changes. HTH!

Well I really do want help with my foyer. It seems like something I can tackle without spending alot of money. I can wait on the paint in the living room and kitchen. I am not knocking down the closet right now its an interesting idea though! I was hoping to get some advice on the trim, paint color for foyer, rug, front door, and what to do with the stairwell (art or pictures?).

I am open to painting the foyer,stairs, and upstairs hallway. Taking down the oak trim. I am not sure what color and where to start/stop colors since my house is so open. I wanted to show you the living room now since I want the foyer to flow well. I would also be interested in color suggestions for the front door if you think I should paint the inside of it? I also would like to paint the outside but again dont have a color in mind. My house is a light brownish grey color. If you have wall decor advice I'd interested in hearing that too. Or what to do with the space above the closet - would some plants up there be ok? It gets lots of light.

I would paint out the oak trim the same as the wall color. Tried this for you.......... I think you could put an umbrella stand or a tall tiny plant stand in front of your window (maybe something with a small drawer for keys? It looks like you get a lot of light through the windo so you could go a little darker on the walls.

I wouldn't touch the closet. I think it looks fine. A foyer is a "working room," just like the kitchen and utility rooms are. The purpose isn't for decorating unless you have a lot of wall space to go along with storage. Most people would love to have that kind of storage in the foyer.

It's beautiful the way it is. I would paint the inside front door and railing white, and you could add a more colorful rug with a pattern.

It is curious to me your wood work in the foyer is not the same as your kitchen. That alone would add more punch than all that white. Color is all you need. I can see the closet issue, but for resale and practicality storage is a premium. Leave it as is.

Keep the closet. Keep the stair rail the same. Paint out the trim above the doors white to match the closet. Love the idea of an umbrella stand or small/narrow chest for keys and misc. You have a beautiful home with a lot of natural light. Lucky girl!

Just a few thoughts. Adopt what you like and leave the rest :)

You basically have an open plan on the first floor. So it then seems incongruent to disrupt the flow by painting each "room" a different colour. My preference in such situations is to use the same paint and flooring, depending instead on the furnishings and accessories to define the individual spaces.

The neutral colours in the photos all appear to be relatively the same, which is good, but rather too light in tone to balance the weight of the wood floors and the heavy furnishings. I would darken it somewhat, maybe to BM Bleeker Beige (HC - 80) throughout the first floor. The odd random oak trim in the foyer should be painted the same as the walls, the oak spindles on the staircase would be painted the same as whatever the trim colour is already. Leave the hand rails as they are. Please do not add something to the top of the closet just to fill in empty space...especially plants, real or silk!

As for dressing up the foyer further, I would wait before you take out the oriental runner on the stairs. It sounds as if it may reference what you have in the living room. And your proposed plain jute replacement, even with a contrasting border sounds awfully bland for that area. But here is where I would put in a colour punch. Above the closet and painted out trim on the foyer walls, I would add anaglypta wall paper in a fairly large and bold design. I'll post an example below, painted deep blue just to show the pattern. Then I would paint it in a colour that appeals to you. Looking at your pictures, that may be a russet (BM HC-51) or a mossy green (BM HC-126). And I would use that as well as a back splash in the kitchen as well, to tie things together.

Add more oriental rugs (inexpensive, not matching) in the hallway floor, under the dining room table and by the kitchen sink. Hang plain deep taupe curtains, maybe bordered with a fabric used in pillows etc, from rods hung closer to the ceiling than the top of the window, to create the illusion of height.