I think there area a lot of things you could do but it depends on the "feeling" you want to give the space. Modern? Traditional? Wild? Also, I would want to try and find a color upstairs that I could pull into the stairwell or landing so that it transitions well. You said the walls upstairs are Vanilla ice cream (yummy) - but what are the accent colors in the upstairs rooms. Any bright warm blues? Reds? Oranges? Light greens? Warm colors are great for small dark areas. Esp trimmed with pure white. I would avoid pastel or greyish tones. So little light will only make those colors more dull. IMO I'm personally partial to yellow. My northern facing small den and kitchen area are much warmer and feel brighter painted yellow; more than when they were beigey-white. And yes, it took a LOT of samples to find one that worked in every light and corner of the room. But it works (all the trim is bright white.) The yellow follows one wall up into the landing space of the stairs, but then the wall of my VERY dark stairwell is bright white with a sheen to make it reflective. I did hang artwork on the landing to pull the colors together. One painting on the yellow wall and one on the white wall - both the same artist, feel, and related colors. I like it. Another thought, is to incorporate stripes (I'm getting into stripes lately. You could do the foyer in a warm color, but on the wall that extends upstairs (and maybe one other) paint bright white horizontal stripes. That gives you color but lightens it up. And the horizontal shape will help make the space look bigger. On another thread, as an example, someone posted this link of aqua and white stripes. http://www.thehandmadehome.net/2010/06/the-veranda/ Another idea is to keep it all the same color as upstairs, but add marvelous art and lighting fixtures, and maybe jazz up the risers of the stairs. Here's another post I found in FW that has some GREAT ideas you might be able to use: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/decor/msg071758089676.html Here is a link that might be useful: aqua stripes

Thank you Allison. That room is absolutely stunning. And I love the unfitted kitchen. Thank you chisue. Remember: Nobody sits on an ottoman. Good point. The center of a 3-cushion sofa is least desired seat. If nobody's going to lie down on it, I'd skip the sofa in favor of chairs or love seats. DH sometimes likes to lie down on it. And sometimes I will lie down too. We both like to sprawl. But I understand your point. Is there a 'reading chair' with good light and a table? Two? Game table? No game table. Definitely one of the chairs will be a 'reading chair' and yes I have good reading lights. In our condo we had a three seat sofa and a 1 1/2 seat loveseat that could actually seat two. Usually my stepdaughter and her fiancé (now husband) chose that seat. Or DH loved lying on it with his legs hanging off the end. The sofa faced the TV and the love seat created the other part of the L so when he was lying with his legs dangling his head was in a perfect line to watch TV. LOL.

There are shelves designed with a hook for keys and so forth, or you could get a very narrow table. Lessee what I can dig up... I have this one, which is too narrow for a dish, but a good place to prop mail that's headed out. You could hang your keys underneath -- we hang drying umbrellas there, as there's a boot mat underneath. Some other things that catch my eye just looking on Houzz:

IMO remove the cabinet by the stroller and install anice big armoire for coats shoes etc. As for anything else the kids take it to their rooms ours did it for years in a samll house .You have a ton of space right there for all kinds of storage .