Aw, man -- what a COOL space you have! Waterfront, you say? When may I come and visit you? ;-)

I'm going to suggest something that will probably sound, well, GROSS (or perfectly natural, depending on your point of view) - but the idea of coming up from a very dark passageway into a fresh, light-filled space reminds me of going through the birth canal. I would definitely not want my stairwell to be that dark, as safety would be a concern for me. Then again, I can - and have been known to - trip over my own two feet on a flat, carpeted surface. I'd keep the stairwell light and bright, and use Naval to make a couple of dramatic punctuation marks. Too much of it in a small space, and I think it's just going to feel dark and dreary. Keep in mind the adage of "less is more" when considering how to add a sophisticated feel to your space. I love the direction you're heading, but don't get carried away. ;-)

Thank you auntjen. I've been open to it...but very cautiously so. Would it look funny to have one wall of the stairwell in the Naval, and the other in the light color? What if it was the existing light blue and the other wall white? Just wondering if that's ever done. My instinct says you can't do that, but I know precious little when it comes to decorating. (That's why I admire my friends on Houzz/Home Site so much! :-D )

The carpet replacement is already a given, I've ordered it in navy - (it's a beautiful one, I think, mostly wool with a nylon sheen running through it - here's a pic):

The front door and its trim will remain painted in the Naval.

One option is to keep the continuous wall Glass Slipper... If I did, I hope it being a light blue, that it doesn't look like a boy's room along with the dark blue door and carpet !?

I'd keep the continuous wall Glass Slipper. Combined with that GORGEOUS carpet and your artwork, as well as the location, I think it's going to read as water, lovely water, and not a little boy's room at all. I would also leave the ceiling white.

All I can say is when I moved into this house, I had brown hallway, very dark. It was terrible. I hated walking to the bedrooms and bathroom. It is now a light color called canyon haze by Valspar, and it is like living in a different house, so I am saying, no, dont do it. You most likely would be very unhappy with it. I like the lighter blue color you have picked, and your carpet is gorgeous.

I wouldn't do it. It's just too dark in that stairwell.

I remember this stairwell.

Dark paint is great on limited, defining wall space, like what you have around your windows. It's much more difficult to achieve on large wall areas, and definitely not in areas with no windows. Too cave-like.

If you want your paintings to look great and have a continuous color, go with BM Lenox Tan, including in the main room. Artwork looks gorgeous on it, it's not too dark but neither is it too light for the artwork, and the navy door would look really nice with it.

Glass slipper in bedroom and/or bathroom.

Thanks tibbrix. I just can't do the Lenox Tan. There's something sickly about that color (to me)... but yes, the more I think about the stairwell space, the more I'm leaning away from total navy. :)

I'm with Jen, with the current pretty light blue, white trim and ceiling, and the navy carpet and entry door, it will very welcoming.

My living room and front door are Naval and it is a beautiful color. However I think it would make that hallway feel like an underground tunnel.

louislinus, thank you and yes that's both the consensus and my hunch. I would love to see pictures of your living room and front door with the Naval, I'm so excited to hear you've used that amazing color.... can you share some pix?

I wish I could do more than one photo per post. Sorry for all the pics! It's the ONE room in my whole house that feels "done".

The more I see this color the more I love it. Thanks for posting. Your room looks chic and warm :)

I painted it myself with SW high gloss enamel and I put in Loetrol. I love the look of a glossy door but in hindsight I should have used semi-gloss as I'm not a professional painter and to paint with this kind of paint it has to perfect and mine's not.

Looks fine to me. But I know what you mean. We used eggshell because our front door has too many imperfections for anything glossier.

I love that carpet - can you tell me what brand and style it is?

Here's a question: could a stairwell (walls on both sides, see my pic in my first post at the top) have one wall painted navy and the other wall a neutral or white? I'm wondering if this might be okay to do IF the navy wall is the "wall of art". It would have my paintings hung all along the wall to the top of the stairs, and then along the continuation of that wall down the hallway.

Is this ever done (a different paint color on either side of a stairwell)?

sjhockeyfan325, the carpet we're having installed is a brand new one from Masland. The line is called Glamorous, and the color is Blue Velvet.

What I really love about the carpet choice (besides the beautiful color) is that it's wool, so it's quality, beautiful and durable -- but it also has a pipeline of nylon thread running through it, which lends it a bit of luster/sheen. It really is pretty.

Check out the Cashmere color... if I didn't have a black Lab, I would go for it in a bedroom!

Masland's new "Glamorous" line of carpets

I just lost my reply -- let me try again. I agree with not painting the stairwell and ceiling all in navy. I think that it might be possible to pull off something like that, but I think you'd need to do a lot of planning and behind the scenes kind of work to do it. (Keep in mind that the LR photos above have lots of white trim, light wood floors, and furniture to break up the navy -- a stairwell doesn't have all that.)

I think you'd need to put in additional lighting for starters -- along the stairs, in the risers, runway lights, path lights -- something to define the steps and avoid serious injuries (yours or a guest's). And they'd probably have to be on all the time -- day and night, or at least anytime anyone might be on or approaching the stairs (motion detectors nearby -- and what happens if they don't work?). Definitely would need more overhead lighting too. I'm about to flip from design to lawyer/insurance mode. Just don't do it. LOL

I think you can do one wall and carpet navy and the other wall and ceiling either in the pale blue or white -- just make them both the same. Don't do a white ceiling and light blue wall. Make it a clean 50/50. I like the idea of white if there isn't a reason you need the light blue to continue there.

Look forward to seeing the carpet installed.

lascatx, Thanks so much, everything you said makes sense! The risk of injury in the dark stairwell isn't something that even occurred to me...yikes! And while good lighting design done thoughtfully would enable it I'm not wedded to all-navy enough to make the expense.

I really like how you posed the navy wall on one side with the other wall *plus ceiling* being white or light blue. This could work.

If I do that it means that navy side side since it's a continuous wall would come up, then down the hall upstairs to the end of that side of the living room. Any of the rest of the room could remain the light blue (or white), although the opposite wall is mostly mirrored and would end up reflecting the navy wall! Hmmm

A friend of mine has a similar stairwell and, I'm sorry, it's just not a pleasant place to be...I'm a slight hint of claustrophobic so when she greets me at the bottom, all I want to do is get upstairs as quickly as possible where we can talk comfortably. Painting it dark would make it even less tenable for me. I'd want it to be light, bright and cheerful. I don't think it's a place for an art gallery effect as it is too close to actually see and enjoy the art, and I'd really not want to spend the time there to appreciate it. I esp wouldn't want things on the wall that will make it feel only more closed in.

Instead, and mind you, I'm not into modern stuff, but in this case I'd make an exception. I'd want to do something interesting, graphic, bright and cheerful with the paint on the wall itself...something that would help you guide your way up. I can't find a pic of what I'm thinking of, but I'd maybe paint stripes that parallel the hand rail...maybe do like a tesselation...so the bottom below the rail would be navy, then a wider stripe of white, then a wider stripe of navy, then a narrow stripe of white and a narrow stripe of navy, then all white above. It would give it movement, color and interest. Or else you could do something with multiple colors to interesting effect....

Thanks Annie. I know what you mean. And I think you're right, the art would be too close and people actually may rub it once in a while. Not sure I'm liking the striped effect but I'll look for some more images.

All of this came about because I originally wanted to use more of the navy on the upstairs wall, for more art up there. But since the wall is continuous it'd have to continue into the stairwell.

I either need a way to end the navy on the wall before the stairs, or I'd just go back to my old plan which is all light blue and white.

I'm having trouble picturing just one wall in the naval and the other very light... I do think the handrail would look awesome against the navy.....

if you did the entire hallway in navy, I would definitely paint the door/trim back to a light color. are you changing the light fixture?? it looks like it probably somewhat dim...

I can understand your desire to deepen the stairway-- I do think it would look nice...

would you consider doing something like very wide bands(2-3' or so) of graduating color which becomes lighter as you go down the stairs... sortof along the lines of a paint card, but not that dramatic of a color change...???

add-- lol- funny to see Annie's suggestion! I was thinking gradual, vertical gradation...

Thanks for your input busybee. I never even thought of that - doing the entire wall in the navy but changing the door and its trim/front wall back to white. I will consider it.

Just don't think I will be happy with gradiated color change or color bands...

This version is too industrial, but it gives you the idea of a graphic color band above the hand rail. While this color is too bright, picture it in a softer color of your choosing, or a navy against the white with maybe some smaller stripes around it....it could become quite a feature. I think the thing is to make it fun and playful.

I remember years ago at a designer show house, they had painted paw prints making tracks up and across the wall in a laundry room...it was fun, playful and interesting, and made an otherwise dull space into a nice feature. Instead of paw prints, you can look into wall decals...they have some pretty neat ones...a way of decorating with art that doesn't stick out or isn't too precious.

Depending on how artistic you or those around you are, you could do any number of variations on the graphic fade idea. The dandelion is a spin on something I was trying to picture --- using the navy wall in your room and then fading it into the stairwell so there is a transition across a continuous wall. It would probably be easiest to spray or airbrush one of the colors to create the fade and then add a graphic on top of it that completes the look. YOu could use the dandelions, music, stars, butterflies -- just about anything that catches your fancy. Anything from a small line near the door that grows to the full height of the wall in the room to a growing group of something fun that melts into the full color -- or visa versa.

If you have a lot of framed art and want to create a gallery wall, perhaps you could figure a way to use them to aid in the transition. Navy wall with white or silver tone frames that changes to white wall and navy frames.....

Whatever you do, the challenge is o take something that could be a headache or mistake and turn it into a plus. Make it your own in the process and leave everyone thinking "why didn't I think of that?"