Let me just say, you guys are just the best. I have actually LOL at some of your comments. I love it. Ingrid: As mentioned in my post, I'm painting the railing back to black, its original color. It's been white for more than 10 years, and I'm tired of it. I think I have a picture of it when it was white last week. I will post in my next set of pictures. I'm not sure the picture will look good with a black frame. I will post it also and you can give me your critique then. The black chandy is exactly my thought process. Graywings: I like your idea of a bench, but space is premium in that small space. I'm afraid a bench might really congest it more, but I am willing to give it a try as that never occurred to me. Moving the shelf off the wall will allow me to see the bench. Lighting is definitely the key as the ceiling is quite high and I don't have that lovely window Oceanna has. During the holidays, I place poinsettias on every other step and have gotten lots of compliments, but a few of you are poo-pooing the plants, so that's probably a scratch. The word art on the risers (every other one), may be enough. You may be on to something about the clock wall and I may just have the thing to try. Where are you suggesting I put chair rail in the foyer? Love my black wrought iron railings. Enailes: Yes, I love pastels. I'm loving the idea of cream walls for that area. HD finally has samples that can be purchased for $3.97. I bought three today. Just remembered, I have sconces, not brass and glass, that I purchased from JCP at a ridiculously low price. Will pull them out to take a look. The swing doors are going away-just not yet. I consider them part of the kitchen so they will be in kitchen redo. The kids love those doors, as does my contractor. What does he know at 33 :). Teacats-You just blow me away. I am lol at your post. Simple and to the point--stop apologizing-this is just what I need. Got my big girl panties on today and nothing you can say offends or hurts. I asked for it remember? The railings were white for 10+ years--time for something new. Door wouldn't look good in white, imo. It's solid and it will either take black or remain as is with a redoing of the stain. You are the second person to suggest a bench. I am going to try it. Will "borrow" a bench just to get an idea. I still think the area's too small but you guys have me just about convinced to do it. The swing doors are addressed above. Joanie: Got three paint samples from HD today. Will mark up more of the wall and take pictures. Enailes suggested neutrals also. The colors are more creams than tans. I like Behr paint and will choose from one of their palettes. I think I have an idea what you might have over your front door. No dried flowers-I promise :). I saw that Design to Sell show. I love my wrought iron railing, so it'll have to stay. I have a large family room downstairs with bookcases. I think once something black is hanging from the ceiling-the railing will seem a good choice. Magazines and HGTV are killing me. When I was updating my two small bathrooms, I used several ideas from both and loved them. I have two months of DTS taped for other ideas. Always something good. Please, keep the good critiques coming. I'll wear the "big girls" for a few more days :)). Peachie

Thank you lizbeth and k9arlene for your thoughts. @lizbeth: I appreciate your kind words on the house. Thanks for your vote on the railings, and for helping me once again on my home. I see that the darker stair railings do draw your eye to the door more. DH has mocked it up as a brown to match the door. In real life, we won't likely get a brown that matches the door as well as the mock-up shows. The metal railings only come in so many colours. The door is a stained door, and the man door is painted metal. We can paint the man door brown, but it won't look the same as the main door. I will ask DH to mock-up the darker door to see. As per having the picket railings on both sides of the steps, I don't believe there is a safety issue (please let me know if I am missing the safety concerns). There is a full wall on the left side (left as you up steps) so the pickets are not needed for safety. However, they may look better if the two sides are symmetrical. @k9arlene: Thanks for your question. If we did a different kind of deck railing it would block the gable window and gable door. The glass railings, while not allowing privacy as you stated, prevent the house behind from being screened. Our build has been long. At one point, we had a gable roof on the garage (not the flat roof that we have now). Sadly, we had to tear down the newly framed gable roof as it blocked the window/door behind and did not look right (too tall of a garage in your face). Carol

I agree with @calidesign about the bathrooms. If you close up the door on the right of the master bath and convert the other one to a pocket door, you would have space for a nice, large shower, a double vanity and possibly a little extra storage space. For a guest/downstairs bathroom, I would remove the small closet from the 2nd bedroom (there's already a large walk-in in there) and bathroom door, and convert the doorway near the bottom of the stairs to a pocket door. By removing one of the doors and absorbing the closet space into the bathroom, you will have a more spacious bathroom with storage and room for a larger vanity with counter space. I don't think it's worth sacrificing kitchen space or master bedroom space to put in a guest bathroom upstairs, unless you have guests over a lot (in which case you could create a small bathroom on the left side of your kitchen, but you will lose valuable real estate). I honestly don't see anywhere else it could go upstairs without putting in obtrusive walls in your living room. You could narrow the foyer but because your ceiling are so high, I think it would end up costing a lot for just a small bathroom. Also, it would throw off the symmetry of your house quite a bit (looking at the entrance from the open space, one side would be open and the other closed off; the window would be off-center).

What about molding detail so the inlay becomes flush... I think that would be really pretty