Here are photos of our Entry and if you check the link from "My Page" you can see adjacent room photos where the colors continue. Our colors are SW rather than BM. Not personally familiar with the colors you mention but ours are: Accent in Foyer continuing into LR - Latte; LR/DR and first flight of the stairs is Kilim Beige; then in the corner changes to Divine White. We also have good light on the 1st floor but used the Divine White through the interior hallway upstairs. Our most difficult decisions were where to break the colors. Hope this helps. Good luck in your new home. Here is a link that might be useful: Foyer

I would use the crepe first floor, up the stairs and then (like you just said) paint the adjacent wall at the top a darker version of the crepe. Or even a different color, but a saturated color. I use this trick a lot to push that wall back. And, since the lighting is very diff. there anyway... Even if you stay on the same color card and just move down the line. It really is a very effective technique.

How about some elegant black iron scroll work? There are scads of varieties and they are often the perfect solution for a wall that needs that certain "something". (The photos are from my home.) I recommend choosing art that a) reflects your interests and b) makes you happy every time you see it. You said you can't your hang travel visas and martinis, but why not? You could frame your travel visas and arrange them under a large matte. For the martinis, you could either buy a painting or print of them or literally frame some martini classes in a shadow box. You might also consider vintage travel posters from places you love or that you've already been to. Your home is very nice!

To me (and I'm a Scandi Modern fan) the FLOORING in the entrance is style neutral. It is polished stone. To modernize it I would probably have it sanded down to a slightly lower gloss (get rid of the slip factor...have you ever tried to walk across I high-gloss stone floor in stilettos = deadly!). The OUT OF DATE part is the staircase. That is TOTAL old world. The STAIRS are giving you the dated look you don't like. The cost to CHANGE the stairs = 4 TIMES the cost of new floors in the entrance. This is a project that will take THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of dollars to deal with. Save the money on the stone (again...maybe refinish as honed + sealed) and spend those THOUSANDS of dollars on the stair case. Once the stair case is done, you will feel an INSTANT update in the entrance. Done like dinner.