Hello all,

I am in the process of redesigning the front entry of our split level. So many dilemmas with our house and how to handle this space but the long story short is the existing space has a two piece bath with laundry room on one side of the entry and a closet on the other which unfortunately creates a huge unusable space in the living room above (see photos).

I've really debated removing the bathroom and closet to open up the living room and create a closet type space in the laundry room. There might be the possibility of having a mudroom type doorway coming from the garage but in all honesty I have concerns removing the bathroom and I think this project is just more than I am willing to take on not knowing I will like results. I would love to hear opinions on this though and how to possibly correct the living room issue.

My plan was to stick with the current layout because I didn't have the imagination for anything else. I was thinking of using a nice dark grey flooring which I would use in the laundry/bathroom as well. I was going to strip the stairs and stain/paint them dark brown and have a very light gray on the walls.

We have ordered a new front door (no window, 2 panel) with sidelight I had chosen a dark brownish type color for both sides of the door. But now I'm trying to think how this will relate to the white bathroom and closet door and the trim itself as well. Do I change these brown to match the front door with brown trim and keep that theme the rest of the house or can I stick with white? I feel like I have a lot going on in the front entry space alone so functionality is important but also the color flow throughout the house. Being that the entry is very much open to the kitchen and main living space I worry that I might have pigeon holed myself with the brown color on the inside of the front door. I would LOVE to hear ideas I am very new to this type of thing and this is my first house so would appreciate any advice that would help make this space a more functioning one that we will love :-)