I just looked again at the trap door space, and gave it some more thought. Here's my take: Stain treads a dark shade Match floor color to stain Paint risers white Paint trap door AND bottom stair same as floor Beware! You may need a small colorful rug under the last stair/on floor(hard to see stair at night) For the rails,etc. The most common/best,imo, look is white paint on the rails and stain on post and newel. Oh! New thought re. last stair: Stain it in a light honey and stencil a design in floor color.It will stand out( for safety) and neat effect! Hmmm, you could instead, treat that trap door with that special effect. It's going to be charming, whatever you do.

Hi all sorry for the delay in my reply! Thank you all very much for your input, sure made me think lots! We decided on Option 1. Keeping the door swing the way it is to promote natural flow from entrance to mudroom with coats, will also have some hooks by the door. Will likely add a small bulkhead between the entrance and dining room to create a feel of separation. The door is blocked nicely from our prevailing west wind by the garage (if the plan were a map, it would be upside down - north is at the bottom). I've also had some mixed feelings about not having the mudroom joined to my pantry and kitchen on the same side of the house, the concern being distance with groceries. For anyone who was curious, this is the full plan, the driveway comes up around the left side where the yellow line is, so this is why we've opted to have the 'public' rooms on this side of the house and the 'private' bedroom side on the back. That, and the views to the top and left of the page are quite nice so we've tried to orient our living spaces to face them. Thank you all for your input.

Please don't pressure wash wood siding unless you like to see splinters flying in the air. As soft and spongey as that is, that is not a good idea. New siding with a factory applied color might be, highly recommended. Had a family next door pressure wash their deck which the previous owners had applied some of that 'great gel stain' tooo...mildewy now, gel stain ed by sap from trees above, etc etc........pressure washer....wallah.....holes in deck floor. Do NOT force water into your wood siding/sub walls/etc. You really might need some consult specialist in this case, but I do not see why painting this would help it for more than a couple of years. New siding, would be the most effective use of dollars and labor, you might check into this and see. Anytime you have a wood of this age, there is just the sense it has served its' purpose. I don't know what people put on homes like this other than wood, but NEW WOOD siding at minimum would seem the best cure for the problems. Have others experienced different results? Curious to hear from others with similar aged homes.

Nice place! I like the idea of a portico. When you repaint, I would also paint the chimney. I was going to suggest replacing any wood on the house with painted cedar shake, but the board and batten leans to the beach/farm/lake look also. Have you decided on the color? I see you have a nice lake view. We just gave up ours. I am still somewhat sad about that! Your current DR chandelier will look nice in the foyer and start the vibe you want. Then add a chandelier with some crystals in the DR. This one is also in the same collection and has a few crystals. Depends on how matchy-matchy you want to be. I could also see one of Viola or Chappellet by Arteriors in your home - something with large beads, or even sea glass. DD1 has the small Viola in her walk-through-closet-turned-room. It has a little rope/twine on it, but I do worry about how dusty it will get over the years.... and don't think I would do a large chandelier or orb covered in rope. Same goes for the wicker/woven basket like fixtures - how do you keep those clean?! My handyman is about to arrive for the day. I will try to post a few more ideas later. I like the last photos you've posted. The only thing I worry about in your home is the traditional chair rail and wainscot, but painting the walls and trim the same color will help it fade away a bit. The flooring looks like red oak, and it will be a big job to even get it close to the flooring in your photos (which is what they are calling European or French White Oak). We just installed French White Oak in our new home, and love it. There is a thread about lighter flooring floating around - you can search for it, or click on my name/profile and see my activity, as I have posted on that thread. I also have a large thread and a few smaller ones on our current home/project, if you are interested.