This is a Light Reflectance Scale (LRV). LRV tells you how much light a color will reflect and how much it will absorb. Sherwin Williams includes LRV on their paint chips. Repose Gray has an LRV of 58%. The average guideline for interiors is 50%. So, Repose Gray is brighter than the average guideline for visually functional and supportive wall color. Technically, it's not too dark but how you perceive it is the only thing that matters. If it is too dark, then you know you want a different color that has an LRV greater than 58%. Cutting the formula by 50% affects every dimension of the color - hue/value/chroma/LRV - not just the brightness/lightness. Changing the formula in any way whatsoever basically creates a new color and you won't know what that brand new color looks like until you have it mixed and you have to buy the paint whether you like it or not. A smarter strategy than playing the game of cutting formulas and buying paint you don't want is to just look for a different color.

I have laundry in the basement-- have a laundry chute direct to the laundry. I have never wanted a laundry on the second floor but have wished that I had it on the main floor sometimes. Advantage to basement--usually have a lot of room (I don't). We can get really dirty sometimes, with gardening and landscaping projects. Can shuck the dirties in the garage or back entryway and drop down the laundry chute there (or in a bucket in the garage)...vs having to deal with them upstairs (where we have carpet). I wash clothes once a week. Smelly dirty laundry is in the basement; not stinking up the bedrooms. I have a clothesline strung in the unfinished part of the basement for drying rugs, mattress pads, sheets, jeans, etc. during the winter/ rainy days. As well as drip dry items that don't go in the dryer. The clothes line is also handy for hanging wet or damp dirty items to dry (like bath towels & kitchen towels) before they go into the dirty clothes hamper. I fold & sort items as I unload the dryer. Towel stack to the linen closet, DS's clothes in one stack, etc. Usually cart the basket to the main floor and someone else will haul it on upstairs. Have had three laundries that were in enclosed back porches and one just adjacent to the garage when I lived in the south. That arrangement worked really good and would be my preferred location for a laundry. Would not want W/D in a closet if it can be avoided. I use my laundry sink a lot as well as having the washer drain hose empty into the sink. (With a lint sock to keep lint and dog hair out of the sewer line--septic leach field if that's your situation.) You adapt to wherever the laundry is. Pros & cons to wherever it is. Main thing is that a home laundry beats the heck out of having to go to the laundromat! We've probably all had to do that at some time in our lives.

IKEA sells great linen curtains for very affordable prices. I would get white! I made my curtain rods out of electrical conduit and spray painted them black. Love the slip cover idea, a big mirror could fill the space or a gallery wall of art but picture frames get so expensive! Two matching chairs (diff light shade than the couch) and you’d be set

Copy that! You may be able to keep what you have in place, but I would certainly make sure it has dimmer control so you're not over-bright in laundry. One additional idea for this laundry space would be undercabinet lighting (so simple now with LED strips or pucks) that's also dimmable. That might give you more targeted task lighting while working out a stain or soaking items in your utility sink without needing to reach for the overhead light. Alternatively, it could be helpful to consider moving the switched box location from overhead to the far wall (rt side, from in front of laundry units) that could help provide a beam angle into the laundry units over-shoulder for sorting and transfer, since there's less wall surface behind from that perspective that isn't shared with the hall area. In tall, narrow stair halls like this, I often recommend a plan of wall lamps that uplight the tall vault and bounce the light down into the pedestrian area versus directional beams down from overhead. When placed at the right elevation over and above personal height, they don't have to interfere with traffic clearances even in a super-tight space. Hope that helps, cheers!