I think there area a lot of things you could do but it depends on the "feeling" you want to give the space. Modern? Traditional? Wild? Also, I would want to try and find a color upstairs that I could pull into the stairwell or landing so that it transitions well. You said the walls upstairs are Vanilla ice cream (yummy) - but what are the accent colors in the upstairs rooms. Any bright warm blues? Reds? Oranges? Light greens? Warm colors are great for small dark areas. Esp trimmed with pure white. I would avoid pastel or greyish tones. So little light will only make those colors more dull. IMO I'm personally partial to yellow. My northern facing small den and kitchen area are much warmer and feel brighter painted yellow; more than when they were beigey-white. And yes, it took a LOT of samples to find one that worked in every light and corner of the room. But it works (all the trim is bright white.) The yellow follows one wall up into the landing space of the stairs, but then the wall of my VERY dark stairwell is bright white with a sheen to make it reflective. I did hang artwork on the landing to pull the colors together. One painting on the yellow wall and one on the white wall - both the same artist, feel, and related colors. I like it. Another thought, is to incorporate stripes (I'm getting into stripes lately. You could do the foyer in a warm color, but on the wall that extends upstairs (and maybe one other) paint bright white horizontal stripes. That gives you color but lightens it up. And the horizontal shape will help make the space look bigger. On another thread, as an example, someone posted this link of aqua and white stripes. http://www.thehandmadehome.net/2010/06/the-veranda/ Another idea is to keep it all the same color as upstairs, but add marvelous art and lighting fixtures, and maybe jazz up the risers of the stairs. Here's another post I found in FW that has some GREAT ideas you might be able to use: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/decor/msg071758089676.html Here is a link that might be useful: aqua stripes

CP-- Our engineered hardwood was installed in 2007, so products may have improved. It was also installed floating, so that may have contributed to problems. After 7 years with it, there was raised wood grain around the dog's water dish, the fridge water dispenser and the dishwasher/sink even though I learned to just keep a cloth handy to quickly wipe up drips. Even though we're shoe-free we still ended up with scratches because of our dog, kids playing and probably my husband and I dropping stuff. I also think it would be nice to just steam mop tile floors since you can't steam mop engineered. That house went into contract in a few hours and closed in three weeks, so the floor probably wasn't an obvious problem to the woman who bought it. Thank goodness:-) I might be picky. If joint fatigue and pain is a possibility at all, I would avoid tile. That's a good tip.

Although I have a coat closet I found no one used it - but slung their coats over the stair banister. So I applied beadboard with a top piece to the wall and put up hooks. Mine is on the wall next to the closet door, which is an ordinary interior door, not bifolds. It does mean all our coats can be seen, but at least they are neat on the hooks and not piled on the stairs. With the bifold door closet, you could convert it into a mini mudroom. I've seen various tutorials online. Here is an example pic: It does mean your stuff is not behind doors anymore, but if kept in order, it can organize the front hall. The electric panel has to remain accessible, but it may be possible to place a more attractive cabinet door on it - that is what I did to mine when the basement was finished. The carpenter did the work and the inspector approved all the work, so at least in my area, it was an OK thing to do.

Selene, a history of your comments shows that you're both mostly interested in promoting the replica MCM furniture sold at a NYC furniture store, Manhattan Home Design. You wouldn't happen to work there or own the store, or be friends or partners (personally or professionally) with someone who is, would you? Also, there have been more than a dozen BBB complaints in the past three years about the store you've been recommending, which I would find problematic if I were looking to buy something there. Your posts in this thread and others sound very similar to some by Gabriella Robbins, James Sorenson, Daniel Blake and others, who are all also promoting MCM replica furniture in general, and Manhattan Home Design in particular. Are all of you friends or partners in this venture? Or bots? Because this is looking very co-ordinated at this point.