You definitely need some light in that entryway. What about doors that have frosted glass in them? There are some beautiful wrought iron doors out there backed by glass, but I do know that they’re fairly expensive.

We’ve thought about replacing the doors…I kind of hate to do it because the doors there are such good quality, but we may need to ultimately. The electrician is placing recessed lights in the ceiling in addition to chandelier.

First address the lighting issue . A chandelier in a dark space needs to light the space not the ceiling I wouldraise the one oyu have to show in the window above and get another to coordiante but light the foyer. Then look at a darker color from the tile for the walls in thta area a well lit space can handle a darker wall. Maybe even a nice entery table with another lamp for lighting. Not a big fan of the tile with that beautiful parquet floor.

What a beautiful home! And stunning chandelier, too! WOW. Perhaps a bold Thibault wall paper in the foyer that contains the colors elsewhere in the house? You could pull it off with your amazing woodwork, etc.

You can see that the current warm white of your trim doesn't complement the marble flooring so I'd stay away from warm anything. It might be better to select a contrasting paint for the walls and pure white for the trim.

Looks like the marble needs attention. You should have the marble refinishers in first because that requires water and you don't want to paint and then have the floors resurfaced.

You have a couple of choices. First, select a wall paper and rug that combines both the cool and warm colors, perhaps with some brown (from the woodwork) and colors from the rest of the home. Alternatively, paint the walls a color, contrary to current trends, that bridges the warm versus cool and relates to colors used in other rooms. Perhaps a teal or apricot color or even a warm grey.

My suggestion is to remove all the warts first...the lighting (Liberace), the pop corn ceilings, the picture frame (glued on) paneled wainscoting, the runner on the stairs, and the wallpaper.

My next step would be removing all the flooring....labor intensive, but if you and your husband are up to doing it your self, then all my suggestions are free. Now you have a blank slate. Don't spend money trying to mask the mistakes the previous owner made. Strip it all away and start fresh.

Staircase is the best element...make the most of it.

Minnetonka Beach House | Custom Home · More Info

Thanks to everyone for the constructive and positive comments! My husband and I are unfortunately not doing the renovations given both our lack of talent and work commitments. But the ideas given have definitely sparked inspiration to discuss with my contractor! Thank you!