Will this space be used as a bedroom? Is there a bathroom in that upper space? Is there room for one? It reminds me of the 1.5 storey we had before. It can be challenging to work with the sloped ceilings for sure.
I'd start by getting rid of the wallpaper border.
Is the rug staying? If so, would you consider a throw rug over top to change the colour a bit?
What colour is the bedding you have or would like to use?
I find the black a bit oppressive myself, but maybe it is just that the white is so stark against it. I think I'd start by choosing your bedding colours and find a paint colour from that for your walls. If it works with the black trim that is great but I think I'd consider painting at least some of that black out and making it white or something very neutral. Particularly the bookcase that surrounds the stairs - that just looks heavy and oppressive to me. I think it could benefit from a coat of a light coloured paint for sure.
The area at the top of the stairs, I think I would install a washroom if I could, even if there were only room for a 2 piece bath, it would make a nice master suite. If no on the washroom, then I think I'd consider that area for a home office maybe. A small desk and chair would be nice in that space.
The divider in the doorway - ummmm, I'm not sure what purpose that is supposed to play.
Do you need to close off the room? For sound and/or privacy? I think I'd be tempted to make it a wall again and put a proper door on there, or remove it completely and have it open.
You have a bit of a chair rail going on in there right now. In our 1.5 storey house, in one of the bedrooms I had similar and we painted above and below the chair rail in different colours. Not jarringly different, but different enough that it was plain to see the difference. I felt like it helped with the ceilings feeling low. Darker colour below the trim, lighter colour above.
Also, that ceiling fan....I'll bet you need it for air flow but I'm wondering if it is even safe - it looks quite low, especially with the light fixtures being spotlights - even lower. If you need the fan, see if you can find something a little less obtrusive and look for a ceiling hugger fan so that you aren't worried about hitting your head.
One thing you can do as well, is build your dressers into the crawl space area in the walls. I see they have door entry into that space so I assume it is storage, but obviously you don't want to crawl in there regularly. You can sink a chest of drawers into the wall to free up floor space but give you good storage.
Sorry, I've written a lot here. Let us know your thoughts and maybe others will have ideas to offer as well.
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Built in closets
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