The door under the stairs goes to the basement.

Wow! Gorgeous staircase -- almost makes me wish I had put baulsters (spelling) on my stairwell except that I don't want to dust them! I would definitely agree with the person above who suggested having the wiring checked while your walls are open. Blown in insulation gives a higher R value for the space, but it is also more expensive. As fabulous as those brick walls might be, I would definitely want insulation. I think the wide plank flooring (no matter what the wood species turns out to be) that you found under the top layer of flooring would be fabulous if you sand it and stain it. People pay extra for distressed wood flooring . . . but stay away from the slate. Against my Mother's wishes, my folks' house had it. Absolutely miserable on the feet and a pain to clean. It looks like the area under the stairs is open. I would be tempted to put a settee there or a small writing desk.

Awe, it would have been the best place for a built-in. You could still create a mudroom built-in where you had your shoe rack.

My first thought was that this area needs blue. A light, welcoming, airy shade of blue would help open it up. I'm thinking maybe a white or cream for trim. I also think the woodwork would look better if it were stained darker (a walnut shade maybe).

"Welcoming" is in the eye of the beholder. Welcoming to me would be a warm color, something in the reds or corals, maybe a pumpkin or a tomato bisque. An entry is a great place to go bold. And definitely some elegant crown molding, white.

I lived in a house with stone floors as a child. They sucked up heat! Unless you live in the tropics, wood is cosier. I like the antique look, wonder if it is a good idea to build in a mudroom under the stair, it will look closed in. Keep the space. And I agree, a light blue (but not a cold blue) would look nice. Don't stain your woodwork. It is very difficult to change back if you don't like the result. Try blowing up a print of your picture and colouring the woodwork first.... you can see what it looks like without going drastic! I know there are computer programs that do this, and if you can do it use the program before you change anything.

Is that light wood on the staircase natural wood or paint? it's hard to tell from that tiny picture.

Do you plan to sand and restain the oak floor? If so, please update with photos. I know a couple who had a similar situation as yours and they filled in the bigger flaws with matching wood putty, sanded, restained, and the floors actually look great. I was surprised considering the original condition. Of course, you can still see many of the smaller dings/nail holes, etc., but they felt like it adds character and I have to agree.

Also, are you planning on staining the banister to match whatever floor stain you use or do you prefer different colors? I personally love the old houses where all of the wood is the same color. I know that may not be the trend right now, but I think it is very dramatic and beautiful. Different colors of wood together look good to though, so I'm sure whatever you choose will look great.

What a great house! Thank you for sharing it with us! :)

I know you're working hard with all those DIY projects and the renovations you are doing. Regarding color . . . what's your favorite? Paint is the lesser expensive issue you are facing! If you need cabinets anywhere, check out KitchenResourcesDirect.com. I've ordered a door from them to check quality and it was really nice. You only want to go with the Deerfield collection because those are factory assembled (and they have "sales" two weeks in every month). I know DuraSupreme won't appreciate this comment, but I'm not here to sell anything. I'm building a home in Oregon and I plan to use these cabinets. Regarding the floor -- I'm more of a "keep it the color of the stairwell" person since the stairwell looks to be in beautiful shape. The window (perhaps across from the basement door?) looks like it needs work. I'd be tempted to put in an energy efficient window there now rather than later since you're doing all the wall work. Go for low "U" value. I can't tell from the picture -- is that all one home, or is there a home behind the home? It is begging for some foundation plantings -- large flowering, low maintenance, shrubs. I love that radius top door -- I'm having a radius top front door. Wish I could afford radius top for all my doors. Oh well. Keep us in photos!

Thanks everyone for all the comments and ideas! Jilly the window is already ordered!
I will post pictures as the project goes on...

And there is just one home in the picture, 2 600 sqf !

The original flooring, if in otherwise ok condition, can be filled and sanded. My carpenter has a standard filler that is sawdust mixed with 50% epoxy resin and 50% pidilite, his favourite mix because it doesn't set as rock hard as epoxy and is reasonably waterproof. I must say his patching, once dry, sands down well (fill it a little proud, it does shrink a little as it dries) and because of the wood takes a stain well. I guess you will have to put your wall facings back, with some insulation next to the brick, otherwise you are going to freeze in the winter. If you are in Quebec then you really don't want slate floors, they can be perishingly cold as well as uneven, but how about staining your floor a slate blue? I have seen this recently and I must say it looked lovely. I was told that the floor got one coat of white primer and then stain, finally matte polish to seal it. The grain of the wood showed through and it really looked nice. I wish I had flooring I could do this with, but mine is teak parquet and my children will have a collective heart attack if I change the present warm old teak colour.

I think the polish used was a melamine polish (I used it on the wall behind our bed, got fed up of baldy's head leaving grease spots on the paint! very successful, I just wipe down the wall when it gets dirty... ). Anyway the good thing about it is that it means you can run a damp mop over the floor, might be good in the muddy season!

janbhan, have you considered a headboard? Sounds like upholstered wouldn't work, but a metal one (I have brass) keeps heads away from the wall. Does polishing the wall paint make it shiny?

As another old house owner, and also learning from mistakes of my own...I would not do anything whatsoever to your staircase. If it looks dirty, you really can give it a scrub with soap & water. It won't hurt it. It is "standing" water, as in flood, that will ruin your wood. I suggest a mind detergent. NEVER use Murphys! The smell is disgusting & it takes literally months to go away!

I also agree with a bold color in the foyer. I'm liking the reds/rusts colors. That is a bold foyer & deserves to be dressed up accordingly.

Lastly, I'd also keep that original floor. Get it sanded & there is a great product to seal with called Waterlox. It will seal it without making it look like a gymnnasium floor. You don't want a polyurethane look in there. Just more of a nice matte type finish.

I cannot stress enough how you should NOT use a stain on any of that woodwork. The original color of the wood is gorgeous. You stain new pine...not 150 yo hardwoods.

I'll be following to see how your progress goes. :0)

Regardless of which "tidbit" of advice offered you consider... rule out anything that isn't hardwood flooring as your choice for a 140 year old home... anything else is simply not in keeping with the "flavor" of the house...
And I'd say this even if I wasn't in the hardwood floor biz...

Of course, I'm not a fan of the "linoleum look" variety of quasi hardwood flooring being pedaled at the local carpet store...
Even though we're begrudgingly listed in the "carpet & flooring" category here on Houzz (don't get me started)...
Keep it real.
Good Luck!

Well our bed doesn't currently have a headboard, though I am considering installing one that can house my collection of bedtime books. But the reason we don't have a headboard is that the old one fell off during an earthquake and we liked not having it... also, this bed has a winter position (under the window) and a monsoon position (on the adjacent wall, the wind in certain quarters blows rain thru the sliding windows) . I used a matte polyurethane varnish so there is no shine. it has worked well; the walls get a wipe down but haven't needed painting till now. Only after 8 years I am a little tired of orange and might go for a pale sage green instead. But that too will get the poly treatment. Only thing is, the walls have to be scraped as new paint doesn't stick well to polyurethane! We might not need the special treatment at all, but the tv is in the bedroom by default... there is no room to put it anywhere else! I considered having a headboard with detachable, washable cushions, but the bedroom is tiny, and no headboard does make it look bigger.

paint the door black. paint the stairs rails black. replace the wood floors and remove the paneling and sheetrock the walls and paint them white. I love the entry way.

A cool look to consider might be a casual industrial sort of look. It would be ideal for 140 year old farmhouse. A large ceiling pendant light and some wide plank paneling might just do the trick. I'm trying to attach photos. Having trouble.

mureen - Beautiful!

Nice

Where did you get those light fixtures? mureen

A runner or rug and new paint. Keep the floors

I found the light fixture in my Houzz search for industrial influenced light fixtures. Wish this guy would upload some new photos. I'm dying here!!!!! What a great project, so much potential and so many different ways he could go with it.

Dekalbfire's suggestions, ditto. Too bad you couldn't keep the exposed brick. Your home is beautiful.

Restore, stay faithful to the home. Don't go with anything faddy or trendy.

You should put white marble floors

I wouldn't paint the floors but a nice stain for sure. Wherever you need to, make sure you do whatever you need to for insulation for those cold québecquois winters! Our house in Montana is 115 years old and had old newspaper insulation, so the fresh has made a real difference. A nice gray-blue would be gorgeous with white trim, very timeless and you can match so much to it. I'm looking forward to more photos of your progress!

In keeping with the era of the house looks like all it needs is some TLC. Definitely a new paint job throughout and maybe paint the banister is a black and white combo or all white. New light fixture, remove the shoe rack and replace the wooden bench (too much wood) or paint is a color that goes with your style (ie barn red for traditional, glossy black for more modern etc) and add a colorful cushion. Or, better yet, replace it with a chest that can hold a lamp and catch keys etc. New artwork up the walls that is in better proportion to the space and you should have a beautiful entry that celebrates the age of the home as well as your personal style.

Your home is a farmhouse style and wood floors are part of its character and charm. If you can't save the old, replace with new wood flooring.

If the original floor planks are too damaged from the nails of the newer layer would it make sense to remove the original planks, flip them over, and reinstall/finish?

We have slate floors in our small sunroom and I love them for there. But they tend to be rather uneven and cold. For all the area that you're doing, I'd go with refinishing or redo-ing the wood floors in a dark stain. Wood is a lot easier on the feet! And warmer than any tile or stone.

I love the exposed brick, that is very unique. if I found that in my home I would definitely work with it.

What a great house! Those rounded doors are just fabulous!!! It seems the light stained oak is the original, so I wouldn't mess with it UNLESS you want to stain just the floors darker. I agree with the opinions on no slate: the wood is appropriate to the age of the home. The subfloor wood looks to me like it might be pine rather than oak. What are your upstairs floors - pine? Very often, the "public" rooms of old houses had a nicer wood and the upstairs, private rooms had pine (cheaper and softer) - same with the trim. So, I think you could either finish the wide planks or try to refinish the "finish" floor (existing, or if necessary, new) As for color, I think you can go in just about any direction. If you like lighter, softer colors, those will definitely work with the light wood. If you like darker colors, those will contrast nicely. Just make sure you balance whatever scheme you go with.

for a new stairdesign: http://www.houzz.com/pro/curvedstairs/trapart

Freshen up the color but a beautiful rug would be perfect to start

Keep the brick & put in new hardwood floors. Pecan would be nice with the brick...,

I'd love to know what you decided!! :0)

Do you still like the color of the wood... would not jeopardize the astyle of the home...it is very nice....but you can enhance it by doing some brick on the wall...and darkening the stain...or bringing in color to the walls that is different than you have. You could also paint the spindles an off white...with dark stain.

I'd like to know what you finally settled on too!

Updates comment Soon!!

And some pictures! What colour and finish is the floor? I was hoping you wouldn't make too many changes actually, as I like old houses and find them not so appealing if they are modernised too much. Carpets... love carpets, the rug type rather than wall to wall. A great way to lift a room without altering anything.

We are still thinking about a headboard. What might happen is a padded cloth hanging which can unhook for washing. And if we have another earthquake it probably won't fall off.

Please leave that brick. it is solo charming

Cannot wait to see what you have done.

Exciting! I can't wait to see your end result! Mandi @ Dura

This is my comment just so I get a notification when you post an update lol :) Beautiful home.. awesome project.. I'm green with jealousy over here.

adware - LOL! Great comment! Mandi @ Dura

Bluestone would be great for the floor. Redo the stairway in white with bluestone coloured newel post and risers.

We always love adding extra storage underneath stairs with slide out shelves and hidden compartments!

Beautiful home! So what do you want to do? That is important! Are you married, then they matter too!