They would definitely be diagonal as in the picture.

Since black and white checkered tile tends to be a glossy and high-end look, I think it may work in those two areas if the foyer, and in particular the staircase, was updated.

Your staircase looks fine to me.

I agree that black and white tile would look wonderful in your foyer. I would extend it to the back door.

@ elle. What type of updating do you think the staircase needs to support the checkered tile look? That never crossed my mind, but I'm open to ideas.

Extend the black and white tile to the back door. Please post after pictures

CarmelDecor

Same tile front to back....and then maybe look at adding in a dark(er) banister and white risers/spindles (I can see the top of your stairs is showing a similar look with dark treads and white risers...you can continue that all the way down...or just the white risers with a dark banister would do it).

But in essence that space is visually "all one". Which means the black/white floor needs to be "all one" and run all the way through. It will look GREAT!

@ Carmel Decor - Will do.

@ Cancork Floor Inc. Thanks! I had decided to restrict the white risers to the spots at which the staircase's semi-landing because I thought doing it all the way down could give it a "Cottage" look, which I was trying to avoid. I like the idea of the darker bannister.