What ever you decide to use for flooring, keep it all the same…right from the front door, you want to see straight trhough into your great leaving room. Changing the floors will distract from that segue.

I understand vinyl planks. My daughter used them throughout her beach house..upper and lower levels…kitchen/baths/living/dining/bedrooms…all the same. Guests come in and cannot believe the floor is not hardwood.

I would paint the brick and change the fireplace sceen.

I don't think the vinyl wood look is going to be right. Have you looked into cork? I would build a half wall to replace the railings and just paint it white. It is such a small space and think it will look really choppy to put some kind of railing there.

Clean the brick first before you decide to paint it. A few photos for inspiration.

Why not do the entryway floor with the same luxury vinyl planks that you are intending to install in the rest of the house? I think a consistent floor would look nice.

Oh, and by the way, I like the hand rails around the stairs as they are.

A look like yours - could the dark post repeat color of your dark ceiling beams? Maybe concrete floor - with area rugs?

Maybe a quality spray in darker gunmetal, etc....?

? creative gypsum detailing and casing -

thank you everyone for the wonderful comments. I'm going through each one of them and there's a lot to process. We are having 2nd thoughts now on the idea of using luxury vinyl planks. However, we can't have tiles all throughout our main level (1200 sqft) because we live in Virginia where fall & winter weather are cold. Our bathroom floor is tiles and it's freezing cold. Adding radiant heat is not within our budget.

about the ceiling, it's sloping. the highest point in the middle is 15ft and the lowest on both sides are 9ft high. the bedrooms have white drywall ceiling.

p.s.

our home is actually a raised ranch. the main level have plywood subfloor. we have a half basement with tiles and the rest is just crawl space.

I forgot to mention that we want to change the horizontal railings because kids and pets can climb or fall due to the wide gap. we prefer to replace it with vertical railings to prevent accidents.

@JudyG Designs @everdebz

We're looking into Flooret Modin vinyl planks, Calibamboo, and Pergo laminate flooring.

the plan is to change the flooring for main level. it will be 1 type and color from the entryway to the kitchen to living area and bedroom.

@kendrah we looked into cork but our friends warned us that it won't last for house with pets.

Is there a type of laminate flooring or vinyl planks that would go well with our real wood ceiling?

If brick is more neutral and I mean less of orange-y hue in it, why not repeat its family, whatever your samples would show?

@everdebz We plan to clean the brick fireplace but haven't decided on what to do with it. My friend suggested paint white but I think it would look off... like we have a big white blob in the middle of the room. When we first saw this house, we admired the real wood ceiling and the natural brick fireplace. the fireplace needs some TLC

@Sophie Wheeler we most definitely prefer to remove the carpet in the living/dining area and linoleum in entry way & kitchen. the space combined is about 750sqft. I will try to find a vinyl plank/laminate/cork flooring that looks like tile or stone. Would you recommend a shade darker or lighter than the ceiling.

We are also remodeling the kitchen replacing it with white cabinets and quartz countertop.

Thanks!

Lighten the brick, lower or eliminate the mantel, and update the screen. I would also consider lightening the ceiling.

New day - am I correct that the ceiling 'strips' and fp have a similar brown to them? Imo I'd bring that to the floor in a Toasty 'faded' look -- the ceiling is intense enough. Seems there are plenty what called? driftwood/ washed sold.

@everdebz these are the 2 samples I found. Pergo XP cross sawn chestnut and the other one is vintage tobacco oak.

I wish I know what kind of wood we have on the ceiling. The previous owners never painted them.

And what's the effect of smooth on ceiling, and rough on floor....

Love your house, it's going to be amazing.

The issue with the vinyl flooring isn't the material, it's the pattern. There are stone look patterns available. Scroll down to see patterns. I'd actually prefer a terrazzo pattern, Armstrong doesn't seem to have one.

Wood on the ceiling and the floors will be oppressive. You need something other than wood on the floors. Fritztile, with under floor radiant heating.

@everdebz here's a closer photo of the ceiling. the rest of the house will be a blank slate as we will repaint the walls white. the old kitchen will be done with new white cabinets.

@sophie wheeler thank you for your advice. the home is located in a forest community. the houses here used to be vacation homes in the 70s. most of my neighbors still have wood ceiling & floors.

Coretec samples

I'd clean the brick first... ? You aren't considering a stone look then?

I wouldn't pick the most grey. One near the right seems almost to match the carpeting -- how does the carpeting make you think/ feel? Do you have furniture yet?

I'm waiting for the Flooret samples to arrive. I like the Coretec Harbor Oak sample. The carpet we will definitely rip out. We'll put new carpets in the bedrooms. We don't have furniture yet. I'm not shopping for furniture until all the remodeling is done.

We have exactly same issue - exposed pine tongue and groove. We have dogs and house is in beach area. 1976 house with white carpet throughout. We hope to go with Flooret Noret.

hi Tracyc, you have a beautiful home! we are loving the Flooret samples and their customer service is excellent. please post photos when your new floor is installed. We have the same brick fireplace too! what do you plan to do with it?

Hi Leeya, Thanks! It's new (to us) and I'm having fun playing with design. If money were no object I'd cover it with soapstone like the pic attached

With money being an object I'm going to wait and see if some of the changes I'm making help (painting all the window and door trim, floor replacement, lighting etc. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the Noret. I'm having trouble finding an installer so I'm going to keep looking to see what the closest match is with some of the other products out there while I keep looking for one. I agree though - Flooret has a great product and amazing customer service!

PRO/Merrick Design and Build Inc. - "This fireplace is not tile- it is precast concrete slabs with a honed finish." ... idea for concrete of some variety? cheaper and natural in look?

RD Architecture, LLC: "The material surrounding the fireplace is a concrete tile with a rough texture."

Wow thanks I love that!

That railing is not up to code. Can't have openings between rails or balusters of more than 4" for child safety.

@Flo Mangan that is exactly the reason why we are replacing it. Maybe it was up to code in the 70s.

No, I don't think that was ever considered safe. Just cheap. I think the concept of a wood and wire concept as someone posted above, IF you want contemporary look, would be very nice in your space.

@Flo Mangan, I like the wood & wire concept but I'm worried little kids would get their heads stuck in it. I wonder if anyone is selling custom-made metal/glass panels online. any recommendations?

@traycyc i know how you feel about money being the deciding factor. i received an estimate to stain our brick fireplace and it's a whopping $3,500. that's way over my budget! maybe i could teach myself how to clean & stain bricks. lol

Leeya, I really like the Pergo XP tobacco oak. Would go well with your ceiling trim. With the proper lighting you don't need to worry that it will be too dark. The wood is beautiful and the windows really help. You might consider painting the 2 end walls white to match the other walls. I don't think you need more dark walls due to the color of the wood and possibly the floors.

@nramsey1 we decided to go with Flooret Modin 7ft planks - Anura. after looking into about 100 floor samples, we believe that the quality of Flooret luxury vinyl planks will best fit our needs.

Love it. A good contrast to the wood in the room.

We decided to replace the metal rails with a knee wall. It is now up to code and safe for kids & pets. It's not yet 100% complete but we are happy with the result. We will paint the walls next month along with installing new floors, base moulding, and new front door. I know there are different shades of white. Any suggestions for paint color?

Thinking that your entry floor/ceiling has enough 'going on' that I don't like the contrasting dark door/white trim. I doubt you want the green, is that what you mean?

How much will be painted/ and painted the same color -- also down the stairs, etc..?

The only thing staying AS IS would be the ceiling. We will paint ALL walls and definitely NOT green. New trims and base moulding will be installed after the new floors are installed. The door will be replaced too but we haven't decided on the color yet.

With that ceiling I would suggest something with a high LRV (Light Reflective Value) especially since it is in a hallway/stairway space. Not stark white but an off white to a shade of sage green might work well. Just depends on what else you will do in the area. I think you should select the new door first. That can provide guidance so the paint color doesn't clash. Lots of paint choices, but door choices are fewer. So always select hardest to get products first then easiest like paint. Not that picking paint colors is easy, but there are just tons of choices is what I mean. Sure good to get rid of that pipe railing! The knee wall wouldn't have been my first choice :/ but I can see where the cost may have been a driving factor.

Ivory, Atlantis blue, surf - with little windows:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Builder-s-Choice-36-in-x-80-in-Surf-5-Lite-Clear-Glass-Painted-Fiberglass-Prehung-Front-Door-with-Brickmould-HDX163498/204981480

Not mahogany dark:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Pacific-Entries-36-in-x-80-in-Contemporary-5-Lite-Mist-Lite-Stained-Mahogany-Wood-Prehung-Front-Door-M55MSML/204671122

Ceiling some like yours, just to see [and there's that green again!]. Then looks like they greyed in the bedroom?

@Flo Mangan I find your advise very useful! "to choose the hardest material first before painting". I agree that there's so many paint to choose from and only a few choices for doors.

Leeya, skimmed above and read your bedroom ceilings are drywalled.