I'm not seeing a picture of the stairs or banister... Re: the tile - what type of flooring is in adjacent spaces - carpet, hardwood, tile? Whatever you choose should blend well with other visible spaces.

I just readded the picture of the stairs - hope that helps! The color of the walls looks different because of the flash but the color is the same as the color in the front door picture.

One side of the entry ends at a step down living room and the other side carries down a hallway into the dining room. Floors in both those areas are a medium brown lvp - somewhat similar to the front door color.

I’m wondering if I just clean up the tile and brighten the grout or do you think it needs to be replaced? I’m hoping I can make it look decent without having to tear it all out.

I would stain/paint the grout a deeper color rather than making the grout brighter. Try painting the stair treads the same color as your trim - see how they come out. Then definitely a nice runner (and coordinating rug in the entry) to pull everything together. I would leave the handrail; if the balusters are the same color as the trim, leave them - if not, paint them the trim color.

How do you want your entry to look? That door and tile are not a match made in heaven.

When you say "builder grade wood", do you mean pine? Generally stairs are made out of hardwood, like oak, because they are subject to a lot of wear. You may also want to check the rise to make sure they are equal: they may have been built factoring in the thickness of carpet.

Looks like a slate floor in need of professional stripping and cleaning. Then choose a new grout paint color. Here's a good inspiration: https://www.younghouselove.com/how-you-like-me-now-grout/

Shirlpp - We just want to get a more cohesive look. I understand that the doors and tile are not a good match but the huge cost of new double doors and demoing the tile is not an option for us. We’re mostly looking for cosmetic fixes - changes to banister, stairs, rugs, painting tile, updating grout, etc.

Latifolia - I’m not sure of the type of wood. It’s just pretty beat up wood that our painter said can’t be stained so the only options are painting them and adding a runner or recarpeting.

What do you guys think about painting the tile with floor paint? Terrible idea?

I’ve painted tile before!! It’s inexpensive and if you like the look of the stone but not the color it would be a great option. As for the stairs you could paint them the same color as your tile to tie in. I like the stair rail the way it is. Here is my entry for some inspiration

Regarding the stairs: Think about how much time you want to spend sweeping and vacuuming the stairs. If you paint them white and add a runner, any dust and dirt will show up right away. The other obvious color, dark-chocolate brown paint, would also show dust and dirt, but not as much and not as quickly. Were the stairs built with rougher unfinished wood designed to be covered by carpeting?

You could try painting a 3 or 4 inch wide stripe along the inside end (not the lip) of one stair in white, and another stair's end in dark brown to see how much dust accumulates in a week.

The front door is a strong design element. Features that expensive and prominent were probably chosen by the architect as part of the initial design for the house. It might need a top coat of clear varnish to restore its appearance (check the current finish for compatibility with the newer formulations).

Here's a video showing slate floor cleaning: https://www.zieglercarpetcleaning.com/tile-stone-grout-cleaning/slate-floor-cleaning-and-restoration/

I would paint the stairs a dark brown to match the railing -- be sure to use porch paint, so it can withstand some wear. Then add a runner (although this is not a cheap option). Be sure that the landing isn't plywood, or no amount of paint will make it look decent. Anyway, dark treads plus (current) white sides, means you can keep dark railing and white spindles. It's a classic look.

Stair Runners · More Info

Stair Runners · More Info

Toronto Reno · More Info

As for the tile, it's just not great. Easiest fix is to darken the grout so that the pattern is minimized, and then find a great entry rug with some color and pattern, which will add cheer and distract from the tile. Someday you can replace it with simple cement-look or slate-look tile in a single color, but meantime, just look at as little of it as possible. A nice picture on the wall opposite the closet will also help happy up the space.

Note: keep in mind the rug possibility when picking a runner -- you may want the latter to be solid or in a very simple pattern so that your choices for other decorations in the space aren't too constrained.

The slate tile and door look like classic 1960s features. They are good! Clean them up and be glad you your house has the good 60s stuff because a lot of the 60s was bad. :)

The stair treads aren't meant to be seen. The edges are square and unfriendly instead of bullnosed. If you want wood stairs, painted or not, you really should replace them. I'd carpet them--do you have carpet elsewhere that you're keeping?

The oak railing/baluster matches the door. Keep them matching. The spindles are interesting and unusual. Think about different paint after the other colors are settled.

latifolia - builder grade wood is usually pine. When building a house and you want an upgrade then you upgrade to oak... for a charge.

Thank you all for all the great advice!!

I do like the character of the front doors so I will be keeping them. I think It’s a great idea to keep the banister and door a matching shade - I’ll just clean them up a bit. I’m going to look into chocolate brown for the stairs and a coordinating runner and entry rug.

Im still stuck on the tile. Now, I’m leaning toward painting it. If I did paint it, any suggestions on what color might be good?

I would stay light with the color maybe same color as spindles.

For the tile, paint is probably not going to be good. It doesn't last and it won't look right.

Maybe darken the grout and then put a large bright area rug down. A dark entry (it looks dark in the photos, at least) needs a bright rug, and you won't have enough tile left showing to object to.

I assume that the painting of the tile is a temporary solution and eventually you'd remove it and replace it with another tile, or hardwood or laminate. If so, in the meantime I'd paint it lighter with a darker area rug over it or darker with a lighter area rug over it.

I’m not sure of the type of wood. It’s just pretty beat up wood that our painter said can’t be stained so the only options are painting them and adding a runner or recarpeting.

Please post a closer up view of the stair treads.

pretty beat up wood-- Why sanders were invented

our painter said can’t be stained -- What did the wood floor refinisher guy say?

The stairs look like solid pine. Which can be sanded, stained & finished.

Pine can be difficult to stain because it absorbs stain unevenly & can blotch. There are blotch control products on the market. This is either a DIY project or one for a floor finisher who knows how to handle staining softwoods like pine. Wood dyes can eliminate some of the problems associated with stains--I have no experience w/ dyes. I have stained quite a bit of pine successfully seeking & getting a warm medium tone color. Have never tried to stain it very dark.

Painters just want to paint; if you decide you want painted stairs, then he is your go-to guy.