Oh good grief gray?

You have a beautiful warm space, why gray? Do you love gray? There are a lot of colors to choose from, why run with the “been there” crowd?

I’m not set on grey! I was just thinking that since there’s no break in the walls, especially on the non brick side, I should pick something neutral to not overwhelm the space

what's wrong w/the way it is? find a large canvas and hang it on that space. Change out the light.

put a bench under the artwork, or a table under the light. bring in a nice area rug.

leave the walls as is and let the brick and wood be the star. let your accents and furnishings bring in the color.

the other wall, please get brighter white outlet covers.

what kind of furniture are you doing? is the tv going on that wall?

any art?

plants?

consoles?

rugs?

lets see that first before you paint these walls gray!

lose the wood blinds and bring in real blinds or shades. drapes are optional

I'd leave the walls/ceilings white as is. your inspiration photo shows almost no ceiling. you have such expanse that the gray wall will be an odd horizontal dark stripe under a mass of white. My focus would be on updating the stairs somehow.

What a beautiful large and airy space! Congrstulation for your new house:)

The white walls look great with the wood and brick, dont think you should paint.

Before considering painting(the stairs maybe- to make them less prominent) can you please describe a bit what is going on with the trap under the stairs? Is that the access to the lower level? Do you need to address that for safety purposes? If that's the case I would suggest enclosing the stairs, at least on one side, or at least with a bannister? I would start there before thinking of decor and colors as the adopted solution may inform furniture layout and further decor decisions

I agree, I wouldnt paint, at least not right now. It looks very nice already. I do agree with Beth, that a nice colorful canvas would look fantastic on that spot.

Thanks for the replies everyone! To answer a few questions...

-we had planned to have the couch up against the white wall on the brick side with the tv and stand being across from it. We chose this so that the couch wouldn’t be the first thing you walk into as the front door is closer to the non brick side

• I really like the idea of a large canvas there. What do you think of painting just that square part of the wall a bold color as like an accent wall? We plan to have the couch pushed up against it, so a large picture would have to start above the couch

-the trap door goes to the basement. We don’t have children so we weren’t too concerned about enclosing it. We figured we will keep it closed unless we need to go down there. I like the openness of the space that we would lose by enclosing it (and kind of think the trap door is cool :)).

• if we left the walls white with maybe an accent wall on the brick side, what is the best way to update the steps?

Thank you again!

What do you think of painting just that square part of the wall a bold color as like an accent wall?

No. lol. You are bound and determined to paint those walls! why do you think you need an accent color when the entire wall is already accented w/brick? Everyone on here is saying no, yet you keep rephrasing the question hoping to get a yes?

ultimately, it's your house. if you want to paint it, paint it. I'm saying no, you don't have to. it will look too busy w/the brick. and it's already accented further w/the wood trim on the white portion. now you want to paint it another color, put a sofa under it and hang art on it? Too much.

My opinion is, leave it alone, find some properly sized art.

Now, if you want to repaint all of the white walls a diff color, you could do that. Just no accent color between the brick.

Just hang a large canvas and move on from the spot!

the steps or stairs? what do you want to do w/them? any plans on changing the bannister?

If you are itching to change something, change the staircase to go w/the more industrial vibe of the brick wall. right now those traditional spindles aren't working.

Excellent help from everyone! take their advice and concentrate on the stairs. First picture with the blue was awesome.

Haha I get what you are saying. This is what I had envisioned but I really like the step ideas you sent. I will abandon my unrelenting desire to paint and focus on the steps ;)

I like both the modern designs you sent and the more traditional one that you had inserted into the picture. Below I also added the rails and steps that lead down to the kitchen. Would you change these to match whatever design I decide on for the main stairs?

I actually don't mind the black, but it has to relate to other black in the room. for instance, the stairs.

If you did the risers and spindle w/the black, or changed them out for the black cables.

the stair steps, paint the risers white. paint the baseboards white. change out those colonial style spindles (it's not difficult to do yourself) get the plain square spindles.

or, if you like more of the industrial, do the cables

or horizontal metal

remove them? paint the risers white

or, remove the railing altogether and do something like these bookcases just on the ends. this is a traditional look, so you'd have to do more of modern type, but hopefully you get the gist

bring in some black furniture like these wood hairs.

white walls. see how the brick is your accent?

Get that need to paint urge out by making a bathroom or a bedroom that super saturated color you are looking to add. Hard to resist when you have a nice space. That place is beautiful.

here, found some other pics like your wall.

similar 'accent' wall, hung w/art. wow. imagine that!! granted, it's a light gray, but so are all of the other walls.

there is plenty to look at in the room. no need for an accent wall

similar to yours. black railing. black chairs. I don't care for the things on the wall, so I'd do some art.

love this look with modern console, lower furniture. those black window panels really make this space.

another view w/the other walls in a charcoal (almost looks like venetian plaster of some sort)

Here's your gray. soft gray walls, rustic black/wood furniture, black framed art, gray doors, gray furniture. I like the industrial minimal lighting.

art

how much do you like black?

Wow thank you! There’s tons of great ideas here. I think I’m now set on removing the railing from the kitchen stairs altogether because I didn’t much like them in the first place. Thank you for taking the time to add photos of all those ideas. I have lots to decide on now

Here is a possible layout, guessing the dimensions based on pic, tried to capture all the functional items needed in the space(entrance, living area, TV etc) Seeing all the furniture and the space filled- I believe you can get away without painting anything.

As you are coming in the door you see a runner in front of you defining the path towards the stairs. The coat rack can be changed to an oak color with black hooks, a bench next to it. On the left of the door the living space is defined by a sectional, with a small table next to it, acting as a catch all when coming in. The brick areas are your gallery accent walls with the white feature wall in the middle becoming the TV spot. By the stairs/trap door there is another chair, for TV viewing and completing the seating arrangement. Next to the chair a bar table with two stools underneith(additional seating) and lamp

Thank you lildesignworks! I love the idea of the runner and positioning the furniture to kind of enclose the living room. I hadn’t thought of that and I think it’s a great idea

Happy to help! Congrats on your beautiful space, it will look amazing:)