Depends on what is going on the adjoining rooms. Is there hardwood under the carpet?

What are you looking to accomplish?

What housegal said about gloomy. Paint! Lighten and brighten!

And mentioning light, that boob light near the doorway has got to go. Either have multiple can lights installed along that hallway or find an attractive fixture, wider and longer, to put at the doorway. We can’t see what light is at the entry door - maybe it needs replacing also so you could coordinate the two.

Are you the buyer or the seller?

Buyer! (Potentially)

Looks like several different types of flooring in the home - if it were me, I would first get consistent hardwood (or engineered hardwood flooring) through the whole house

I would start with painting away ALL of that gray.

I am having trouble figuring out that textured looking ceiling in the hallway. Is it a popcorn ceiling? Something else? I think changing that ceiling out would be a nice improvement too.

This looks like it is likely a colonial l style home or some variation of it. I would

1. take texture off ceilings

2. replace the boob light and since your ceiling height is low there likely just make it a can light.

and while doing that add a few more to maximize lighting in what Is likely a dark area.

3. replace flooring with a light to medium toned wood so that it is all the same throughout the home other than bathrooms. This includes wood on the stairs and paint the risers white.

4. I would add moulding up the stairway and on walls and paint it all out white

5. i would likely paint the handrail black and paint the newel post white and keep the handrail wood to match the color of the flooring or be a shade or two darker than the flooring.

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you could also add a lovely stair runner

How does one take texture off ceiling?

Google ”how to remove popcorn ceiling”. There are lots of websites and videos that will show up. Read and watch many of them to get exposed to various methods and products before you decide how to proceed.

This is your second post about a home you don't own. You don't like the exterior and it seems you don't even like the entry. Suggest you pass on this house and keep the one you have for now. This one is not an upgrade.

Removing popcorn ceilings can be a real pia. It can be done but it is a messy project. There are some painting pros who will remove it for you prior to painting.

How to remove popcorn ceiling Youtube January 24

Now back to the staircase... What is your budget? Depending on the house I might take the railing out and repalce it with something more contemporary.

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Love how bright and welcoming the picture submitted by housegal200 which is very similar to your entrance. Lighter walls trimmed in white, brighter rug on stairs and matching runner. Notice that the stairs have been painted in white like the trim which is a lot less trouble and expense to re-stain your stairs if that's what you'd need to do. You can also paint the end post at the bottom of the stairs in white and leave only the handrail in wood just like in the picture.

A gallery wall would look nice in the staircase, here's a link with some ideas, doesn't have to be an overload of frames but they should all be in the same frame.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/121667627422964234/

Advice and recommendations from people may become confusing for you, without knowing your style, the extent and budget (as you can see from ideas that were provided).

There are all kinds of options and I’d be looking for on line design ideas/deciding on a budget - if you intend on buying.

If trying to figure out if updates are feasible enough to buy the house, get some ballpark figures and consider your priorities, as I assume other rooms will need updating.

Under no circumstances would I remove the horse portrait. If buying this house, I'd make the sale contingent on it remaining exactly where it is.

Elcieg thanks for the comment. It may not be an upgrade appearance wise but it's in a dream location for us, much, much larger as we only have 1 bathroom currently with lots of room to grow.

Those ceilings are "stomped" which are common in the Midwest where nail pops are common due to the seasonal change in temp in your house and as a method to hide imperfections in the ceiling. They are textured with dry wall mud and there are several methods to obtain that look. If they are there in the entry, they are probably thru out the house. Google says they are a bi*** to remove.