Chest looks fine…have you tried hanging the mirror horizontally?
I know you love your kids…take down the drawings and gift them.
What is the hall rug? Is it an Oushak? What if you paint the treads the woodwork color.

The art up the stairs are actually pencil sketches of my children done while we were in Italy! They stay - sorry!!! You would not believe the number of compliments I get on them and they fit the space perfectly.

I will try to hang the mirror horizontally... that may be the answer!

I don't remember anything about the rug. It is about 15 years old and the tag has long since disappeared!

I like the sketches! It makes your house look personal. Hanging the mirror horizontally looks to me like it might solve your problem :) I think white-painted stair treads would be a pain to maintain. Stained hardwood stairs will look lovely!

I like the sketches, but the frames seem too dark for the space. Something softer that is similar in tone to the mirror frame may make it more cohesive.

Have you removed the carpet from your stairs yet? I am wanting to remove the carpet from our stairs but I am worried that there will be nail holes from the carpet being installed. We have wood flooring under our carpet, I would like to remove the carpet and change it to a stair runner instead.

I would move mirror over the to right and put the lamp on the left of chest

@Tera Lambert, at this point, I have only pulled the carpet back to see what I'm dealing with! There are tons of staples from the padding and there will be nail holes where the tack strip is attached. I also noticed a few very small indentations along the center of the steps that looks like some type of staple as well (these staples will not be removed). I read that you fill the indentations/holes with a stainable wood filler and sand before applying stain. If you are installing a runner, majority of the holes will be covered with your new runner - you would just have to deal with the areas on the ends of the planks.

My biggest concern right now is the material used on my landing. I just can't tell what I'm looking at. It looks like wood (has grain) but it doesn't really feel like wood. I've got a bath remodeler coming by this week and I'm going to have him take a peek and tell me what it is (keeping my fingers crossed that it won't need to be replaced).

There are MANY blogs on the internet about removing carpet from stairs and staining/painting the steps underneath from do-it-yourselfers. These blogs offer a wealth of info.

Good luck on your project!

A darker metal on the chandelier such as mmilos suggests will help incorporate the dark mats/ frames on the sketches.

Thank you dclostboy for confirming my thoughts on a darker metal chandelier tying in the picture frames. I also was thinking maybe change out the lamp - maybe have some black accents on the base of it?

@Tera Lambert, I spent the morning pulling up the tack strip and staples on the first two steps (I cut my carpet off there so there is no turning back!). After I took the nails and staples out, I did an initial sanding. Most of the holes disappeared. I'll still be using the wood filler and doing more sanding but think everything will work out to where the holes will be gone or invisible! Keeping my fingers crossed.

I had my husband look at the landing. It is red oak but the planks are odd - very thin and two of the boards are 14-1/2" wide and the other two boards are 7" wide. Have no idea why it was done this way. I think we will have to come up with some other plan on it. I read where someone used something similar to beadboard on their landing.... possibility!!

On my way! There is no turning back at this point!

Here is a suggestion to deal with the angle of the stairs. A taller lamp.

Needle nose pliers for the staples, it's looking good! A bit of sanding, painting and staining and those will be gorgeous!

nothing wrong with her foyer light :) I have the exact same one. just an fyi, just because your kids have moved out, remember... you are now older and it's easy to slip down stairs. My husband did it already when we took our carpet off before we put on new carpet treads.

True diyher! Luckily our bedroom is first floor so once the last child moves out, I won't need to be going up and down the steps very often.

@Solincia ... yes pliers are key! My issue was getting the tack strips off the risers - had a hard time getting the angle right to pry them off. Did it though - couple of scraps and stab wounds to remember the effort by. Removed everything (carpet, tack strips, nails, staples) all the way down from the second floor to my landing. Break time!

Sketches of your darling children must stay of course. If you decide to change the frames, painting frames like this is one of the easiest, quickest projects around. I have had great results by using a very dry brush to drag on gold paint, in a linear texture. Very easy to get great results! If you have a steady hand you can do this without disassembling, making it childishly simple to get a very different look.

How about giving a completely new look to your stairs and the room itself. The banister may be painted a glossy wood colour. The steps may be painted in the brightest shade of white. Then the outer edges of the stairs may be given an undercoat of coral and topped with a coat of red. Make another block at a distance with a coat of blue. On the runners, stamp a distinctive picture. The whole staircase lights up and lends a character to the room itself.

Your home is nice and entry looks inviting. Finish the stairs. Bombay and all on and around it, is great. Leave it. Sometimes we over think things.

The mirror might work better if hung horizontally. If it's not too crowded, you might also try an umbrella stand filled with a couple walking sticks or something else to fill in the spot between the wall and the Bombay chest.

Start with the stairs, hang mirror horizontally as others suggested ...
New foyer light would be good or paint the one you have ...

Post is over 4 years old

I've got to start looking at the dates!

Looking good! I would try hanging the mirror up and to the right, centering the chest and moving the lamp to the left. I like the natural, as opposed to painted, wood on the stairs.

Love the pencil sketches. They're personal and warm your heart. You're not staging your home to sell ( that's when agents might suggest you remove personal things) .