Stairs/hallway/landing help (picture attached)

[fendt]

I'm wondering what to do with the walls in this area - it's woodchip with magnolia paint at the moment, so ideally I would like to get rid of woodchip and have lovely flat walls. I'm assuming I will need light colours as it's such a small space, but I'm wondering if there's a way to make it more interesting with pictures or something without making the space feel too tight. I'm also wondering whether to paint the banister the same colour as the stairs?

I can upload pictures of other rooms so you can see the general style of the house if need be, but it's a farm cottage and I don't like anything too modern. Base colour for rest of the house is Skimming Stone paired with different colours in each room.

The floors probably won't be changing, although one day I might paint stairs all white and add a runner, but I like them as they are for now. (Currently the upright part of the stairs are white with only the top of the steps being the colour you see, but that can't be seen from this angle)

[fendt]

Ps, the black lump on the floor is not a fixed feature, it's the dog

[whois]

If you could be bothered you could do a cool ombre wall up the stairs. Could look great but would be a bit of a pain to do.
www.colorhousepaint.com/blog/how-to-paint-an-ombre-wall/

[JT05]

Perhaps some grouped mirrors or pictures on a theme, reflecting ( no pun intended!) the country area going up the stairs.

I'm glad you said the black fur was the dog, I was going to remark on the safety aspect of having two fur rugs at the top of the stairs!