Colour for enclosed staircase?

[GarethSouthgatesWaistcoat]

I live in a compact 2 bed terrace and fancy doing something with my hall/stairs/landing. I say "hall" however it's only a metre square (one doors leads off to lounge). Ditto the "landing" (3 doors lead off).

I have no bannisters so when you enter the front door the stairs are directly in front of you and completely walled in. It's currently almond white (including woodwork!) with a greige carpet and an oak-toned bannister.

I've looked for inspiration on Pinterest/google but no-one seems to understand the concept of an enclosed /walled-in staircase. All the photos include bannister/epic stairwells

I don't want to go as far as replacing the bannister/ stripping the stairs/ adding wainscoting. I'm not keen on framed pictures as the stairs feel claustrophobic as it is. I'm clumsy and I'd end up knocking into them all the time!

My current thoughts are a very pale grey/greige, white woodwork and either beaded glass lights at the top and bottom or lemon/acid yellow shades for contrast I've gone off mustard and grey but still like yellow!

It's probably classed as north facing but there's a slim pane above the front door which provides quite a bit of natural light.
I always leave the doors open upstairs to flood the landing with light which filters down the stairs. I also have a mirror at the top of the stairs to bounce light around.

I'm a bit new to this decorating lark and wondering if I'm missing a trick in terms of colour! I'd definitely prefer to keep the stairs light, I've been more daring in other rooms

Tricky, I have to say I’d probably stick with white! (Trade white not brilliant white, to avoid the blue tone of brilliant white). Or an off white, something like F&B Pointing or Wimborne White which are a bit warmer than plain white. You could use an eggshell or satin paint which is a bit more reflective and also more scrubbable than emulsion, as stair walls do end up marking easily. Is the banister on both sides, if so you could consider having a slightly different colour under the banister if you wanted.

Sounds like you have pendant lights top and bottom? I think a beaded or perforated shade would work well, something to throw some patterns on the walls to add interest without having to have pictures etc. Also a ball shaped shade would hide the bulb so you’re not looking at the bulb from underneath. Though you need to ensure they give enough light for safety of course.

Is there space for another mirror at the bottom?

What’s the flooring on the stairs and landings and are you looking to keep it or change it?

Thanks! I couldn't sleep last night and posted a long, rambling query

The handrail is only on one side and is mounted on metal brackets - it's just a long cylinder of wood basically. Not sure why I kept referring to bannisters in my OP, I meant a handrail. The rest is all wall
So not really any definition to paint under.

The carpet goes up the stairs and continues on the landing. It's getting a bit ratty so I might look at replacing that too. The "hall" is made of bristly doormat cut to fit the area. It's handy as the hall's barely big enough to take off your shoes and would get filthy otherwise. I have some hooks behind the front door for coats and bags and I put my shoes in a cupboard in the lounge. There's a radiator under the hooks. No room for a mirror!

It's not as dark as it could be - the house is SE facing and the bathroom has a tall window and glass panels in the door with a venetian blind (bit weird but I live alone so I live with it!). Hence I get strong light on the landing as the upstairs doors are generally open. Downstairs the pane above the front door and the bright light from the kitchen/lounge take care of the bottom of the stairs. The only time it's murky is dawn/dusk and the lights solve that

I currently have very classy rice paper shades (balls) on the lights. So I can definitely change those. Good tip about concealing the bulb from below!

I think I'll go with painting and new lights and carpet. I love white (whole house is cream and it's getting me down) but I envisaged a slight contrast between the woodwork and walls. Probably because the walls and woodwork are the same cream/almond white throughout. I long to see distinct woodwork again!

Thank you for all the tips!

Get an amazing mural! A chap local to me does amazingly well done shadowy trees, through to little leaves and birds you could follow up the stairs. You can't change the light, at least it would be interesting not plain.

That's an interesting idea! I'm not sure the space is really wide enough to appreciate it but I'll stick it on the list!

You just described my hallway.
Ours is boring cream but we used a shinier finish than normal and it's worked quite well.

Keep the walls white, rip up the carpet and paint the understep. We're doing our in coral

Ours*

My old house was very similar I think. It had wood panellingup to first floor level then plaster. I had quite a dark, rich cream in satin finish, carpet a similar colour because the stair wood wasn't good enough to varnish. Plastered wall in a complimentary but lighter cream. Before I started getting it ready for sale, the woodwork was a lovely jade colour but I thought that might put people off. I loved it . I did get used to the cream though and it looked good. It was a 20's house and modern greys or Bruges just wouldn't have worked.

Thanks all! It's actually an older relative's property that I rent and they're really against bare stairs so it's carpet all the way. To be honest I've never lived in a house with wooden stairs and the thought of falling down them does make me wince a bit! Maybe in the next place

I do love that painted riser look.

If I had wood panelling I'd definitely be doing something contrast-y with that but since I'm not sure how long I'm staying so I don't really want to make too many drastic changes. Painting and new lights it is

BayTrees your jade sounds lovely!

Do you mean this type of staircase?

ksassets.timeincuk.net/wp/uploads/sites/56/2012/07/Grey-staircase-with-exposed-brick-wall-and-stair-runner.jpg

I know you don't have wood panels on your walls but imagine the walls painted a shade of greige, such as Dulux Egyptian Cotton with white paint on the woodwork. Would you paint the handrail white? Could you do a runner on the stairs instead of full carpet - this could be a way to introduce a bit of colour. If you did opt for a runner I would try and paint the bits at the side white as well to maximise the light, eg

www.google.co.uk/search?biw=1280&bih=610&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=EKnsW_nnM4fNgAbg4rqQDw&q=enclosed+staircase+decorating+ideas+uk&oq=enclosed+staircase+decorating+ideas+uk&gs_l=img.3...53867.56612.0.59221.8.8.0.0.0.0.112.636.7j1.8.0....0...1c.1.64.img..0.0.0....0.hkW5mM5-530#imgrc=e-NJJzbJpqKjrM:

I agree with glass light fittings to make the most of the light.

Yes exactly that with the handrail on the other side! I'll check out that Dulux colour thank you

I think I'm out of luck for stripping the stairs but I'd up for it in a different property!

Get light shades that cast a pattern on the walls. I'll post a pic of mine.

Here

I love the mural idea.

I’d also think about going dark; a really rich striking navy blue could look amazing.

Bluesheep8 that's pretty! Did you have to have an electrician fit it or does it rest on the bulb? I've put an easyfit chandelier up just to see and it's quite pretty! I like the sparkle.

It has a lot of visible chrome on it however (not keen) and not enough crystals - bulb would still be visible even though I plan to get clear/vintage candle shaped bulbs!

Do you know where you got yours from?

GemmeFatale I'm dipping my toe in the world of dark colours elsewhere in the house but something about the space makes me think it wouldn't suit. I think I'd rather keep it light. If I had a dado rail or could be bothered to put one in I'd definitely consider painting a deeper colour under it

Hi op, it's a shade that just fits over the bulb. And it was £35 from dunelm.

Thanks! The one I have is £29 from Dunelm but it'll be going back. I'm off to see if I can find yours on the website

@Bluesheep8 is yours the Blenheim shade from Dunelm? They seem to do it in two sizes - mini (£32) and large (£49)
Do you think yours is the mini? It looks quite big in your photo

My phone hates the Dunelm website, hopefully this link works. I'm looking at the clear one not the grey:

here

Yes that's it! It's the large one though, must have gone up in price. I liked it so much, I have to confess I've got 2 large at either end of the hall, a large in the lounge and 2 mini on one of the landings. They look far far more expensive than they were and get lots of comments

Oh and they are clear rather than grey but I bet that's nice too.

Brilliant thank you! I'm finding some light fixtures disappointingly small, I'll check out the measurements online

Definitely the clear one I'm after. The grey is unusual but not right for my space. Love that you have 5 in different sizes

The large ones are a good size op, they still look right with our high ceilings so I think would look really dramatic in your enclosed stair area. We ended up with so many as they were eminently cheaper than having light fittings done by an electrician and saved a lot of time choosing as I really liked the design. Would live to know if you get them and what you think.

Oh and it has really good reviews online

Thanks! Good point about the saved electrician fees

My Dunelm is a bit rubbish, they have a very limited amount of lights on display. I went to one in another town and their lighting department was magical!

I might buy a small and large and see which fits the space better.
I'm also considering one for the lounge now...

My current dilemma is getting the Sheridan down as I don't like it enough and want to return. It has a plastic restricting ring to keep it attached to the bulb and I can't get it off
It's really inflexible and I've already broken several nails (!) I don't think I can actually get it off!

Oh they can be an absolute pain to get off. Even if you break it, they'll probably still take it back as that part is easily replaceable, or just take another one off another light to return it?