Help please - Ideas for a dark stairway

[Sueqozzie]

When we bought our Edwardian terraced home two years we had the halls and stairway painted from light apple green to chocolate brown to hide any marks (it has only the one entrance). Work cost £300 and took two days. We couldn't do it ourselves as stairwell is double height. I love the colour but now that we are considering selling wonder whether we shouldn't have gone for something a bit lighter, at least up the stairs. The front door lets in quite a lot of light so the hallway isn't such a big issue but stairwell often needs the light on. We have a darkness sensor light but that practically stays on all the time! Stairs are carpeted with a light beige carpet.

We are reluctant to pay for the stairwell to be repainted as it might not make any difference to buyers. What else could we do? Please help

1. Make sure the landing light has the most powerful bulb it can take.
2. Is there space on the landing for a tiny side table with a lamp on it that could cast more light over the banisters/down the stairs IYSWIM?
3. Hang large pictures preferably of white things with large white mounts around them all up the stairs?

But basically there's not a lot you can to make an Edwardian stairway/landing with no window lighter, no matter what colour you paint it. If I bought your house I would want to repaint, but that's only because I don't like brown rather than because I would see it as affecting the light in any way.

Is there any way you can angle wall mirrors to bounce light up the stairs iyswim?

Our last house had very dark stairs and we wrapped flowery fairy lights around the bannister , from habitat , it didn't look to Christmasy . Hth

Too

Ooh yes, we have fairylights on the dresser on the dark side of the kitchen. Cheerful fairground-coloured bright round bulbs. If any variation of fairylight would work with your decor it can look very cosy. They do have to be switched on though. Off it just looks like a load of trailing wire.

Can you hang a massive mirror at the top of the stairs or on the staircase turn if there is one?
This would look good against the choc brown and will bounce some light around.
And agree with the lights/landing light.

Thanks all for some great suggestions! I like the idea of the fairy lights but the nearest powerpoint is some way into the front room. There isn't much room at the top of the stairs for a side table but I might be able to put a lamp just to the side. Pictures and/or mirrors are probably my best bet. I'll change the energy saving light to a brighter one too.

What sort of light fitting do you have over the stairs?
If you just have a bulb and shade it might be worth changing it for something made from glass. Laura Ashley has some nice looking easy-fit glass ceiling pendants which you could put up (and then take with you when you move).
Is there toom for a floor standing mirror on the stairs/landing?

And yes ditch the energy saving bulb for now!

You can get battery powered fairy lights. Did this for round DD's bed.

Oh, yy to glass ceiling pendants! I changed the opaque fisherman's type metal shade in our dark kitchen for a cheap transparent beaded pendant and it made a massive difference, because light from the bulb now goes up to the ceiling and bounces back down. The upper half of the room was in gloom with the old shade.

You could also plug the fairylights in on the landing possibly? But battery ones sound better for safety anyhow, since they'd be in a heavy traffic area.