Hi Neryl, Thanks for asking - I painted it and I just love it. As the staircase is in the middle of the house, painting the walls white has made it much brighter and the large colorful painting looks great. The very large gaudy gold framed mirror has had a makeover as well and looks fab also painted white. I notice I put this post up 2 years ago and since then, thanks to Houzz for all the great inspiration, the renovations have been fairly intense - new kitchen, walk in pantry, 2 new bathrooms, laundry, kitchenette, new roof, solar system, walk in robe, 5 renovated bedrooms, polished floors, fully airconditioned, restored cottage which is now my she shed, landscaping etc. etc. Am now broke but happy.

Rebecca - try oiling the timber and see if this brings it up. Rub it in with some steel wool and it can do wonders to bring life into the timber again and it is quite quick to do. The worry with painting is once that is done, you can't go back. I'm assuming you live in an area of similar homes so for selling purposes, I would check out all homes currently on the market in your immediate area, go to open house days, see how they have been renovated and gauge potential buyer's response to them, ask questions as to just what they are looking for in a home. Agents will help you with this too. I spent a year doing this before I sold my home and learned a lot from it. There are just as many people out there who want to put their own stamp on a home as there are those with no vision who just want everything pretty. Your front door, while it doesn't allow much light, could well be a significant heritage piece for the home so a solar tube or 2 could be the answer to bringing light into the space. Colourful artwork on the walls will then help detract from all the panelling too. Good luck with it all.

I would definitely keep the brick. It looks great, and fewer maintenance issues in the future.

Too much of a feature becomes a distraction. 70's / 80's brick interior houses were great then but are clearly dated now. One feature wall with the other walls in smooth plaster can still work, provided you address the feature wall as such, by not cluttering it with stuff. Try keeping the furnishing minimal and selected feature wall type dressing. hopefully this way you feature wall will look stylish. Hope this helps. Alfred Botha. www.gapdesign.com.au