retrotree's Profile

I personally believe if some of the trim is painted then all of the trim should be painted. However, I don't believe the ladder should be painted. It is, in a sense, a piece of furniture.

You haven't asked for this, and sometimes perspective can be off in pictures, but have you thought about moving your sofa so that it faces the windows and green stove/heater(?), moving the chair to where the sofa was and placing the stool and maybe some oversized floor pillows at the foot of the stairs? Just a thought.

Well, why NOT bring out that shrinking violet of a fireplace? It seems like a nice architectural piece to me. I believe you should downplay the narrowness of it, and painting the ledge is the most obvious. However, I propose painting the top a different color from the bottom, which would also break up the horizontal line. Have you seen the technique with the brown paper bags torn up and applied? The dark texture would compliment a leather club chair atmosphere. Finally, be careful not to emphasize the ledge too much, especially by matching the trim color. It should compliment the fireplace yet be unique.