See what you mean. It looks fine. Not sure about having such a statement colour on the spindles though. If I get bored of it or don't like it it's a big job to repaint em. On other news the hall floor is now going to decoupaged fluffy cloud wallpaper. The maps just didn't look quite right.

If it's dark wood... it's dark wood. It's nice to preserve an original feature but sometimes it just doesn't work anymore so it's time to update. If it was a mistake to use such a dark floor in a dark hall you shouldn't have to live with that mistake just because it's old. Option 1. Remove it and use it elsewhere in the house. Some of it can be used to make furniture or a wall feature. Replace with light floor of your choice. Option 2. Leave it as an original feature but cover over it with a new floor. Laminate / carpet etc. It's always there in case you want to bring it up again at a later date. Option 3. Use stain on it as required and accept that it's a dark floor. Use light paint on the wall and a large runner down the middle to cover enough of it so it doesn't have as much impact. Think of other ways to brighten up the hall e.g. increase the glazing in the front door or the door into the kitchen, remove the small wall next to the kitchen door and replace that with a glass panel, use mirrors, add artificial lighting etc.

I would consider bringing your dining table out into the space next to the door to inner courtyard and enlarging that doorway if you can to allow more light. The kitchen looks a bit dark and you have a lot of wasted space that I think could be put to better use. It looks like you have a small window from kitchen to inner courtyard could that become full height fixed window again to allow more light in to kitchen space. I would also consider fully built in storage under the stairs if you need it.

What would you put behind the stairs a table or a bench?