I think from what you say that you will have an a light grey wall color from the high railing down, darker grey above the rail, and white on the ceiling? You would paint the fireplace surround the light grey color (Cornforth white) but paint the remainder of that wall darker grey (so below the rail as well), with white built-in cupboards on each side...is this correct? If so, it seems there would be a "stripe" of the darker grey around the room on the upper wall, not sure how this would look (a photoshop mock up would help, but I don't have that skill). I like the Cornworth color and think it looks great with white. I would use only the two colors - white for the trim/rail, the fireplace surround, and the ceiling, and light grey for the rest of the walls.

Lovely garden. I had a little garden a while back that had white painted walls and lightish grey painted fence with natural decking. The grey made the fence recess and the garden feel bigger and the white reflected light and made it feel bigger too. The planting looked amazing against both because the greens really pop against the homogenised background. So I think you should paint it too, but personally I'd find a complementary grey. Cream and grey are great together.

I can recommend Mylands Marble Matt - it’s very matt and scrubbable. It has amazing reviews and my decorator said it was a dream to work with. It’s pricey - same, if not a tad more than Farrow and Ball - but you can buy testers in Brewers and then buy online from somewhere like Paint Depot that tends to be a bit cheaper and always seems to have an extra 10% off!

Hello, The idea is to get to a final result as the picture on the right. On the left, that's my staircase. After removing the carpet, filling holes, and a bit of sanding, I realised that the old paint running along what I guess was once a runner doesn't come off. What's more, between the painted areas and the bare wood, the surface is uneven (because of the existing layer of paint). I would like to avoid stripping off the old paint and paint directly over it. Shall I try to sand it more? What would you suggest to get a good finish look ?