SFGate

k2cochran A small accent table with a mirror, or a piece of ironwork....

cschunder What color for the table?

PYRAMID DESIGN GROUP FLOATING SHELF OR SMALL CONSOLE TABLE WITH MIRROR ABOVE (MAYBE ROUND MIRROR), PAINT THE ELECTRICAL RECEPTICAL OR SWITCH IT TO A DARK BROWN RECEPTICAL. AT SOME POINT YOU MIGHT WANT TO CHANGE THE CARPET ON THE STAIRSTO SOMETHING WITH PATTERN AND COLOR TO MATCH PAINT COLORS.

auburn gallery first of all there is entirely too much white on those stairs. I would consider painting the spindles to match the wall color to balance the space. the long skinny wall is screaming for a nice tall mirror, possibly with some gold tones to tie in your other walls. Place a black table below the mirror because every room should have a touch of black to ground it and it goes beautifully with egg plant

auburn gallery also put a nice proportionate accent lamp on the table but that will depend on the size of the mirror and style

cschunder So, was the eggplant a bad idea?

auburn gallery I dont believe the egg plant is a bad idea, it just looks undressed. The white rail is the sore thumb here.

carole fill the space with a palmtree in the corner,then a white bench,a mirror in gold and the bench with some india inspired cushions

Marie Hebson's interiorsBYDESIGN Inc. Hi cschunder, marie here.
Wow - I've heard some bad advice on here, but really auburn gallery, be careful what you say.

Painting your trim and/or stairs opens a huge can of worms, it would be easier to repaint the walls.

If you've decided to use yellow and eggplant then be confident in that choice and repeat those elements throughout your home to create harmony and flow.

Add a gold mirror on that eggplant wall, then add a pop of yellow in gorgeous flowers in a pretty white vase, bringing your rail colour down into the room a bit that'll make sense of the white rails - play with it. Bring stuff home from the store and try it out, take it back if it doesn't work.

What I do is I play with combining things in the store. I take a measurement of the wall space and then measure a table at the store, combine items in the store that I think would be interesting. Then, bring things home to try them out. I even take digital shots see if I like it in a photo - what's missing, etc. Good luck with your project - and go with the eggplant and yellow - they are ON TREND colours right now!

k2cochran Silver would be nice, but a flat silver. I actually just painted my bathroom close to this color, I painted a gold mirror that I had a nice flat silver, and it looks really great with that color. I also found an antique white small table and put a lamp on it with a white shade, it would go well in your area too.

k2cochran This photo is a little dark, and you can't tell, but the paint is actually a deep eggplant... I tried to lighten the photo, but I don't think I was very successfull.... :(
Weird... I wonder why it went sideways... it isn't saved like that.... hmmmm

judyg Love the eggplant. Use white either with a mirror and table or some shelving (which you can get at Ikea.) Don't cover up too much of the wall so that you lose your color.

olldbobbi The eggplant is fabulous and so unexpected! I love it! I wish I had your courage, don't change it, ok? As you can see in the picture I've attached, they've used lots of purple and white, and even added a touch of green on the stairs. At least it looks green on my monitor!

Go for it!
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curacaoblue I like the purple and I think the white looks great with it. I'd look for a mirror and small table to go under it

kimdee24 I had that almost exact shade in my last house and I loved it! You can make it work, there are some great ideas here. Good luck!

trudela I agree; bring some white and gold/yellow into the foyer to make both areas relate. If your stairs are hardwood, consider getting rid of the carpeting. Or consider a carpet that has a pattern that brings in a touch of your colors. Good luck.

auburn gallery the reason the white works well with the example pic above is because the hand rail is a different color, I stand by my original comment...too much white on the stairs, combined with oatmeal carpet, not dramatic enough for the egg plant but it depends if you want "precious" or "substance and a little formal drama"
As for MH , I never mentioned painting the trim, opening a can of worms would be stripping it, but paint is just sweat equity. On sober second thought, though ,the hand rail would be better to paint. It needs to frame the area in question and tie it together.

Vanessa Barreto you can put a bench paralel to the stairs and a floor lamp at the end or a nice picture o mirror too

Amanda Marsh I found a picture that I think explains what the others are trying to say. Here they did a bold print on the walls much like your bold color. They also left the white and neutral tone of the floor but what ties it all together, in my opinion, is the black handrail and black chest. I personally reccomend painting the handrail the eggplant color.

auburn gallery great example Amanda, love the black rail and if combined with a black chest or table would pull her whole look together and the gold accents will integrate the pale gold walls.

latham7 the first thing that struck me was the pale golden color on the stairs. it is much to wimpy, the gold needs to be deeper in order to enhance and embrace such a dramatic color as eggplant. that said then i would follow carole's and marie hensen's advice

cschunder That carpet wouldn't have been my first choice either but it was put in by the previous homeowner. The whole foyer was yellow and felt boring so I painted the accent wall. I appreciate all the comments so far! Very helpful :)

Jayme Hobbs I think end posts on your staircase railing.. that are the color of your hardwood floors would improve things..

cghdesign I agree the starkness of the white rail and post is what it throwing it off. A warm wood stained would be best but otherwise paint rail and post the tan/yellowish color from upstairs or the eggplant if you want to go bolder. Either way, it will warm in up. Then you can add a mirror/artwork to the eggplant wall with similar tan/yellow color. Then a dark chocolate/black entry table.

bevballew What is nice about a mirror is you look into it before answering the door. I loved the idea of,the beautiful round mirror or the heavy rectangle one. Black table sounds cool too. I would say down the road to re carpet stairs and not let that interfere with your present goal. Yellow flowers I believe was suggested. Sounds beautiful. I love the eggplant! Very dramatic! The mirrors will have such an impact with the style of the rectangle one or the one that has small pieces of gold glass. I did not like the plain mirror.

ASVInteriors I recently painted a client's powder room with a colour called "wicked!" - deep aubergine, and i have used it against an outdoor wall with green bamboo in front. It really works.
I think there are lot of good ideas posted here and clearly you have everyone abuzz with ideas.

If you place a series of gold mirrors/collection of interesting bright objects on the wall - by the staircase you can add a console and put some plants or a lamp that might deflect the white . This means you get the intrigue as you enter the room - seeing past the console table to the aubergine and the eye is distracted from the stairs (if you don't want to paint them)

carole still think this is a great combo of colors,and i love the starck contrast of the white and aubergine,but it does need something more!!!!!and i would not suggest bringing in any other color than the white gold aubergine that is there now,just tie it all together,lamps seating table flowers cushions,the works!!

trasgorshek Just my two cents, but I think if you punched up your stairwell you would have an incredible entry. What I would do is wainscoting at chair rail height up the wall in white and then paint the top in a color to accent your focal wall. I've attached a few combos that I think would look beautiful. Then I would possibly paint the handrail black, leave the spindles as they are. Add a gold mirror with small console table underneath.

trasgorshek Table and mirror options. Or even just a stool in the corner like last pic.