What To Do With That Dead Space At The Top Of Your Stairs
If you have a dead space at the top of your stairs I will show you ideas on how to decorate it!
One of the parts of my foyer makeover that I needed to address, but haven’t shared before, is the dead space at the top of the stairs. The area is visible when anyone enters our front door, so I didn’t want to leave it as just a blank, blah and empty space. Plus, there were the remains of an old smoke detector and a round metal plate attached to the ceiling (for who knows what reason) that needed to be gotten rid of. My eye went straight to that spot every time I looked up.
There isn’t lot of room to work with in this long narrow spot, that’s for sure! I played around with a few different things using tables that I already own and even considered building another bench similar to the ones in my foyer, but all of my tables were too deep and I really didn’t want another bench in this area. Plus, the thought of all those legs and spindles was too much.
What this area was begging for was a tall’ish, narrow chest in a soft blue color! 😀 The chest is only 12″ deep so it gives us plenty of walking room. It’s a little taller than many small chests, which makes it more visible from the downstairs area of the foyer and all of the drawers will come in handy for storage.
I am in total LOVE with this adorable light fixture – it’s a great addition to this space! It blends right in with the new foyer chandelier (which I haven’t shared yet) and the sconces that I added to the board and batten wall down in the foyer. The light fixture can be purchased HERE.
What had me stumped for a few days was what to hang above the chest. A grouping of pictures would have been too much, considering that I’m already adding a gallery wall going up the steps. (You can see a portion of the gallery wall in the above photo.) And since all those frames are going to be filled with pictures of some kind, I wanted something different above the chest. An old, chippy frame out of my attic and a boxwood wreath proved to be the perfect decor solution!
I’ve talked about the importance of the small things before, so this little bit of black and white ribbon, that the wreath is hanging from, helps to reinforce the black and white of my banister and the black picture frames that will make up my gallery wall. The boxwood wreath is 21″ in diameter and can be purchased HERE (affiliate link).
To create a greenery arrangement, I filled a thrifted basket with clay pots from the dollar store (two for $1!) and filled the pots with foliage clipped from artificial greenery bushes. Easy peasy and very inexpensive!
Do you have any dead space in your home that you could add a small chest too?
Looks great! I am going to copy your wreath and frame idea. I happen to have an empty wood frame and boxwood wreath. I am going to try them on a large family room wall space that has been bothering me. Thanks for the great ideas!
Great idea!!
Love this – especially the blue chest! We have almost the exact same space in our home, so this is a great idea for me to implement in my home!
Looks great!
Love what you did to make that dead space so ALIVE!!!
Suzy you really nailed it. That long and narrow space is now pretty and functional. Totally love this.
This looks great and it provides a little extra storage space to boot! 🙂
I’d like to invite you to share this at the brand-new Farmhouse Friday Link Party! To celebrate the kick-off of this party, I am giving away a $50 Amazon gift card. I will also share your linkup on DIY Farmhouse Style Facebook group where I admin, which at this writing has over 130k members!
I hope to see you there! 🙂
Michelle
The Painted Hinge
http://www.thepaintedhinge.com
What a creative idea! I too have some dead space in my house, and your idea is amazing!
The “hallway” at the top of the stairs is so much more interesting, now. Without taking up too much walking space, you added color, shape, heft, and texture to liven up the space. The wreath in the frame is especially striking, as it adds dimension, shape, and an element from nature without adding weight to make the grouping too top-heavy. Very nice!
The chest is perfect for the space and the boxwood wreath hung in the old frame adds the perfect accent to your design. I have a tall vintage mahogany secretary at the top of my staircase but the pop of color that you get from your blue chest makes me wonder if I should consider painting my secretary. Great solution to a tricky design problem.
I love what you did! Such a lovely pop of color and style for that narrow, empty space. I am crushing on the chest. I need something similiar so I checked it out but it is a little too long for what I was wanting it for. You’ve got me thinking and looking now, though. I’m enjoying your blog. Thanks for the inspiration!
Perfection!
I’m amazed at the difference in that space. I looked at the first picture of the empty landing, and could not come up with any ideas of how to solve the problem. You had the perfect solution and your vignette is another favorite for me!
Love love love that little blue dresser. I think you did a fabulous job of decorating a space that is usually ignored because it is hard to figure out what to do with it. Thanks for sharing at #HomeMattersParty
Looks amazing!
Love this! I need to do something with my upstairs hallway- great ideas!
Lovely ideas! Thanks for sharing. May i please ask the colour of the wall please. It is such a lovely colour.
Thank you, Anne! The wall is painted with Sherwin Williams Accessible Beige.
I have a long narrow space running parallel to my stairs, but it leads nowhere. It’s just open storage and awkward to access. I don’t have a clue what to do with it.
If you’d like to email me some photos, I’d be glad to see if I could offer you some suggestions.
You have some “dead space”?…wonderful, fun time begins..IDEAS..Murals, mirrors, wall paper, wainscoting or any wood designs, hanging rugs, ocean. Can’t wait to see what you decide to do with that “dead space”. What ever you decide I know it will be beautiful, just like the rest of your home. Have fun with new. “………space”. Now I see your problem was back in the teens.
It’s always fun to have a new spot to decorate!