Style - well that is a good question... I would say it is a modern contemporary urban style home, brick frontage etc... not a victorian style or anything like that. Have solid wood two tone staircase, with dark and natural color maple that stands out prominently when you enter the house. The rest of the house, the Kitchen etc is bit traditional, yet modern finish. Dark solid wood cabinets. I do have 9 foot ceiling but only 9', as that is the maximum that we are allowed to have in our neighborhood. I like to add bit of character and architectural personality to the house, but wasn't sure if wainscotting would in turn make the house look very aged, as we generally see them on older Victorian style homes. Or perhaps I am just mistaken in my limited knowledge about home styling and decor. I see soooo many different styles, which makes it so difficult to choose one because I like them all. So the challenge is to pick one that suits the best. Is it generally better to keep the stains neutral so that the wainscotting trim blend with the wall or will it stand out too much if I make panels that are stained dark. These are the questions that are holding me back from venturing in to this project. Any other comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

A houzz contributor, not too long ago, had made a wine rack out of 4'x4' wooden pallets, that are used in the US to move a load of goods with a fork-lift truck. Perhaps they have them in your country. He cut them in half so they were only two feet deep and stacked them up to high counter height. The wood would be a nice contrast with your concrete, might add a little warmth to the space. cascio.offsite@gmail.com

Debbie, acm - Thank you very much for responding. This is a new apartment and not a remodel. I have attached the floor plan of the room & closet. In the photo below the closet is the space "DRESS" and having dimensions 5 ft 11" (X axis) x 4 ft 7" (Y axis). For representational purposes, the diagram shows an L shaped closet. Ignore that - this is a complete blank space. I am instead planning on putting the closet along the 5 ft 11" wall- but on the opposite side instead of the side shown in the diagram. So imagine my closet along a single wall, set against the wall marked with a thick dark line. acm - I did not mean a bi-fold. But rather the traditional shutter door which some may refer as a swing shutter. My dilemma is - should i use sliding doors or regular doors ? I divided my closet into 4 major compartments, each 1 ft 6" wide. So there are a total of 4 doors. Depth of closet is 2 ft. Hence walkthru space is 2 ft 6". When a closet door is open, there wld be 1 ft space between the open door & the wall. Within each of these 4 compartments, I have designed multiple external drawers upto 2 ft height from base. So the shutters/doors planned only for the portion above 2 ft. Sliding Doors - Pros - Swing space not needed. Can place a slim dresser in the corner if I want to later. Cons - Expensive as it will needlessly cover the bottom-most drawers; Sliding doors coming off rails. Regular Doors Pros - Inexpensive. Can be used to cover only the part above the drawers (need not cover drawers). This way I can open the drawers below quickly & easily. Cons - Not sure if 2 ft 6" is enough clearance space to open 18" doors. Hope this makes sense. What do you suggest?

sararahim123 What constitutes an adequate illumination level varies from person to person. What exactly do you require illuminated? If its simply ambient light you would have tiny lights as shown that throw light on the stairs itself. If a bit more is required you could consider adding a railing with a light under. If general illumination is what you are going after, but in a muted way, would suggest wall scones that throw light upwards onto the ceiling, diffusing the light.