Dear PoP – Some Interior Design Advice From PoP Readers Please

“Dear PoP,

PoP readers are certainly never shy about expressing their opinions on interior decoration, so I thought I might solicit some creative solutions here. I knocked out the horrible drywall “cattle chute” that had been installed around my staircase, and bought this very cool salvaged iron gate. The idea is to install it, with the taller side against the wall across the bottom part of the stairs. ( It will be installed as is, with the bottom of the gate flush against the floor, not cutting it like a regular stair rail.)
The general decorating style theme is – a cozy place to come home to after a long day tripping in an old Natural History museum.

My questions are:

1) What color should I paint the gate? (This is a long, narrow rowhouse with the entire floor open from front to back, with colors ranging from orange in the kitchen & one dining room wall, to various cream/linen shades in the living room with a metallic gold alcove in front painted with green and blue peacocks.)

2) What should I use to close off and finish the open area under the stairs? Drywall? Wood? Something else? I was thinking about mosaic, but don’t want to detract from or conflict with the design in the gate.

3) Should I mount the gate flush against the wall, or put a salvaged wooden porch column between the gate and the wall for a little more architectural definition?”

I look forward to hearing the suggestions and seeing the after pics!