I have a drab hallway? What should I do with it?
Question:I have a long hallway that is so ugly. There's hunter green carpet(Yuk) and the walls are painted like a off white color. There's 4 doors( 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom) and the doors are brown. Any good ideas on what I can do to brighten it up? Any good colors? New carpet is out of the question right now. We just don't have the time for that. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!
Answers:
Actually, it is that easy. Raw concrete floors are all the rage right now. All you need do is tear up the carpet (that you hate anyway), wash the concrete floor very well. Let it dry for at least 48 hours with a fan blowing on it and then seal it with a mat clear sealant you can find at any home hardware store. In the winter, to warm up the floor, get yourself a pretty runner rug and throw it down on the concrete.
Paint your walls and doors all the same color. Use a color that you like that is either bright (such as yellow) or pastel to lighten up the hallway. Paint the doors the same color and also paint the trim but go one shade darker than the color on the walls. Make sure you use an oil-based primer on those doors but you can use a latex paint after you have primed. And don't worry... today it's easy to find a low-odor quick drying oil-based primer!
Since the hallway is long, take advantage of this. Place nice molding like a chair rail only do it only about 6 inches from the top of the doors. Paint these the same color as all the other trim.
Do one of two things to enhance the long hallway:
1. Either make it into an art of photo gallery (use all the same color frames so as not to distract from the pictures or art.
2. Or hang a bunch of all kinds of mirrors but with the same color theme for frames (I like gold or silver frames as these reflect light and will brighten up the hallway).
If the hallway isn't too narrow, place a console table on one side of the walls and place 3 decorative objects ( a lamp, and 2 other items such as an antique object, a plant, etc.) Stick to making sure these 3 objects are different in height (tall, medium, short).
You'll find that for a very reasonable cost, you'll have a brand new hallway that you can live with and may not want to change for years to come.
Well, if the doors are wood, you might be able to stain them a different color, but if you can't do that and would rather have uber-matching colors, I'd stick with some earth tones- more browns and stuff. I think that's a bit ugly, though. Have you considered wallpaper?
If you want the hallway to look bigger, stick to lighter and brighter colors. If you want it to look smaller, go with darker colors.
I think blue is nice, but if you anticipate that you'll never be able to get rid of the green carpet, you might want to try red or purple on the walls. A darker or maybe even a royal blue might compliment the hunter green of the carpet. You could also go with white, but it doesn't sound like you want to.
These websites might help you more than I did:
DIY
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/home_impro...
HGTV
http://www.hgtv.com/
Lots of family pictures on the wall takes attention away from the yuks. You might consider painting the doors a bright color or two.
Have you checked the condition of the flooring under the carpet? It could be in really good shape and maybe you wouldn't need new carpeting. Sounds like a strong 2 in 1 primer and a coat of paint of your color choice will help and the doors, well perhaps you could strip them and re-stain them a cherry wood color. Ultimately to do these simple things and adding some art or family photos should cost under $300.00 depending on the size of your hallway. Good luck :) Oh and if the floor aren't so great, keep the carpet just put some art on the walls that works with the color of the carpeting.
# 1 Paint the doors a soft white, put up a pastel colored border, but not on the ceiling, put it in middle of your wall. Hang pictures on your walls going down the hallway, even photo,s of your family all along the wall, will brighten up a dark space. Since you have dk. green carpet put a few frames/or pictures with some green in them too. WILL look like it was all planned!
pull that old yucky carpet up, paint the floor a bright clean, fun new color. buy a couple of good quality throw rugs and you've got a good start on an interesting hallway.
if possible hang a really big framed mirror on the wall at the end of the hall. buy mirrors in random frames and make a collage with them and a few other pieces...some pictures, a narrow shelf with something you really like propped on it...
or framed posters in a particular theme...hung on every wall.
as fr the doors...boring doors will disappear when there are other interesting things that grabs your attention.
hope this helps.:)
More Related Questions & Answers...