Hallway Ideas |
Showing the power of paint and some diy skills we are going to be updating our hallway.
The goal is to make this space timeless, and give her a classic look.
But first you need to see where we started from. This was taken about 4 years ago. On the left you can barely see the 1970's style niche that used to hold photos and seasonal decor.
It was truly a huge dust magnet, which I tried to update with no luck what so ever. The hollow core doors probably once were a lovely brownish colored stain but are yellowing more each year, so they are going to get a new coat as well. Luckily we still have some leftover white paint/primer downstairs.
I walked by the niche while cleaning out my linen closet and thought why do we still have this dust magent? Drywall would make this hallway look longer and hanging artwork would be even better. So using some leftover drywall, I instructed dear sweet lovey Greg to yank out the niche and drywall it up.
I think I put him to work about 20 minutes after he got home from his day job. You know the one that pays money. But hey, I fed him a really nice dinner and it's not like he broke a sweat.
The concrete blocks you see in the wall, are for the chimney that goes to our boiler system in the basement.
One hour later, ok maybe it was a bit longer then that but it went by fast for me. The drywall was in place.
I had already started painting the doors after my first cup of coffee that morning, so those were one their 2nd coat of paint.
This is the view that prompted me to go see what paint we had leftover so I could paint the walls, or if we even had enough paint to do it. Anything but the yucky cream or brown color, that I now hate.
Now ya'll have heard me complain about this blue color when I painted it in our master Bedroom 3 years ago.
The amount of natural light that comes in made this color look like....
like?
The only words I can come up with are
Easter Egg blue or acid blue? But in the hallway the blue comes across like I originally hoped it would.
A greyish blue. Not knowing if this color would even work, I did not take the outlet covers off, and I also didn't cut in the color at the ceiling.
I wanted to paint as much as I could and let the color marinate on me for a few days.
Well it's marinating pretty good.
We have started adding new 1 x 4 x 8 trim to all the doors too. Unfortunately the old pine trim is not salvageable. We have tried in the past to sand it down and re-paint it but pine that is this old just won't take paint well. Plus it is only 2-1/2" wide.
I want at least 4" of door trim.
We still have one more piece to put on the top. So the trim you are seeing is almost done. I want to add a cap piece for a little extra detail.
But now that I have the color nailed down, the trim nailed down I can officially start this project the right way. Like painting the ceiling first, then touching up the walls and trim.
I also want to replace the tacky tract lighting with two flush mounted fixtures and do some modern wainscoting. Similar to what we did in the back door but without the metal inserts.
My mind is saying that the metal might be too much.
So, after I get the ceiling painted, the walls and trim finished, then I can find some new lighting.
And to think this all started with re-organizing my linen closet.
Which I hope to also paint a nice bright white inside before I reveal that also.
So stay tuned! Don't forget to stop by the Link Party that went up yesterday and share your new or old blog posts with the world.
