Colourful hall paint

[theAntsareMyFriends]

We are nearly ready to paint our hall, stairs and landing and I'm struggling to even decide on a short-list of match pots to try.

The hall isn't small but is quite narrow and has no natural light. The stairs and landing are lighter with windows at the back and front of the house. The floor in the hall is fairly dark oak parquet and we haven't decided on flooring for landing. The skirting boards and bit above the picture rail are white.

I'd really like a colour rather than a neutral but don't want one that makes the hall look like a dark passage or just feels too overwhelming in a narrow space. I was thinking light/bright turquoise but can't really narrow it down. Not sure how light or bright I dare go.

Has anyone got any recommendations for bright and cheerful hall paints that make the whole place look light and inviting? Or anything you would recommend avoiding?

Thank you!

[Boulshired]

I had this problem and could not find a solution. I tried to make my hallway colourful but I have the light problem and could not find a colour that suited both types of lighting. If it suited the light area it looked over powering in the dark area and if it suited the dark it looked washed out and pastel rather than vibrant in the light areas. I opted for splashes of wallpaper and very bright oversized prints on white walls.

[theAntsareMyFriends]

Oh no. I thought there might be a magic solution I hadn't thought of. I might try a few different colours on different walls and see if I can get it to flow but still have no ideas which colours to pick.

[BigGreenOlives]

Tip: Don't do what my friend did & paint your hall & stairwell pinky beige. It looked liked someone's insides... luckily her partner repainted it quickly without complaining.

[Bluntness100]

I went for a pale/mid grey, it's nice and tasteful and works. I think unless you're using something like yellow ( which I hate) it's hard to find a color that doesn't darken.

Things like duck egg blue, pale grey all work. I think bright turquoise for me might be a bit much, and I think if you came to sell it would be a bit marmite.

[theAntsareMyFriends]

Thanks for the tips.

biggreen I will avoid pinky beige. We found so many neutral looking paints come out unexpectedly pink so thought a colour might help.

bluntness grey sounds nice and I think Duck Egg could work. I was just hoping for something a bit more unusual but maybe in the hall its better to go with something sensible rather than 'out-there'. Hopefully this is our forever house so not too worried about selling but I still don't want people to be horrified when the enter our house!

[7to25]

Tenants painted a small dark hall in "lime fizz" (I found a paint can) it actually looks darker/more gloomy now it is repainted white.
It depends if you like lime fizz.

[theAntsareMyFriends]

Thanks for the tip 7. Is that Dulux? If so its a nice colour and quite bold so maybe a bright colour is the way forward.

I'm thinking of going for a coloured wall and then the rest pale grey but I'm not sure which wall to do which colour. I hate making decisions!

[7to25]

For a hall stairs and landing, I would paint the long wall beside the stairs in the bright colour