Interior design colour advice needed

[Reastie]

I really want to be good at this but I'm really not!

We are having the hall and landing redecorated. The landing upstairs is going to be in this paper johnlewis.scene7.com/is/image/JohnLewis/231497547?$prod_grid3$ which is sort of taupe. There's one wall that goes up from the bottom of the stairs to the top, and that will be painted as will the hall downstairs. The ceiling in the hall downstairs I'd like to use this cloud like paper www.cole-and-son.com/en/collection-fornasetti-ii/wallpaper-97/2004/#image-0 which is also a taupe sort of shade.

What I'm stuck on is what to paint the walls in the hall and the one wall going up to the landing. It's a Victorian house with very narrow hallway. its not hugely light so I don't want a dark colour to darken it further too much. At the moment we're looking at fired earth paint colours to colour match in a more enduring type of paint to make it washable for the hall. The colour that's closest to matching is malm, but it just doesn't seem to quite match.

I'd love to do something very stylish and bold but I'm scared of pulling it off and knowing what tone and shade, I've tried 12 different samples of various beige, grey, blue, and green but none of them quite work.

Can anyone give me any colour and tone ideas? Ideally from the fired earth paint palette so I can easily get the samples to test. Maybe taupe walls would be most practical (?) and easy and then I could pop t the colour with frames and a lampshade? (I have white frames ready for the hall but could do bright inserts in them instead of the white mounts that come with it).

I really need help to pull this off. I like traditional and don't want to hate it in five years time, so it needs to be something not too faddy.

I'd go for something that matches the background colour on your papers. What colour is the woodwork? You could paint that a different, strong colour. Or add curtains to any windows - even dress curtains just to liven it up. If there's a chair in hall, cover the seat cushion with the same fabric or just add a scatter cushion. Light shades in same colour.

And what flooring in what colour do you have?

Hi Reastie
I love both wallpapers but would not use them both together.
Why are you using the woods wallpaper on the landing? I would paper the big full drop wall in that and paint the other walls in a colour that is matched to the background of the paper. Forget about paint charts.
I would actually use the "putty" colourway and have white woodwork, putty walls.
It is funny what you say about liking traditional and getting fed up of things as that wallpaper has been around for a while, copied extensively and I would see it as a "safe" choice.
If you feel bolder then dark taupe woodwork would look great.
The cream, almost buttermilk, background of the taupe colourway is what is making colour matching difficult.

7to25 I agree this wallpaper has been around a lot and used extensively and does feel safe, and even quite modern for me, but it's been an impossibility for dh and I to agree on a wallpaper we both like and we both like this shade of wallpaper. The wood and sky papers won't ever be next to each other so won't look contrasting against each other. Tbh I'd be happy with the sky paper upstairs but dh doesn't like it and is taken by the woods pattern.

Having the woods pattern on the long drop down the stairs would mean it would have to go onto one wall of the hall as it sort of goes down and round to that wall, and the hall gets a battering so we wanted paint so we can touch it up as and when. Maybe I should try to draw a rough picture of the hall and stairs and take a picture of it for you to see?

Re woodwork we are having that painted too, so can choose what we'd like. I was imagining cream or white but doesn't have to be so. In the hall downstairs there are four doors and frames to be painted (same upstairs) and there is no space for a chair and no window for dressings. Floor wise downstairs we have karndean lime washed oak and on stairs and upstairs a bland yellows beige colour (although very stained so will be replacing at some point).

I would not try to get the same color for the other wall, hard match, and it might look likeit is missing trees. What about a beautiful sage color? Not too fashy/matchy with out being contrasting and fairly traditional.
james-macmillan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/tips-for-coastal-bedroom-furniture.jpg

s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/5a/71/d5/5a71d594ed8436229f11d2b562626397.jpg

Beautiful wall paper btw.

Duck egg blue could also be lovely (tho I prefer the woody feeling of sage green)

www.interiorsbycolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/traditional-bedroom-duck-egg-blue.jpg

(I don't know why I keep finding bedrooms to illustrate my point)

white/offwhite could be nice for the woodwork.

We have sage in the kitchen and duck egg blue in a bedroom and I like to have different colours in the house or it feels too samey (but you're clearly picking colours I like qw!). Actually, with those ideas what I might do is put the wallpaper sample next to the wall colours in those rooms to see how they go.

Whatever you do - try colours in different places in hall, stairs and landing. Look at them at different times of day and under different lighting. There can be a lot of variation.

Yes, good thinking. I'm currently wondering about this colour www.firedearth.com/plumbago and spotentially scrapping the cloud on ceiling idea downstairs as it might look too much with the colour. I like the boldness but I'm worried it'll look too heavy and dark and make it smaller and if time works.

oh, different color then.
Well I could not find a proper example but something like old ochre
thatcoversit-home.com/annie-sloan-chalk-paint-color-palette/
could be nice. Still grey (on the sample anyway) but warmer.

I like those "older" colors as I find they echo the soft qualities of you wall paper.
If you would rather have bolder colors, arles yellow could be nice. Emerald green or a deep red could be beautiful too but it would also be darker.

Oh! found something
patrickbaty.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Archrome-CR-big-sml1.jpg
what about one of those salmony/coral pinks? between third and fourth pink from the top?

like this
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/4f/8d/20/4f8d2025c6fe994c2fa0a9eee42b135c.jpg

I have exactly that wallpaper in that taupe/cream colour on the long drop wall next to the stairs (yours looks like it has a more yellow cream background). The wall and ceiling paintwork matches the background colour of the paper, woodwork in the same colour. Been there 5 years and it works as the painted walls upstairs go with all the bedroom wall colours.

Qwebec, love that coral

Oh I'm in such a muddle about what to do now! We are now wondering maybe do the trees all down the stairs and one wall in the hall and then have a colour on the remainder of the hall (not a huge amount of wall space so could be bolder). I love how th coral goes but I don't really like it as a colour on my walls iykwim.

Would that woods wallpaper work on one side of a hall with paint on the other or look a bit weird?

I would take the trees wallpaper up the wall which goes upstairs so is full height and use a plain colour on the other walls. That grey you picked out could look very dark and oppressive in an enclosed space.

I think you may be right but my concern is the banister is on the wall up the stairs so then the wallpaper would get marks and it's not like y can tech it up like paint....

Ok, so now thinking about a colour for one wall for paint on one side of the hall. Mustard? Eau de nil? Dusky pink?

I wouldn't let that put me off!

I'd be wary of wallpaper up the stairs too, in my home anyway it's the wall that gets the most scuffs.

Second what wowfudge said about the grey being oppressive
Eau de Nil is v nice. Mustard yellow too but v bold.

Different wallpaper but similar idea - we did wallpaper up the stairs full height as Wowfudge says plus any facing walls you can see from the bottom of the stairs. I then colour matched the background colour of the wallpaper and painted the rest of the hall and landing the same colour. I thought it looked good. You can gently wipe down wallpaper and it doesn't show marks in the same way as matt paint.

Think it depends on the type of wallpaper as to if its wipe able doesn't it?

We've Colin matched the background colour of wallpaper to use on other walls in other rooms before actually and it does look nice. I'm just thinking I'd like something more different. I'm going to try a sort of dirty pink colour I think.... Will update with a picture when they are together to see what you think.