Help! What exactly isn't working with this decor? (Pics attached)

[Acey68]

I'm in the middle of decorating my new flat and I've just had my hallway done and I used a pic I saw online for inspo (attached along with mine) but I don't love it and I can't quite work out why or what I need to change.
My thoughts are...
Is the dark grey dado just too dark in a real life setting? Should I paint it back to white?
The blue carpet will be changed to a neutral hard floor- could this be why I'm being thrown off?
Are the walls too cream? I used Dulux timeless which lots of people rave about on here and describe as a not creamy white but to me it looks very cream! Should I paint the top PBW to match the woodwork?

Any feedback appreciated :)

I think with the dado painted white,
New floor and new light shade,
It will look so much better

Unlike others, I'd leave the dado rail and paint the skirting and door frames too but your hall looks like not much natural light.

I'd tile the floor with a fab pattern too.

Perhaps seeing a therapist would help you realise that your flat is completlely fine and lovely.

Also way better than someone who is homeless.

Not RTFT.

The blue carpet does not go with the rest. Change the carpet or change the walls.

The first pic. It's nice but very hotel. Bland. Sorry. I like lots of colour I'm getting that you're not. Put something colourful in. Bright flowerpot colour that goes. More interesting / contrasting doorknob on the cupboard? Can't see the floor- rug? The thing beside the plant, more colour? More personality. It's nice but needs s personal touch I think.

Yea hard to tell with the carpet. Wait for your flooring.
Add a big mirror and white radiator cover to brighten the space

I wouldn't fuck about with the radiator tbh. They're a sod to paint and if you sell, feel harder to change.

Just s bit of colour and get rid of the blue and you're golden.

Other tip.

It's new and it's normal to notice everything all the time and be hypercritical.

Don't make expensive/ PITA changes until you've lived there for a while. Settle in.

Apart from the carpet

It’s a hallway and the radiator is big, obvious and unattractive. I think I’d forget about trying to style it. Get rid of the dado rail. Paint the whole thing in a neutral colour. Concentrate your money and effort on the rooms you sit in.

It’s definitely the gross carpet and also the lampshade - I’d change that to something more contemporary, perhaps a rattan shade? Personally I’d keep the dado rail dark. I think the fact the kitchen in the background looks dated doesn’t help but unless you’re putting a whole new kitchen in, not much can be done about that!

You need new flooring in a neutral colour, although the colours you have painted the wall should go with blue, the carpet is overpowering everything. Once it has been changed you need some plants & accessories to bring the whole thing together.

Personally I think the two tones of the paint don't go very well together. The top is "cool" tones and the bottom seems warmer in the photo and I feel like they clash.

I like the dark rail, when you have new floor it will look totally different. What's the yellow thing on the wall on the right?
You need a mirror, shelves and a few plants too.

@Russell19

I like the dark rail, when you have new floor it will look totally different. What's the yellow thing on the wall on the right? You need a mirror, shelves and a few plants too.

I think the OP is standing in her open front door and the yellow thing is the door handle. It's not on the wall.

Agree with everyone else: change the floor then reassess; it’ll look better with wall decor; try panelling.

Don’t paint the radiator, it’s a pain. Just remember your inspo pic has a tiny, quite posh radiator and you’ve got a fairly big and slightly old-fashioned one, so you’re not going to get an identikit look – a cover might help, but also living with it for a while and not comparing the two images will help!

The other thing is the inspo pic is a tiny snippet of space vs your long corridor filled with doors! Closing the doors, especially that door on the end to the kitchen and retaking the pic, will make a huge (and free!) difference to what your eye is seeing. I’d be tempted to paint the doors and frames the same colour as your lower walls to stop the space being so chopped up.

But really, once flooring is in and you’ve got a mirror and stuff, it’ll look lovely. It won’t look identical but it’ll look like your version, which is better – you have to tweak from inspiration to suit your space (more doors, no natural light) rather than copy it exactly.

@FadedRed

Tbh at first glance it reminded me of a corridor in nursing and care homes with the dark-paint on the dado rail looking like handrails for people with mobility problems. Sorry Op.

Yes, I'm afraid I had the same impression!

The carpet obviously...But, you're right the dado rail is too dark. I'm also not sure the colours above and below it are right. The pink needs a cooler, fresher tone to offset it so a cool white would work, or similar.

Avoid yellow and warm tones - you're right, it's too cream. I think your gut is spot on tbh.

I'd also think about changing the light shade, nothing wrong with it but it looks too clinical in the space and adds to the care-home-corridor feel. Go for ultra modern, like those ones with white glass globes on gold arms. Do you know the ones I mean? Or a fabric shade which contrasts. You also need more light at the end of the hall especially - more mirrors/reflective surfaces will help, or choosing a long light fitting maybe.

In think in the inspiration pic the copper pot thing really adds something

I agree about the carpet and repainting the top section. You could consider painting the other woodwork the same colour as the dado to tie it all together. Arguably a bit of a trend but if you like it, does it matter? www.littlegreene.com/blog/painting-skirting-boards/

I agree that it will look a whole lot different with the new floor and also with something on the walls. I wouldn't make any decisions until you've changed those.

For me, once you have sorted the carpet it is crying out for accessories to personalise the space and make it less corporate/institutional.

I’d leave the dark dado until the carpet is lifted and accessories in and only if it still looks bad would I paint it white (I’m worried it might look dated that way - like a 90s dado scenario!)

@SoupDragon

I agree that it will look a whole lot different with the new floor and also with something on the walls. I wouldn't make any decisions until you've changed those.

This!!

We have a hall stairs and landing with a dado. I like the look of a darker colour below and a a lighter colour above, but didn’t want to faff about with choosing which colours. So we went with dulux bleached lichen, the darkest of the range below and the second lightest above. The tones are made to go together. This could be an idea? We also have a dark hardwood look floor and it looks great. Our dado, skirting, architraves, doors and radiators are painted white.

It will be great with the neutral flooring but I’d also go fir a statement light. Maybe an uncovered big bulb or the same but with a metal frame type lampshade maybe in rose gold?

Paint the dado white. All I see is the dark stripe.

The most obvious thing is the carpet which you’re changing anyway.

Personally I wouldn’t do anything else until you’ve seen how it looks with the new carpet. But the most obvious things are 1) the upper part of the wall is cream whereas in the inspiration photo it is a paler shade of pink. Both parts of the wall need to be from the same colour group-either both shades of pink or both shades of cream. Like @WeegieWan demonstrates 2) the dado rail’s colour needs to be picked up in an accessory on the wall like the mirror in the first photo or it will look a bit out of place and not very coordinated. 3) changing the lampshade and adding some accessories and a plant will help, but I’m not convinced it’ll help as much as the first 2 suggestions above.

Agree it’s the carpet, as soon as you have paler neutral flooring it will change it totally.