Paint colour for hallway

[Thedogisdrivingmemad]

Looking at paint choices for a hallway/ stairs/ landing...neither especially large or small, or dark. Just typical of a late Edwardian mid-size semi.

The downstairs has oak wood parquet floor and the upper floors have a silvery 'greige' sort of colour carpet. None of the adjoining rooms have very bold colours so clashing isn't especially an issue. Pale blues and greens etc.

We have F&B (well a copy of it) Skimming Stone in one bedroom which goes nicely with the carpet and is suitably neutral and I also like Elephant's Breath and Little Greene's French Grey. But I don't love any of these and think greys look a bit dated now.
I would be 'fine' with any of these and could jazz it up with nice lighting and pictures I suppose.
Any other suggestions?

Anyone able to help?

Pale pink? Eg pink ground?

Also that is an Edwardian stalwart shade, as is pale yellow.

F&B Peignoir is a lovely pale pink shade with grey undertones so would probably work well with what you already have.

Thank you - I will look at those. Would Elephant's Breath look too dated?

I don't think so? It's a pretty classic neutral I'd say, not too stark like other greys.

Yes I'm really not keen on straight grey as think it is very cliched and will date.

I've slapped some of a sample pot of Elephant's Breath on the wall - looks a bit too mauve toned.

We went with Wevet which is a cool toned off white.

I really love Rustoleum’s Steamed Milk as a true neutral.

We went from pale grey everywhere to F&B Hague Blue in our entrance. It's totally different but we love it!

Hmm - I've been having a similar dilemma as we've taken ages to get around to decorating our hallway and had planned to use Little Greene's French Grey (Mid) but all I'm seeing everywhere is how 'dated' grey is!!

I think we're still going to go for it though. The LG grey is more of a warm greige and there are plenty of 'neutrals' of a similar shade still being touted about as the 'colours of 2022'!
We also have oak flooring, so need something with warm tones rather than cool.

We're going to jazz it up with brighter and modern curtains, blinds and soft furnishings.

Oh I have looked at LG French Grey too and like that as well.

Fryme - would you be willing to post a photo? Sounds fantastic.

Hope this works. I’ve never posted a photo before. As you can see we still have some grey.

I’ve just ordered samples from f&b’s california range - sand is the neutral I’ve looked at as others are just coming out too dark

That's lovely Fryme!

Elephant’s Breath is lovely. I don’t think it will date as it is still quite neutral. It does change tones throughout the day, which adds to its appeal for me.

My hallway is Borrowed Light, which is pale blue.

I’m also going for LG French Grey for my bedroom soon, as I love that colour too. I think it is quite classic, if it dates, I don’t care because it is my bedroom and not likely that many people will be seeing it.

The weird thing about LG French Grey is that if you compare it with colours on Dulux cards etc it is closer to a light brown/beige/cream etc but it looks so different in different lights!

Ceviche from Little Greene is a very pale greyish colour which is more interesting than white and would look really fresh. It’s a modern take on a classic neutral so wouldn’t look dated.

Just a note of caution. I love farrow & ball and have used it 3 houses with no problem but never the hall & stairs for some reason. Last year I had the hall & stairs repainted last year in a pale F&B colour and it is filthy already. Every bag that touches it leaves a shiny scuff mark, anything carried up the stairs and knocks against it leaves a mark and there are handprints everywhere (we don't have young kids). At the moment its new enough to touch up but shortly that will be too obvious. Really disappointed but I had been warned!

If doing such a high traffic area again I would only use darker F&B colours or use a more hard wearing copy.

I agree about F&B. There are different finishes. The really mat versions mark very easily

F&B Modern emulsion is fine in hallways, had it in ours for years with no problems.

Had LG French Grey in our living room for a few years too, and it's lovely, but just in the process of painting over it with F&B Jitney which is very similar in tone but with a warmer base, really beautiful.

We've also had Borrowed Light in the hallway, I love it in artificial light where it's a soft blue, but it reads a cold grey in our dingy Victorian terrace in natural light so we've just painted over that too.

We have Valspar basket of bobbins....it’s a Greige

Yes I have had modern emulsion in the past in a hallway and it was pretty hardwearing. I have used that in all rooms, even bedrooms as I can't see the upside of the standard paint compared. Is it more matt?

Couldn't remember the name of it: it's 'estate emulsion'.

Another vote for Peignoir.

(Bad experience with the Californian collection - think it might need Californian light?).

Fryme, that is lovely. We have a similar colour with white woodwork in a small living room and I love it.

Our house is from 1911 and we have a warm light yellow in all the hall/landings/staircases.