Regret painting hallway Almond White.

[Asvan]

Hi all,

I had my long, narrow hallway painted today after spending so many weeks deliberating on which off white colour I wanted. I eventually settled on Almond White and we paid a fair bit for someone to do the job for us.

When I tried the tester on the wall and on a white paper, the colour looked more white with a warm hint, which is what I wanted. We had been living with new build magnolia for the last 10 years so I wanted it to look fresh and crisp.

When the painter left and I looked around I couldn't help but feel really disappointed with my choice. The Almond White just looks like a lighter magnolia on my walls and I don't really think it's transformed my hallway in the way I wanted it to.

I am really regretting choosing the colour but now can't afford to get another colour and have it repainted, chances are I will have to live with it for at least another few years.

My ceiling lights in the hallway are quite yellow, would it be worth changing them to brighten up the hallway? I am also thinking of adding a black mirror and some black frames on the walls as I was going for a black and white theme- will this brighten the space up or make it look darker?

I have no budget left for anything dramatic but is there any way I can make it look better?

The colour of the light will definitely make a difference.

Just paint it yourself? Pretty straightforward job.

Or add decor/ change lights/ add plants and see if you like it more.

Try an led somewhere between 6000-7000 k first if your current ones are warm.

Definitely change the lights. Have a look at the Philips hue bulbs, you can change them using a slider between warm and cool. Accessories always help so black frames as you mention will be great, I’d really also suggest some plants as the green will make such a difference and add a pattern or texture using a runner down the hallway

We have a jute runner in our white hallway and it softens it so much

Wish I could but have mobility issues which make it impossible and DH is useless at it. I also have no budget left to buy new paint.

I have moved into a house with almond white in one of the bedrooms. I usually favour orchid white which has a yellow tone and is fresh looking but also quite cold feeling so great for a kitchen say but not for a feeling of warmth and homeliness around the rest of the house.

Almond white has more of a warmer tone to it I notice. I’ve decided I really like the colour actually and don’t know why I’ve gone for orchid white for so long (literally in every room of our old house) as almond white feels warmer whilst also being quite a light colour and still fresh looking if that makes sense. So I think it’s warm yet bright and fresh.

Both are definitely different from magnolia, Dulux magnolia is quite dark compared and I think a little more old fashioned then fresh looking. I also think it has a strong orange tone and against black picture frames would look strange. I think Almond white would look great with black picture frames.

Other colours I’ve tried include timeless, white cotton, daffodil white and jasmine white, but I think orchid and almond are better, but if you want a warm undertone definitely almond.

In my last house I had no windows in my hall so I chose light and space paint, I don’t think the colour is amazing but it really helped to brighten it up. I would not recommend that though unless you have a super dark hallway as the colours aren’t that nice.

I personally think you’ve made the right choice with Almond white. It doesn’t look like much of a transformation because you can’t see it against the old magnolia now but trust me it’s a much lighter and brighter colour!

I’d stick with it and also go for your black picture frames and try different lighting!

I have Timeless in all my other rooms so in hindsight I should have stuck with that. I was thinking along the lines of Timeless will be too light for a busy hallway and marks will show up more so I wanted to go one shade darker but Almond White just feels too cream.

I'm going to get the light bulbs changed and add all my accessories and then see how I feel. It's been quite dark and gloomy where I live for the past few days so I'm hoping with a bit more natural light it might look better.

The second I read it before I even got to the lightbulb I knew you had yellow ones. Try to switvh to white and see

Your probably right about timeless and marks on the wall to be honest!!

it’s very white!

I'm wondering if maybe the magnolia is still coming through. Perhaps the painter should have done another coat.

I think you’ll get used to it. I painted my house hallway Lime White by F&B, the paint alone cost a bomb. It looks green by electric light! But I don’t care any more. Far better than the dirty brilliant white it was. And it’s now a year on and will need re-doing in about 2 years so I can just choose a colour next time!

Try some other light bulbs - that will help.

He did 2 coats and used a trade quality paint so I really don't think it's the old paint showing through.

Try daylight bulbs.

I would change bulbs and accessories, then live it at least through to the late summer and then decide.

I love almond white, half our house is painted in it!

You can use lightbulbs and even glass shades to change the colour. Another idea if you really hate it is a subtly colour themed gallery wall, or use stencils to create a runner about elbow height. Although you might hate that!
Frames are really cheap from b and m and I've just bought big boxes of themed postcards off Amazon and used them.

Thanks everyone. I am going to change the light bulbs and accessorise and then see how I feel. I think the biggest disappointment was that I wanted it to be a dramatic transformation to what I had previously but it's just gone from dark horrible magnolia to light magnolia 🙄.

Ah- I see 💐