Which colour paint for Hallway?

[wickedfairy]

Hi everyone,

Just starting to decorate the hallway in our house - victorian house with picture/dado rails on walls. Currently the walls are wallpapered with green/orange flowery wallpaper (!!) and as a result, the hallway looks very dark.

We have decided to lighten it up and would like a neutral colour for the walls - there is just SO much to choose from!

We have chosen wood flooring for downstairs floor with a stripey runner carpet for stairs and same stripey carpet for upstairs landing. All woodwork will be white (with exception of banister handrail/newel post).

Can anyone suggest some nice neutral (but light) colours please? This is our carpet:

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Thanks in advance!

Do you anticipate having to wash mud off the walls - ie dog??

Do you get much light?

If yes and no - I'd go for Dulux Magnolia every time. Washes perfectly and if not too bright a light - looks creamy coloured. Too bright a light and it looks a bit yellowy cream. But you can't see where you rub the mud off. If it was a darker neutral - you'd see the rub marks iykwim.

If you want more sophisticated paint ie Fired Earth etc - I'd use a Fired Earth or Farrow and Ball - they are nice and chalky and go on like a dream.

But not worth the £££ for me with muddy dog!

I personally like to have two colours in a hall way a light neutral one one above the dado and a bit more colourful (although not too dark) one below.

Homebase - Putty
is what we have in our hall way (above the dado rail) it is nice and light but not too pink or yellow or peach which alot of light apparently neutral colours can look

you could then pick out one of the darker colours from the carpet for below the dado

Love the carpet, our house is Victorian with a runner and dado rail, but we have painted the same colour above and below - Farrow & Ball String, a lovely neutral colour and can have a greenish tinge in some lights. Also, I wouldn't use Brilliant White on the woodwork, we use Crown Milk White - it's still white but not quite as stark as the brilliant white string

We also have a victorian house with oak wood flooring on ground and 1st floor. We have white picture and dado rails and I have chosen the whole 3 floors of hall to be Apple White from Dulux. Its the light and space range which reflects light so the whole hallway is very light/bright with a hint of green. Natural Calico is very nioe too. Also from Duluz, This is a very rich creamy colour, we have this in the front room, our bedroom and another bedroom, also the kitchen and the main lounge. It was a toss up between this colour and the Apple White for the kitchen and lounge as both are very subtlely light.

I think both will go with your carpet.

Thanks all for the suggestions - will have a look at them and get some sample pots! The hall is a decent size and will look lovely and bright once the walls are light - we have used homebase putty above the picture rail/ceiling in our dining room and that is a nice colour - will use that again as a possibility!

Have a dog but a very small one who doesn't "do" rain and mud, he doesn't even like getting his paws wet!! However, we have a 3 year old and another on the way, so will have the children thing going on. That's why we will be painting rather than papering, so we can touch up where necessary!

DH stripped the walls yesterday and we can't just paint onto them unfortunately, so will have to use thick lining paper, then paint.

Thanks for the tip re the white woodwork - will look into that colour too. Should we get some kind of special "floor" paint (heavy use stuff rather than standard stuff) or something, so that the stairs/bannisters, etc don't get chipped as easily? I like to use the satin type of paint, rather than actual gloss paint, as I prefer the less glossy look.

We have previously gone for a slightly darker colour under the dado with lighter on top, but I really want the stripey runner to be the main feature and the hall to look as bright as possible, so that is why I was thinking of doing all the walls the same colour. What do you think?

Love that carpet! We are thinking of doing something similar in our 20's house with the runner (stripy runners are in LivingEtc like every month at the moment!)

I agree with you about the carpet being the main feature - probably be quite difficult to match a wallpaper with the carpet...

Another option would be, if you have a wall facing you in your hall as you walk in the door - you could choose a paint colour which is picked up in the carpet and then repeat the same colour on the landing so that it all ties in together.