Dramatic hallway painting scheme
Hallways are tricky spaces when it comes to decorating. Choosing the right paint color for a hall involves several considerations. What are the proportions of the hallway? What are the color schemes of adjoining rooms? What kind of mood do you want to evoke in this space that simply leads you to others? While we don't spend much time hanging around in hallways, we often pass through, so choosing the right paint color is important.
Play It Safe
The general rule of thumb when it comes to painting small spaces is to use light colors to make the space look larger. Applying this logic to hallways, you may choose to paint this area a light, neutral color such as white, beige or gray.
Another benefit of painting your hallway a neutral color is that it won't conflict with any adjoining rooms. For example, if your red living room is connected by a short hallway to your green bedroom, painting your hallway blue may introduce too many competing colors. However, choosing a subtle beige to link the two rooms provides a buffer zone and a "mental break" between these two intense hues.
Go Bold
Another interior design perspective when it comes to choosing paint colors for hallways is to go bold. Don't be afraid to use deep, saturated colors that play up the smallness of the space, creating drama. This is especially effective for a hallway that leads off a foyer or another common space.
Hallways have effectively been painted such colors as black, red, rich chocolate-brown and even metallic gold. Since walking through a hallway is a fleeting experience, there's no reason it can't be an intense one.
Other Considerations
Since hallways are often visible from so many rooms, you may choose to paint your hallway the same color as a room that leads into it. As is often the case in living rooms, there is no visual break from a wall that continues to become part of a hallway, so this approach would make sense. Trim often wraps from rooms into the hallway, so in some cases it's best to keep this consistent (usually, painted white).
Color can also be used to correct oddly shaped spaces, such as a hallway that is very long and narrow. Paint the long walls a lighter color and the far, short wall a darker color to compress the space.
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