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If you’re thinking about revamping your hallway, colour choice is a huge factor. It can instantly change the feel of a space and set the tone for what’s to come throughout your home.
Whether a full renovation is on the cards or you simply want to make a few changes, there’s no limit to what you can achieve with colour.
Think beyond four walls – from painted stairs to colour-drenched spaces, paint has the power to transform any area.
Relax, read on, and feel inspired by our list of 19 amazing hallway colour ideas. Now all you have to think about is choosing your favourite.
1. Showstopping Stairs
These sunshine yellow stairs bring life to this neutral hallway. Get playful and make your stairs the focal point in your hallway by painting them a bold, contrasting colour.
It’s a great way to inject colour into your scheme and it will help draw the eye up, enhancing the sense of space. Keep your walls neutral to let your stairs shine.
2. Bold Colour Block
Experiment with a vibrant colour block in your hallway. On its own, magenta may be a little overpowering for some tastes, but paired with warm beige, it adds just the right amount of colour to welcome you home.
Create a colour block by painting a section of your walls a bright colour – consider painting just a square section or a stripe up the stairs. Balance your bold colour with a warm neutral like beige or creamy white to help ground the scheme.
3. Painted Floorboards
Craving something fresh? Rip those tired carpets up and paint your floorboards white for a relaxed, Scandi vibe in your hallway.
Painted floorboards help create a lived-in look and bring that bright simplicity that’s key to Scandi design. Choose clean white or colours rooted in nature for your walls – think sage green, plush pinks, and grey-blues.
4. Colourful Highlights
Accentuate your hallway’s features and create character with colourful highlights. We love this pairing of deep grey with marigold – the yellow hues make a fantastic contrast against the grey, giving the scheme a subtle yet playful edge.
Give your hallway a contemporary makeover by painting your coving or painting a stripe at the top of your skirting boards. Have fun with it – think hot pink against beige or electric blue with pale grey.
5. Create Space With Neutrals
Use neutral shades to create a spacious and airy hallway. Beige is sure to provide a warm welcome home, while fresh white helps lift the space.
Paint the lower-third of your wall beige – or go one better and install a half-wall of panelling to add more texture and depth.
By choosing a lighter colour for the larger, top half of the wall, you increase the sense of light and space in your hallway. It's the ideal solution for hallways that don’t enjoy a lot of natural daylight.
6. Let the Sunshine In
There’s so much to love about yellow. It’s the perfect colour to brighten up darker hallways – and it’s surprisingly versatile. From daring to calming, yellow goes well with a range of accent colours.
Yellow is also famed for its positive impact on the mind – it gives rooms energy and exudes positivity. Plus, it can make spaces look bigger, too. Get on board and bring sunshine into your home by painting your hallway walls yellow.
Enhance the fresh look with bright white accents on your stairs, doors, architraves, and skirting boards.
7. Paint a Runner
The warm, creamy tones in this hallway make for an inviting entrance while the contrasting bannister and spindles give the room a contemporary twist. The painted runner is a very clever touch and brings extra visual interest to the space.
Why not add colour to your hallway by painting a runner on your stairs? You can refresh the colour whenever you fancy a change – and it’s a great way to save on the cost of a carpet, too.
8. Dark Drama
We love the drama this all-black hallway brings. Make your own high-impact entrance by colour drenching your hallway. Don’t be afraid to go bold in a smaller space - this technique is fantastic for accentuating even tiny rooms.
By colour drenching your space, it will lose all boundaries. Choose one colour and paint everything, including your walls, stairs, ceiling, woodwork, radiators, and coving.
It’s not for the faint-hearted, but embrace the trend and you will have a creatively modern space that’s guaranteed to wow.
9. Communal Colour Block
Communal hallways have a reputation for being a little bland and unloved – but that certainly isn’t the case with this deliciously modern entrance. A block of teal over and around the internal doors creates an unexpected treat for guests.
Create visual interest in your space by adding a block of colour at the end of your hallway. It will help to draw the eye down the hall and give a sense of space - and it will make a stunning feature. For maximum effect choose a rich blue or green against white.
10. Pretty Pastels
Pastels are having a major moment on the interiors scene right now. Reminiscent of vintage ice cream parlours, pastels brighten up any space and bring a sense of fun.
Your hallway is a great place to give your home personality, so introduce a playful colour scheme for an entrance that’ll never fail to make you smile. Think lilac walls, mint door frames and pink accents for truly delicious décor.
11. Shades of Blue
Transform your hallway into a serene space by using different shades of blue. Because of its connotations with the sea and the natural world, blue offers wonderfully calming properties – ideal for coming home to at the end of a long day.
Paint your staircase and the lower part of your walls a deep blue and choose a paler blue for the upper walls to enhance the feeling of space. Ensure a harmonious feel by bringing in shades of blue through your artwork and shelving, too.
12. All White
It's hard to beat bright white walls for a light and spacious feel. This period property lets the stunning Victorian tiles do the talking by keeping the walls and woodwork simple. Complement statement flooring by whitewashing your entire hallway.
The white paint will help to reflect light and make the most of your space, allowing your flooring to be the centre of attention.
13. Accentuate Features
Make your period features pop against a bright wall colour. This stunning emerald hallway keeps the ornate archway and coving white, allowing the detail to shine against the verdant walls.
Choose deep-hued wall paint for the ultimate contrast in your hallway – think black, dark grey, navy and jewel tones – and paint architectural features a crisp white.
14. Monochrome Chic
Black and white is a classic partnership; it brings a timeless and chic feel to any space. Give your hallway a monochrome makeover by painting the lower halves of your walls black and the upper halves white.
For extra drama, paint your doors and doorframes black, too. Choose a black statement pendant light to hang above your stairs to complete the look.
15. Nod to Nature
Thanks to its strong associations with nature, green is a calming colour to use in our homes. It creates an inviting environment and looks fantastic alongside wood tones and natural materials. Use sage green paint in your hallway for a light and serene space.
Use natural wood frames and furniture to introduce more nods to nature. If you crave a bolder finish, opt for deep forest green and pair it with crisp white woodwork.
16. Warm Welcome
This perfectly-styled hallway has beautiful mid-century vibes, with pastel pink walls and woodwork paying homage to the 1950s. Get the look by painting your hallway pink for a warm welcome every time.
Complement pink tones with dark wood and pops of bottle green to prevent it from looking too sweet.
17. Add Colour With Doors
Not in the market for a complete hallway revamp? Use your doors to add a splash of colour to your hallway. We love that this striking entrance uses a contrasting colour pallet with a bold yellow front door and navy cupboards.
Paint one side of your internal doors a vibrant colour to create interest in your hallway – anything goes. By painting one side, you don’t need to worry about the colour scheme flowing through all of your other rooms.
But if bold isn’t your vibe, you could paint your doors a couple of shades darker than your walls – it’s a great way to add depth to your hall.
18. Redefine Boundaries
Hallways often have awkward angles and different levels, which can be tricky for painting. If it’s hard to know where the walls end and the ceiling begins in your space, this clever paint job could be the answer.
Redefine your boundaries by painting a straight block of colour across your whole space. Choose the lowest point of the ceiling as your marker and go from there – remember to paint your doors for a cohesive and contemporary look.
Add warmth to your space with a chalky pink or earthy terracotta and complement it with white on your upper walls and ceiling.
19. Feature Wall
If you’re looking to bring vibrancy to your hallway, consider a bold feature wall. Feature walls provide an ideal opportunity to experiment with colours – and they can create the perfect amount of interest without overwhelming your hallway.
It’s also a great way to highlight features or transitions between different areas. Paint one wall a delicate green for a soft and subtle upgrade, or for a high-impact look choose a moody navy hue.
What Is the Best Colour to Paint a Hallway?
The best colour depends on what look and feel you’re hoping to achieve in your hallway. For a simplistic style that makes your space feel light and airy, choose white, cream, beige or pale grey.
If you want an uplifting but subtle colour, try a light or mid-tone pastel like pink, yellow, green, and blue. If you live in a period property, consider deep, rich hues of blue, green, grey, or red to enhance the character of your home.
What Is a Good Colour to Paint a Narrow Hallway?
Create a feeling of space in a narrow hallway by choosing light colours such as white, beige, pale greys, light greens and blues. But you shouldn’t necessarily shy away from bolder colours – it’s your space and you should love it.
Colour drenching is a fantastic way to add to the sense of space. You can enhance narrow hallways with decorative touches like mirrors and great lighting, too.
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