Laura’s Hallway Before + After

Now, you may be one of those people that feels like the hallway area is kind of an afterthought in a home and not that important, but hold on a second! If you have a somewhat “regular” layout of your home, then you are probably in the hallway of your house more than any other room because it’s how you get to all the rooms all day long. For me, it’s really important to have a bright happy hallway, and when we moved into our house I knew I would want to brighten up the space and add some personal touches to it as well.

You can see it wasn’t a terrible space before, but it just felt pretty bland and in need of a refresh. We added white oak flooring to the main floor, so that helped brighten the area from the floor up and I painted the very faintly blue walls a crisp white (just untinted white is actually my fave!). I also painted the doors white and we updated the door casing and baseboards (when we did the floors) to a more modern square edge rather than the rounded older style.

I also switched out the ancient door knobs for these brass ones instead, and with the white paint they went a long way in making the old doors look fresh and luxe.

Love this post? Check out how to Refresh Hollow Core Doors and give them a full makeover like I did!

I love having family photos in hallways and these acrylic frames were the perfect size to add some of our favorites, too.

We used to have that globe light in the playroom at our last house, but we took off the extension rod and used it as more of a flush mount in the hallway. It’s kind of a baby brother to our living room light, so it’s nice that the spaces are right next to each other.

It’s also fun to have the vintage wooden Weldtex ceiling panels in the hallway as well (you can read about discovering what they are here) since it gives that slight checkerboard pattern.

I wanted something plush for the runner and this rug (similar here) was perfect! We are trying to be a “shoes off” house more and more so having this in the hallway reminds me to do that to keep it nice, haha …

The back door area was pretty dark, so it made a big difference to brighten it up with a bit of paint and this brass entryway set (also similar here). I wanted to add something special to this door since it’s a main view of the living room, so I added a trim design with some half round flexible molding. I really love how it makes the door feel so much more custom and classy with that added touch.

I also added this light fixture at the other end of the hallway since it has a bit of a fun ’70s vibe as well, and that pretty wall hanging from the ABMxEtsy collection also adds a bit of texture to the space (similar here). That ’70s print brings in a lot of the warm colors I love adding to spaces these days. I also painted a fluted outdoor plant stand white (similar here) and I love how it looks in that corner and mimics the fluted DIY sideboard I have in the room next to it.

Overall, I really love how the space turned out—it feels light and fresh and I love seeing Lola’s room at the end of the hallway, as I feel like that room is the happiest space in the house. I hope this before + after proves that hallways really are their own space and making them feel fresh is worth the time and effort! I certainly think it is! xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman.  Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.