Home Tree Atlas: Home Decor Ideas and Mood Boards

Inbetween Rooms: Hallway Paint Colors

Wall Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Barren Plain 2111-60

Wall Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray HC-173

Wall Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Ivory White 925

Wall Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Golden Straw 2152-50

Similar Wall Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Gentleman’s Gray 2062-20

The hallway can be easily overlooked when it comes to home design. It is a shame really, since the first thing you see when you leave your bedroom will be what you have in your hallway. Here are some ideas for hallway paint colors and design elements.

For A Modern Look

The modern color scheme consists of neutral colors such as light grey, off white or cream – just like the hallways in the first four pictures above. But you’ll need to add extra design elements to create a well designed combination, otherwise your halls will looks quite plain and dull. Adding floor trim for example. Crown molding is another design element, along with wall trim, decorative columns, and wainscoting. Another way to break up a solid wall is to hang up framed pictures – check out the hallway below.

The hallways in pictures (4) and (5) use non modern hallway colors.

Narrow vs Wide Hallways

In my Leave No Space Dark: Hallway Lighting Ideas post I talk about how you want more than just one ceiling light, lighting up the hallway. You want to have enough lights spread out to leave no space dark. If you are not able to redo the lighting, then it is best to go with a light colored wall paint. This will help make the area feel more spacious. Hanging up a mirror in the hallway will also help make a dark or narrow space feel larger and brighter, as it reflects light and adds depth.

If you have a wide hallway, any paint color, include dark ones will look good. For wider hallways you’ll definitely want to add some of the design elements mentioned above (crown molding, wall trim, wainscoting) along with wall lamps and side tables to break up the solid looking walls.

Creative Hallway Ideas

If you want a more decorative looking hallway, then check out my painting textures post (Textured Wall Painting Ideas: From Faux Wood to Linen Effects) for ideas such as using a brush to create a linen paint effect, or a sponge to create a marble look.

There is always wallpaper, though an expensive option. But check out the anaglypta style wallpaper below. It adds style to a wall but in a subtle and understated way.

Left: Richard Anaglypta from Wayfair $2.91 | Right: Armadillo Anaglypta from Wayfair $5.56

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Hallway Storage Ideas for Wide and Narrow Spaces

The first group of hallway storage ideas are more suited for wider hallways. Further below I go over ideas for more narrow spaces.

The simplest way of adding storage to a hallway, is to buy a hall tree. These are more suited to areas near the front door – as they are used to store shoes, keys, scarves, hats, etc. Or instead of a free standing unit, you could create your own storage combo by the front door. Check out the hallway storage bench, hook, and shelf combination in picture (2).

If you are looking for storage ideas for the space around the staircase, well that awkward space under the stairs can built to have shelving, and much more (3). Have a look at my mood board here for more ideas: The Space Under The Stairs: Ideas and Designs.

A side table always looks good in a wide hallway. Not only can it be used to store items in draws, but it can also have a mirror, lamp and decor items sitting on top – letting you create a stylised area in the hallway.

A Hall Table: $113 Wayfair | B Naples Hall Tree: $346 Wayfair | C Rosston Hall Tree: $114 Wayfair

How great would it be to curl up on a window seat and peacefully read a book? So how about creating a little cozy nook in your hallway (4) – with a comfy bench or day bed with some wall shelves to store away books. You can also get benches with a top that opens so you can store items inside like shoes or umbrellas.

Some other storage ideas include:

Wicker baskets are useful for storing items and keeping things out of view – plus they look good (5).
Shadow boxes are a decorative way of having wall shelves (6)
A coat hanger can be used by the front door
Crates can be stacked on top of each other to create custom furniture shelving

Storage Ideas for Narrow Hallways

Here are some ideas and solutions on how to add hallway storage if you have a narrow space:

Hang up some floating shelves as these won’t take up any floor space (7)
The same goes with wall hooks
You can even have a hook and shelf combo just like the one in picture (8)
A recessed shelf is a fancy addition to a hall, but more for decorative items than storage
A corner shelf unit can also help save space
A ladder makes for a portable and simple hanger (Ideas for Decorating With Ladders)
Built in storage units make the most of a hallway’s space. They will be built to blend in with the design of the hallway so it won’t feel as imposing compared to using free standing units
Make the most of the height in a hallway by building built in floor to ceiling storage cabinets (9)

See if you can hang up a mirror. Not only will it add depth to narrow hallway, but it will bounce and reflect light around making the space feel larger. Also try and mix art pieces with your hallway storage pieces, such as framed wall pictures seen in picture (10), so that your storage units don’t dominate the look of the hallway. Also, it might be a good idea to streamline the colors in the hallway to 1-2, to create a cleaner and more organized look.

For ideas specific to hallway shoe storage, check out my mood board here: Unique Closet and Entryway Shoe Storage Ideas.

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March 26, 2014 in Storage

Home Decor Ideas: Using Pallets

The great thing about getting creative with DIY wood pallet projects (apart from them being free) is that you can make everything from small items (spice rack and shelves), to big ticket home pieces like a couch or a bed.

Art Pieces

Let’s start off with a small pallet DIY project. You can sculpt art pieces out of the scrap pieces of wood. KariAnne from Thistle Wood Farms created the beautiful ‘W’ wall decor piece using pallets as seen in picture (1).

Handmade Pallet Tables

If there is one thing pallets look good remodelled for, that would be coffee tables. Check out the beautiful chevron pallet coffee table made by The Merry Thought in picture (2). Or how about adding a glass top for a less rustic look (4).

In The Kitchen

Pallets can be used to create a backsplash in the kitchen (3). Head on over to Circadee to see the ‘how to’ details. The pallet kitchen island in picture (5) from ELLE looks like a designer piece. The kitchen has a muted color scheme – you have white stools/chairs, cabinets and walls, grey countertops, and black dinnerware. This lets the black island blend in well with everything else in the kitchen.

Big Ticket DIY Pallet Projects

I love finding budget friendly ways of creating big ticket home pieces – like a bed, couch, or kitchen counters. Which is why the DIY pallet bed design (6) (with inbuilt shelving) and the the pallet couch (7) are inspiring to see.

Working Away

If you really want to see the possibilities of what you can use pallets to create, then look no further than the temporary office space of Most Architecture (8). Everything in the work space is made up of pallets – from the desks and staircase to the conference room furniture. Look here for more pictures of the office .

Coming back home, KariAnne has used pallets again – this time to create a scandinavian style work table seen in picture (9).

Hanging Pallets

Lets move to the outside of the house and see what DIY pallet furniture we can find here. These are some epic-ally cool DIY projects – great for the summer time. You have the porch swing by Sheryl (10) and then the swinging daybed by The Merry Thought (11). All made with free pallets.

For more home decor mood boards have a look at these posts:

March 20, 2014 in Decor, DIY

Shabby Chic Wallpaper Ideas and Designs

Most of the shabby chic wallpaper designs and ideas in the mood board above can be bought online. You’ll find links and a shopping picture guide down below.

Shabby Chic Color Palette

White wall are the classic shabby chic choice. So a very subtle textured white wallpaper, such as a linen texture, will look amazing on the walls – just like in picture (1). For colored options, look for pastel shades like cream, mint, yellow, or baby blue.

Shabby Chic Wallpaper Styles

Floral: Floral wallpaper is a popular choice. Go for a pattern in the shabby chic color palette. Here you will have a choice of a full patterned wall paper just like in pictures (2) (3) (4) (5). Or there are patterns that are divided up into columns seen in pictures (6) (7). The column patterns create a more dynamic looking room, but will also make the room feel a bit smaller compared to using the full patterned wallpaper.
Simple Patterns: A simple pattern, like the one in picture (8), lets you add some decoration to the walls but in a more toned down manner than the full patterned shabby chic style wallpaper.
Watercolor: The watercolor clouds wallpaper found on Anthropologie has a whimsical and shabby chic style to them (9).
Wooden Texture: The shabby chic furniture style is wooden and distressed painted. So why not use this style on the walls. You can get distress wooden looking wallpaper (10).
Stone: Another distressed and shabby chic look would be a stone wall. You can get the stone looking wallpaper in picture (11) in a number of different stone shades.
Anaglypta Wallpaper: This last shabby wallpaper style is my favorite. It is called anaglypta wallpaper, and is textured with a 3D design. Check out the wallpapers in pictures (12) (13) (14) (15). There is even a lace style (16). The great thing about this type of wallpaper is that it creates a pattern on the wall, but in a subtle and minimalist way. You can also paint over it to customise it to the color of your room. It can even be used to decorate your ceilings (17). Wayfair has a great collection of anaglypta wallpaper – which can be found here.

1 Buckingham Wallpaper: $5.82 Wayfair | 2 Watercolor Peony: $148 Anthropologie

3 Vintage Dauphine: $66.99 Amazon | 4 Satin Rose: $5.82 Wayfair | 5 Monotone Rose: $5.82 Wayfair

6 Floral Stripe: $5.63 Wayfair | 7 Blue Floral Stipes: $2.88 Wayfair | 8 Dollhouse: $5.82 Wayfair

9 Watercolor Clouds: $275 Anthropologie | 10 Scrapwood: $328 Anthropologie

11 Pompei Stone: $5.82 Wayfair | 12 Heaton: $5.62 Wayfair | 13 Wildacre: $3.63 Wayfair

14 Armadillo: $5.82 Wayfair

Alternative Wall Designs

Paint is a lot cheaper than wallpaper. And just because you are painting a wall doesn’t mean you can’t get creative and have decorative designs. There are textured painting techniques you can use to create a marble or linen look among others (Textured Wall Painting Ideas: From Faux Wood to Linen Effects). Picture (18) shows a paint roller that paints a pattern on the wall – that roller and other designs can be bought here.

Another way to add a shabby chic texture on a wall is to rough plaster it, just like Italian country houses (19).

For a more classic and toned down decorative style, why not use wall trim to decorate and liven up the walls. Check out the white walls in picture (20).

And don’t forget about finishing touches such as floor trim or crown molding. Instead of using the plain crown molding seen in most homes, you can find fancy and decorative molding (21), ideal for a shabby chic styled space.

Image Credits: 15/16/17/18/19/20/21

More shabby chic style wall decorating ideas: