Make your hallway a hallmark of design
The best hallway paint colors work as hard as your hallway to help make your home function as it should. Your home's design and layout can help determine the best paint colors for this underrated area. However, your color choice also plays a role in how you feel about the space and the adjacent bedrooms.
Often, the hallway becomes the default color of the closest neighboring room. Although that approach works in many homes, with some planning, your hallway can be much more than a utility space. Use this guide to determine the colors that work best in your hallway to help you make a statement with the space.
Neutral colors, such as beiges, tans, and clay, are popular choices for hallway paint, especially if they mesh well with the color or type of flooring in the hallway and surrounding rooms. Neutral tones can bring several adjacent rooms together by complimenting all of them at once.
You can hire a local interior painter to help pick the right shade and hue to tie your home together.
For inspiration:
Glidden® Pegasus
Sherwin-Williams® Essential Gray
Benjamin Moore® Pale Petal
Dunn-Edwards® Birchwood
Your hallway may not be a focal point in your home, but that doesn't mean it has to be a sterile-looking passageway. Although white is the most neutral color imaginable, off-white shades can have a different and more elegant appearance than typical neutral colors. Find the best white paint color by adding a tiny amount of black, brown, or bright colors to a can of white paint. This can add a touch of class to an otherwise drab-looking hallway.
If you choose to use off-white paint on your hallway walls, remember to consider the ceiling paint as well when determining how much paint you need. To break up a potentially monochromatic feel, adding a pop of color with bold ceiling paint can nicely contrast the mostly-white walls.
For inspiration:
Farrow & Ball® Wevet
Dunn-Edwards® Sparkling Cider
Sherwin-Williams® Westhighland White
Benjamin Moore® Cream Froth
Test a color before you commit by painting large swatches on your walls and seeing how they look during different times of day.
Blues are paint colors that emit calm and peaceful vibes. That's a good feeling when you’re heading down the hallway on your way to sleep. More exciting, though, is that blues from light powdery shades to cool blue tones add a tremendous amount of color that can make your hallway less practical-looking and more artistic.
Keep in mind that most hallways don’t get much natural sunlight, so consider opting for a lighter blue shade instead of midnight blues if that’s the case in your home. While you’re revamping your hallway, paint your trim white to create an aesthetically pleasing and bright color combination.
For inspiration:
Sherwin-Williams® Fountain
Benjamin Moore® Baltic Sea
Dunn-Edwards® Stormy Sea
Glidden® American Anthem
From a light, seafoam green to forest green, this paint color is a popular choice for creating a statement in any area of your home. Choosing green hues for your hallway is ideal for creating a natural calming effect in the home, especially in houses where the hall is visible from the main living areas.
Depending on the shade you choose, greens can add a touch of complementary elegance or whimsically contrast neighboring living spaces, like the paint color in your living room or kitchen. Consider varying your green shades between trim work and walls for a richer feel, or use multiple paint shades to draw attention to special features, such as wall recesses or crown molding.
For inspiration:
Dunn-Edwards® Palm Tree
Farrow & Ball® Calke Green
Glidden® Caribbean Green
Sherwin-Williams® Kiwi
Pastel paints come in a wide range of colors, but the important feature of pastels is their soft-looking finish, regardless of your personal color choice. Pastel colors include light shades of yellow, pink, orange, blue, violet, or green that you might find in a basket of Easter eggs.
Although these somewhat bold colors mix and match well with other pastel hues, they can be tricky to incorporate into a whole-house color palette, making them perfect for out-of-the-way hallways. If your home has a neutral or muted color scheme, you can easily get away with painting a hidden hallway a lovely pastel to add some brightness. Consider pastel shades in flat paint varieties for an even softer appearance.
For inspiration:
Glidden® Sonia Rose
Sherwin-Williams® Alyssum
Benjamin Moore® Misty Teal
Dunn-Edwards® Light Lavender
Timelessly elegant, gray color tones can not only give your hallway a neutral appearance but also hide some imperfections and fingerprints. Depending on its depth of shade, gray is as excellent a complementary color as it is a contrasting one. Light shades of gray in your hallway can make it appear bigger, while darker shades create a more cozy feel.
Hallways tend to get a lot of foot traffic, and they’re also narrow, meaning the walls can experience plenty of wear and tear over time. No matter the color, it’s best to use a type of paint that’s durable and easy to clean, like an eggshell or satin finish. Combining a durable finish with gray will help hide imperfections, dirt, and grime, reducing the necessary maintenance.
For inspiration:
Sherwin-Williams® Magnetic Gray
Benjamin Moore® Museum Piece
Dunn-Edwards® Lunar Landing
Farrow & Ball® Dimpse
If you're searching for a bold hallway color, look no further. Red, burgundy, crimson, and wine paint shades make a profound statement. Whether that statement is a call for hallway attention or to establish a rich, luxurious, and energetic feel is up to you.
Although deep shades of red are traditional in formal dining rooms and parlors, you can add a taste of that richness anywhere in your home, especially in areas with distinct divisions rather than a more open floor plan. Add a pop of color to wide or long hallways by painting it deep red, making the area a surefire conversation starter.
For inspiration:
Glidden® California Wine
Dunn-Edwards® Deep Hibiscus
Sherwin-Williams® Bold Brick
Benjamin Moore® Million Dollar Red
With thousands of options, picking the best hallway paint colors can quickly get overwhelming. Use these tips to narrow down your selection and secure the look and feel you’re going for.
Consider the colors of adjoining rooms. Hallways connect multiple rooms that may be visible as you walk by. Think about creating a cohesive color palette, and use complementary or analogous colors to make the space feel distinct but also integrated with the rest of your home.
Think about natural light. Hallways typically don’t get a lot of natural light. Unless you have skylights to bring in the sun, opt for a lighter shade of your preferred color to make the space feel brighter and more inviting, even without light from outside.
Make tight spaces feel larger with light colors. It’s easy for narrow hallways to feel cramped, but going with a lighter color can help make it feel more open.
Pick the right paint finish. Eggshell paint is one of the more popular paint finishes for interior walls, but a satin or semi-gloss finish in your hallway can create a brighter and more welcoming space.
Feel free to be bold. It’s common to choose neutral, timeless colors for living rooms and other entertaining areas, but don’t be afraid to use bolder colors in your hallways to make a statement.
Hire a pro. When in doubt, consider hiring a painter to help you choose a hallway color that will tie in with the rest of your home and create the mood and feeling that suits you.
Hallways rarely get much natural light, but choosing a lighter color can still create the illusion of light. You can also consider a pale green to bring a natural feeling to the space or a light gray or blue to brighten up the space while still keeping things feeling natural. You can also choose a higher sheen in hallways, like a satin or semi-gloss paint finish. These reflect more and can make the most of the minimal light in your hallway.
Lighter colors will often make a space look and feel bigger, so shy away from darker hues, like navy blues and forest greens, if your hall already feels cramped. While it’s a bold choice, you can also go with a slightly darker shade on one wall to give the illusion of a larger hallway.
When it comes to light versus dark colors for hallways, it mostly comes down to personal preference, but you can also choose a shade to create a specific feeling. If you prefer a more moody, cozy-feeling interior, go with a slightly darker color to make the space feel smaller and more comfortable. Opt for a lighter color in your hallway if you want it to feel spacious, relaxing, and more inviting.
